Jeremiah 19

1Thus said Jehovah, Go, and buy a potter’s earthen bottle, and take of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests;

1The LORD said, 'Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take some of the leaders of the people and some of the leading priests with you.

2and go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee;

2Go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. There, announce the message that I will give you.

3and say, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.

3Say: Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem! This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: Watch out! I am going to bring such a disaster on this place that the ears of everyone who hears about it will ring.

4Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, that they knew not, they and their fathers and the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents,

4For the people have abandoned me and made this place a land for foreign gods. They have burned incense to gods that neither they, nor their ancestors, nor the kings of Judah ever knew. They have filled this place with the blood of innocent people.

5and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt-offerings unto Baal; which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:

5They have built high places for the god Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings. This is something I never commanded or spoke about; it never even entered my mind.

6therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter.

6So watch out, the days are coming, says the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.

7And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies will I give to be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth.

7In this place I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will let their enemies kill them in battle, and those who want to take their lives will cut them down. I will leave their dead bodies as food for the birds and the wild animals.

8And I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.

8I will make this city a horrible sight and an object of mockery. Everyone who passes by will be shocked and will hiss in horror because of all the destruction.

9And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the distress, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their life, shall distress them.

9I will make them eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters. Because of the pressure of the enemy siege and the desperation caused by those who want to kill them, they will even eat each other.

10Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,

10Then you must smash the jar in front of the men who went with you.

11and shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again; and they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place to bury.

11Say to them: This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: I will shatter this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. The people will bury their dead in Topheth until there is no more room left to bury them.

12Thus will I do unto this place, saith Jehovah, and to the inhabitants thereof, even making this city as Topheth:

12This is what I will do to this place and to the people who live here, says the LORD. I will make this city like Topheth.

13and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods.

13The houses in Jerusalem and the palaces of the kings of Judah will be defiled like Topheth. This includes all the houses where the people burned incense on the rooftops to the stars and poured out liquid offerings to other gods.

14Then came Jeremiah from Topheth, whither Jehovah had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of Jehovah’s house, and said to all the people:

14Then Jeremiah left Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to preach. He went and stood in the courtyard of the LORD’s temple and said to all the people:

15Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it; because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.

15This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am about to bring on this city and all the surrounding towns every disaster I promised. I will do this because they are stubborn and refuse to listen to my words.