Jeremiah 19

The Broken Flask

1Thus says the Lord, “Go, buy aa potter’s earthenware bflask, and take some of cthe elders of the people and some of dthe elders of the priests, 2and go out eto the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you. 3You shall say, fHear the word of the Lord, gO kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing such disaster upon this place that hthe ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 4 iBecause the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; jand because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, 5 kand have built the high places of Baal lto burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, mwhich I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind 6therefore, nbehold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or othe Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7And in this place pI will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, qand will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. rI will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth. 8And I will make this city sa horror, ta thing to be hissed at. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds. 9 uAnd I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his neighbor vin the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.’

10“Then wyou shall break xthe flask in the sight of the men who go with you, 11and shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, yas one breaks a potter’s vessel, zso that it can never be mended. aaMen shall bury in Topheth because there will be no place else to bury. 12Thus will I do to this place, declares the Lord, and to its inhabitants, making this city ablike Topheth. 13The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judahacall the houses on whose adroofs offerings have been offered aeto all the host of heaven, and afdrink offerings have been poured out to other gods—shall be defiled aglike the place of Topheth.’”

14Then Jeremiah came from ahTopheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, aiand he stood in the court of the Lord’s house and said to all the people: 15Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I am bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, ajbecause they have stiffened their neck, akrefusing to hear my words.”

Jeremiah 20:1-6

Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur

1Now alPashhur the priest, the son of amImmer, who was anchief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2Then aoPashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him apin the stocks that were in the upper aqBenjamin Gate of the house of the Lord. 3The next day, when arPashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name asPashhur, but Terror on Every Side. 4For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you ata terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. 5Moreover, auI will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its avprized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. 6And you, awPashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, axto whom you have prophesied falsely.”

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