Jeremias 19

1 Then said the Lord to me, Go and get an earthen bottle, the work of the potter, and thou shalt bring [some] of the elders of the people, and of the priests;

Thus said YHWH, "Go, and buy a potter's earthen bottle, and take with you some of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests;

2 and thou shalt go forth to the burial-place of the sons of their children, which is at the entrance of the gate of Charsith; and do thou read there all these words which I shall speak to thee:

and go forth to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, which is by the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell you;

3 and thou shalt say to them, Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Juda, and men of Juda, and the dwellers in Jerusalem, and they that enter in by these gates; thus saith the Lord God of Israel; Behold, I [will] bring evil upon this place, so that the ears of every one that hears it shall tingle.

and say, 'Hear the word of YHWH, kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel, "Look, I will bring evil on this place, which whoever hears, his ears shall tingle.

4 Because they forsook me, and profaned this place, and burnt incense in it to strange gods, which they and their fathers knew not; and the kings of Juda have filled this place with innocent blood,

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

5 and built high places for Baal, to burn their children in the fire, which things I commanded not, neither did I design [them] in my heart:

and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt offerings to Baal; which I did not command, nor spoke it, neither came it into my mind:

6 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when this place shall no more be called, The fall and burial-place of the son of Ennom, but, The burial-place of slaughter.

therefore, look, the days come," says YHWH, "that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor The Valley of Ben Hinnom, but The Valley of Slaughter.

7 And I will destroy the counsel of Juda and the counsel of Jerusalem in this place; and I will cast them down with the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the sky and to the wild beasts of the earth.

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 those who seek their life: and their dead bodies will I give to be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth.

8 And I will bring this city to desolation and [make it] a hissing; every one that passes by it shall scowl, and hiss because of all her plague.

I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing; everyone who passes thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues.

9 And they shall eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat every one the flesh of his neighbour in the blockade, and in the siege wherewith their enemies shall besiege them.

I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat everyone the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies, and those who seek their life, shall distress them."'

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

Then you shall break the bottle in the sight of the men who go with you,

11 and thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord, Thus will I break in pieces this people, and this city, even as an earthen vessel is broken in pieces which cannot be mended again.

and shall tell them, 'Thus says YHWH of hosts: "Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter's vessel, that can't be made whole again; and they shall bury in Topheth, until there is no place to bury.

12 Thus will I do, saith the Lord, to this place, and to the inhabitants of it, that this city may be given up, as one that is falling to ruin.

Thus will I do to this place," says YHWH, "and to its inhabitants, even making this city as Topheth:

13 And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Juda shall be as a ruinous place, because of their uncleannesses in all the houses, wherein they burnt incense upon their roofs to all the host of heaven, and poured drink-offerings to strange gods.

and 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 on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings to other gods."'"

14 And Jeremias came from [the place] of the Fall, 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, Thus saith the Lord;

Then came Jeremiah from Topheth, where YHWH had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of YHWH's house, and said to all the people:

15 Behold I bring upon this city, and upon all the cities belonging to it, and upon the villages of it, all the evils which I have spoken against it, because they have hardened their neck, [that they might not] hearken to my commands.

"Thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Look, I will bring on this city and on 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.'"