The Clay Jar and the Valley
Study note
God tells Jeremiah to buy a clay jar from a potter and take some elders and priests to the Valley of Ben Hinnom by the Potsherd Gate. There he is to announce God's judgment. The people have filled this place with the blood of the innocent and have even sacrificed their own children to Baal.
1 The Lord said, "Go buy a clay jar from a potter. Bring along some of the elders and some of the senior priests." Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests;
2 "Then go to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate, and announce the message I give you." And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee,
3 "Say, 'Listen to the Lord's message, kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. The Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am about to bring such trouble on this place that everyone who hears about it will not believe their ears.'" And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.
4 "This is because the people have abandoned me and turned this place over to foreign gods. They've burned incense here to gods that nobody — not they, their ancestors, or the kings of Judah — ever knew before. And they have filled this place with the blood of innocent people." Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;
5 "They built hilltop shrines to Baal. They burned their own children in the fire. I never told them to do this. I never spoke of it. It never even crossed my mind." They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
The Valley of Slaughter
Study note
God says this valley will no longer be called Tophet or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. He will bring such terrible destruction that the people will be reduced to eating one another during the siege.
6 "So pay attention! The days are coming," says the Lord, "when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom. People will call it the Valley of Slaughter instead." Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.
7 "Right here in this spot, I will ruin every plan Judah and Jerusalem have made. I will let their enemies cut them down with swords. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and wild animals." And 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 hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
8 "I will make this city such a wasteland that everyone passing by will be shocked and gasp at the sight of its destruction." And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.
9 "The siege will be so terrible and the enemy will cut off food so completely that people will eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters. They will even eat each other's flesh." And 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 straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.
The Jar Is Smashed
Study note
Jeremiah smashes the jar in front of the witnesses and declares that God will smash the nation and this city in the same way. Just as a broken clay jar cannot be repaired, so this destruction will be final.
10 "Then smash the clay jar before the people watching you." Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,
11 "Tell them, 'The Lord of Armies says: I will smash this nation and this city just like someone shatters a clay jar beyond repair. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no room left.'" And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD 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 them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury.
12 "That is exactly what I will do to this place and to the people in it," says the Lord. "I will make the whole city like Topheth." Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet:
13 "The houses of Jerusalem and the royal palaces will be made unclean, just like Topheth. This is because the people burned incense on their rooftops to the stars. They also poured out drink offerings to other gods." And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of 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.
Jeremiah at the Temple
Study note
Jeremiah returns from Tophet and stands in the court of the Lord's temple. He repeats the warning to all the people, declaring that God will bring this disaster because they have stubbornly refused to listen.
14 Jeremiah came back from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to give this message. He stood in the yard of the Lord's Temple and spoke to all the people. Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD's house; and said to all the people,
15 "The Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'I am about to bring on this city and all its nearby towns every disaster I have warned about. The people have stubbornly refused to listen to my words.'" Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.