Jeremiah Chapter 19

Jeremiah’s Broken Flask

¹ The LORD says,

“Go buy a clay pot. Take some elders and senior priests along ² to the Valley of (Ben)Hinnom by the entrance to the Potsherd Gate. Deliver my message there, ³ ‘Listen to a message from the LORD, kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. I’m about to bring such catastrophe here that will make everybody’s ears ring when they hear about it. ⁴ You’ve abandoned me and made this a foreign place, and burned sacrifices here to gods that you, your ancestors, and the kings of Judah never knew. You’ve filled it with innocent people’s blood ⁵ and built high places for Baal so you can burn your sons as offerings to him. I never commanded that. Such a thing never even entered my mind! ⁶ So the time’s coming when this place won’t be called Topheth or The Valley of (Ben)Hinnom, but The Valley of Slaughter. ⁷ I’ll void the plans that Judah and Jerusalem have. I’ll make them fall by the sword and give their carcasses to buzzards from the sky and scavengers on the ground. ⁸ This city will be desolate, something to gasp at. Everybody that goes by will marvel at its disaster. ⁹ They’ll eat their sons and daughters during the siege and distress their enemies bring on them.’

Jer 19:1-9

¹⁰ “Then break the pot in front of the men that go with you. ¹¹ Say, ‘The LORD of Hosts says, “Just like a shattered potter’s jug you can’t repair, I’ll shatter this nation and this city. They’ll bury people in Topheth; there won’t be any place else to bury them. [ ¹² ] ¹³Their houses, including the kings’ palace, will be defiled like Topheth, because on their roofs they burned sacrifices to the host of heaven and poured out liquid offerings to other gods.”’”

¹⁴ Jeremiah came back from Topheth and spoke to the people in the court of the LORD’s Temple,

¹⁵ “The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says, ‘I’m about to bring on this city and surrounding towns the entire catastrophe I’ve declared against it. You’ve stiffened your necks and ignored me.’”         

Jer 19:10-15