Jeremiah 19–22

THE CLAY JAR

19This is what the Lord says: “Go, buy a potter’s clay^w jar. Take^E some of the elders of the people and some of the leading priests^{x 2}and go out to Ben Hinnom Valley^y near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Proclaim there the words I speak to you. ³Say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem.^z This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such a disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will shudder^{Faa 4}because they have abandoned me^ab and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in it to other gods that they, their ancestors, and the kings of Judah have never known. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.^{ac 5}They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, something I have never commanded or mentioned; I never entertained the thought.^Aad

⁶“ ‘Therefore, look, the days are coming^ae—this is the Lord’s declaration—when this place will no longer be called Topheth and Ben Hinnom Valley, but Slaughter Valley.^{a 7}I will spoil the plans of Judah and Jerusalem in this place. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, by the hand of those who intend to take their life. I will provide their corpses as food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.^{b 8}I will make this city desolate, an object of scorn. Everyone who passes by it will be appalled and scoff because of all its wounds.^{c 9}I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and they will eat each other’s flesh in the distressing siege inflicted on them by their enemies who intend to take their life.’^d

¹⁰“Then you are to shatter the jar in the presence of the people going with you, ¹¹and you are to proclaim to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says: I will shatter these people and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be mended. They will bury the dead in Topheth because there is no other place for burials.^{e 12}That is what I will do to this place—this is the declaration of the Lord—and to its residents, making this city like Topheth. ¹³The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will become impure like that place Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops they have burned incense to all the stars in the sky^f and poured out drink offerings to other gods.’ ”

¹⁴Jeremiah returned from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, stood in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple,^g and proclaimed to all the people, ¹⁵“This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to bring on this city—and on all its cities—every disaster that I spoke against it, for they have become obstinate, not obeying my words.’ ”^h

JEREMIAH BEATEN BY PASHHUR

20Pashhur the priest,ⁱ the son of Immer^j and chief official in the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. ²So Pashhur had the prophet Jeremiah beaten and put him in the stocks^k at the Upper Benjamin Gate^l in the Lord’s temple. ³The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call you Pashhur, but Terror Is on Every Side,^{B 4}for this is what the Lord says, ‘I am about to make you a terror to both yourself and those you love.^m They will fall by the sword of their enemies before your very eyes.ⁿ I will hand Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will deport them to Babylon and put them to the sword. ⁵I will give away all the wealth^o of this city, all its products^p and valuables. Indeed, I will hand all the treasures of the kings of Judah over to their enemies. They will plunder them, seize them, and carry them off to Babylon.^{q 6}As for you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house, you will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon.^r There you will die, and there you will be buried, you and all your friends to whom you prophesied^s lies.’ ”

JEREMIAH COMPELLED TO PREACH

⁷You deceived^t me, Lord, and I was deceived.

You seized me and prevailed.

I am a laughingstock all the time;^u

everyone ridicules me.

⁸For whenever I speak, I cry out,

I proclaim, “Violence and destruction!”^v

so the word of the Lord has become my

constant disgrace and derision.

⁹I say, “I won’t mention him

or speak any longer in his name.”^w

But his message becomes a fire burning in my heart,^x

shut up in my bones.

I become tired of holding it in,^y

and I cannot prevail.

¹⁰For I have heard the gossip of many people,

“Terror is on every side!^z

Report him; let’s report him!”

Everyone I trusted^A watches for my fall.^aa

“Perhaps he will be deceived

so that we might prevail against him

and take our vengeance on him.”

¹¹But the Lord is with me like a violent warrior.^ab

Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.

Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly shamed,

an everlasting humiliation that will never be forgotten.^ac

¹²Lord of Armies, testing the righteous

and seeing the heart^B and mind,

let me see your vengeance on them,

for I have presented my case to you.^ad

¹³Sing to the Lord!

Praise the Lord,

for he rescues the life of the needy

from evil people.

