19 He prophesieth the destruction of Jerusalem for the contempt and despising of the word of God.
1 Thus saith the Lord, Go, and buy an earthen bottle of a potter, and take of the ancients for the people, and of the ancients of the Priests,
2 And go forth unto the valley of Ben-Hinnom, which is by the entry of the [a]East gate: and thou shalt preach there the words, that I shall tell thee,
3 And shalt say, Hear ye the word of the Lord, O [b]Kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring a plague upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall [c]tingle.
4 Because they have forsaken me, and profaned this place, and have burnt incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they, nor their fathers have known, nor the Kings of Judah (they have filled this place also with the blood of innocents,
5 And they have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I [d]commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind)
6 Therefore behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called [e]Topheth, nor the valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter.
7 And I will bring the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem to nought in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of them that seek their lives: and their carcasses will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the field.
8 (A)And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing, so that everyone that passeth thereby, shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.
9 (B)And I will feed them with the flesh of their sons, and with the flesh of their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies that seek their lives, shall hold them strait.
10 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,
11 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 [f]potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again, and they shall bury them in Topheth till there be no place to bury.
12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith the Lord, and to the inhabitants thereof, and I will make this city like Topheth.
13 For the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the Kings of Judah shall be defiled as the place of Topheth, because of all the [g]houses upon whose [h]roofs they have burnt incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.
14 Then 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,
15 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon this city, and upon all her towns, all the plagues that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, and would not hear my words.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 19:2 Or, gate of the sun.
- Jeremiah 19:3 By Kings here and in other places are meant counselors and governors of the people: which he calleth the ancients, verse 1.
- Jeremiah 19:3 Read of this phrase, 1 Sam. 3:11.
- Jeremiah 19:5 Whereby is declared, that whatsoever is not commanded by God’s word touching his service, is against his word.
- Jeremiah 19:6 Read Jer. 7:31 and 2 Kings 23:10; Isa. 30:33.
- Jeremiah 19:11 This visible sign was to confirm them touching the assurance of this plague, which the Lord threatened by his prophet.
- Jeremiah 19:13 He noteth the great rage of the idolaters, which left no place free from their abominations, insomuch as they polluted their own houses therewith, as we see yet among the Papists.
- Jeremiah 19:13 Read Deut. 22:8.