1 T hus says the Lord: Go and get a potter’s earthen bottle, and take some of the old people and some of the elderly priests

The Lord says, “Go and buy a pot-maker’s clay jar, and take some of the leaders of the people and some of the older religious leaders.

2 A nd go out to the Valley of Ben-hinnom, which is by the entrance of the Potsherd Gate; and proclaim there the words that I shall tell you,

Then go out to the valley of BenHinnom, by the Potsherd Gate, and there say the words that I will tell you.

3 A nd say, Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am going to bring such evil upon this place that the ears of whoever hears of it will tingle.

Say, ‘Hear the Word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. The Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, “See, I am about to bring much trouble to this place. The ears of everyone that hears of it will hurt.

4 B ecause the people have forsaken Me and have estranged and profaned this place by burning incense in it to other gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents

The people have left Me and have made this a strange place. They have burned special perfume in it to other gods that they and their fathers and the kings of Judah had never known. They have filled this place with the blood of those who were not guilty.

5 A nd have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I commanded not nor spoke of it, nor did it come into My mind and heart—

They have built the high places of the false god Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt gifts to Baal. This is a thing which I never told them to do or spoke of. It did not even come to My mind.

6 T herefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.

So see, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of BenHinnom. Instead it will be called the Valley of Killing.

7 A nd I will pour out and make void the counsel and the plans of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hands of those who seek their lives, and their dead bodies I will give to be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.

I will make the plans of Judah and Jerusalem come to nothing in this place. I will cause them to fall by the sword in front of those who hate them and by the hand of those who want to kill them. And I will feed their dead bodies to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth.

8 A nd I will make this city an astonishment and a horror and a hissing; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its plagues and disasters.

I will make this city a waste place, and people will make sounds of hate. Everyone who passes by it will be surprised and make strange noises because of all its troubles.

9 A nd I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and they shall eat each one the flesh of his neighbor and friend in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their lives distress them.

I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters. And they will eat each other’s flesh when the armies shut them in, and when those who want to kill them bring much trouble to them.”’

10 T hen you shall break the bottle in the sight of the men who accompany you,

“Then you are to break the jar in front of the men who go with you.

11 A nd say to them, Thus said the Lord of hosts: Even so will I break this people and this city as one breaks a potter’s vessel, so that it cannot be mended. Men will bury in Topheth because there will be no other place for burial and until there is no more room to bury.

And say to them, ‘The Lord of All says, “In this way I will break these people and this city, even as one breaks a pot-maker’s jar, which cannot be put back together. Men will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no place left to bury.

12 T hus will I do to this place, says the Lord, and to its inhabitants; and I will even make this city like Topheth.

This is what I will do to this place and its people,” says the Lord. “I will make this city like Topheth.

13 A nd the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be like the place of Topheth—even all the houses upon whose roofs incense has been burned to all the host of the heavens and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods.

The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be made unclean like Topheth. This will be because of all the houses on whose roofs they burned special perfume to all the false gods of the heavens and poured out drink gifts to other gods.”’”

14 T hen came Jeremiah from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the court of the Lord’s house and said to all the people,

Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to tell what would happen. And he stood in the open space of the Lord’s house and said to all the people,

15 T hus says the Lord 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 stiffened their necks, refusing to hear My words.

“The Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, ‘See, I am about to bring to this city and to all its towns all the trouble that I have spoken about, because they have made their necks hard and would not listen to My Words.’”