JEREMIAH’S LAMENT

¹⁴May the day I was born

be cursed.^a

May the day my mother bore me

never be blessed.

¹⁵May the man be cursed

who brought the news to my father, saying,

“A male child is born to you,”

bringing him great joy.

¹⁶Let that man be like the cities

the Lord demolished without compassion.^b

Let him hear an outcry in the morning^c

and a war cry at noontime

¹⁷because he didn’t kill me in the womb^d

so that my mother might have been my grave,

her womb eternally pregnant.

¹⁸Why did I come out of the womb

to see only struggle and sorrow,^e

to end my life in shame?

ZEDEKIAH’S REQUEST DENIED

21This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur^f son of Malchijah and the priest Zephaniah^g son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah, asking, ²“Inquire of the Lord on our behalf, since King Nebuchadnezzar^Ah of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will perform for us something like all his past wondrous works so that Nebuchadnezzar will withdraw from us.”

³But Jeremiah answered, “This is what you are to say to Zedekiah: ⁴‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am about to repel the weapons of war in your hands,ⁱ those you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans^B who are besieging you outside the wall, and I will bring them into the center of this city.^{j 5}I myself will fight against you^k with an outstretched hand and a strong arm,^l with anger, fury, and intense wrath. ⁶I will strike the residents of this city, both people and animals. They will die in a severe plague. ⁷Afterward—this is the Lord’s declaration—King Zedekiah of Judah, his officers, and the people—those in this city who survive the plague, the sword, and the famine—I will hand over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon,^m to their enemies, yes, to those who intend to take their lives. He will put them to the sword; he won’t spare them or show pity or compassion.’ⁿ

A WARNING FOR THE PEOPLE

⁸“But tell this people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death.^{o 9}Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live and will retain his life like the spoils of war.^{p 10}For I have set my face against this city to bring disaster and not good^q—this is the Lord’s declaration. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, who will burn it.’^r

¹¹“And to the house of the king of Judah say this: ‘Hear the word of the Lord! ¹²House of David, this is what the Lord says:

Administer justice every morning,

and rescue the victim of robbery

from his oppressor,^s

or my anger will flare up like fire

and burn unquenchably

because of your evil deeds.

¹³Beware! I am against you,^t

you who sit above the valley,

you atop the rocky plateau—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

you who say, “Who can come down against us?^u

Who can enter our hiding places?”

¹⁴I will punish you according to what you have done^v—

this is the Lord’s declaration.

I will kindle a fire in your forest^w

that will consume everything around it.’ ”^x

JUDGMENT AGAINST SINFUL KINGS

22This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and announce this word there. ²You are to say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David^y—you, your officers, and your people who enter these gates. ³This is what the Lord says: Administer justice and righteousness.^z Rescue the victim of robbery from his oppressor.^aa Don’t exploit or brutalize the resident alien, the fatherless, or the widow.^a Don’t shed innocent blood in this place. ⁴For if you conscientiously carry out this word, then kings sitting on David’s throne will enter through the gates of this palace^b riding on chariots and horses—they, their officers, and their people. ⁵But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by myself^c—this is the Lord’s declaration—that this house will become a ruin.’ ”^d

⁶For this is what the Lord says concerning the house of the king of Judah:

“You are like Gilead^e to me,

or the summit of Lebanon,

but I will certainly turn you into a wilderness,

uninhabited cities.

⁷I will set apart destroyers^f against you,

each with his weapons.

They will cut down the choicest of your cedars

and throw them into the fire.

⁸“Many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why did the Lord do such a thing to this great city?’ ⁹They will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant^g of the Lord their God and bowed in worship to other gods and served them.’ ”^h

A MESSAGE CONCERNING SHALLUM

¹⁰Do not weep for the dead;

do not mourn for him.

Weep bitterly for the one who has gone away,

for he will never return again

and see his native land.ⁱ

¹¹For this is what the Lord says concerning Shallum^j son of Josiah,…