Jeremiah 19–22

The Valley of the Slaughter

19Thus said Yahweh, “Go and buy a potter’s earthenware jar, and take some of the elders of the people, and some of the leaders of the priests, ²and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, which is at the entrance of the Gate of the Potsherd, and proclaim there the words that I speak to you. ³And you shall say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: “Look, I am about to bring disaster upon this place so that everyone who hears it,^a his ears will ring. ⁴Because they have forsaken me, and they have defaced this place, and they have made smoke offerings in it to other gods whom they have not known, they, nor their ancestors,^b nor the kings of Judah, and they have filled up this place with the blood of the innocent, ⁵and they have built the high places of Baal, to burn their children in the fire, burnt offerings to Baal, which I commanded not, and I ordered not, and it did not come to my mind.^c

⁶“Therefore^d look, days are about to come,” declares^e Yahweh, “when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but^f the Valley of the Slaughter. ⁷And I will lay waste the plans^g of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will bring them to ruin by the sword before^h their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life, and I will give their dead bodiesⁱ as food to the birds^j of heaven and to the animals^k of the earth. ⁸And I will make this city a horror, and an object of hissing, everyone who passes by it will be appalled, and will hiss because of all its wounds. ⁹And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, and each one will eat the flesh of his neighbor in the siege and in the distress which their enemies and those who seek their life inflict on them.” ’

¹⁰“Then you shall break the jar before the eyes of the men who go with you. ¹¹And you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts: “So I will break this people and this city as one breaks the vessel of the potter, so that it is not able to be repaired again. And in Topheth they will bury until there is no room to bury.^{l 12}Thus will I do to this place,” declares^m Yahweh, “and to its inhabitants, to make this city like Topheth. ¹³And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be unclean like the place of Topheth, all the houses where they made smoke offerings upon their roofs to all the host of heaven, and where they poured out libations to other gods.” ’ ”

¹⁴Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where Yahweh had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the courtyard of the house of Yahweh and said to all the people, ¹⁵“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Look, I am about to bring to this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their neck to not hear my words.’ ”

A Message for Pashhur

20Now Pashhur, the son of Immer, the priest who was officer in charge in the temple of Yahweh, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. ²Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Gate of Benjamin, which was by the temple of Yahweh. ³And then^a on the next day, when Pashhur brought Jeremiah out from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “Yahweh will not call your name Pashhur, but^b Terror From All Around. ⁴For thus says Yahweh, ‘Look, I am making you a terror to yourself and to all your friends, and they will fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes will be seeing it.^c And all Judah I will give into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will deport them to Babylon, and he will strike them with the sword. ⁵And I will give all the wealth of this city, and all its acquisitions, and all its precious items, and all of the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give into the hand of their enemies, and they will plunder them, and they will seize them, and they will bring them to Babylon. ⁶And you, Pashhur, and all those who live in your house will go into captivity, and you will go to Babylon, and there you will die, and there you will be buried, you, and all your friends to whom you have prophesied falsely.^d’ ”

Jeremiah’s Lament

⁷You have persuaded me, O Yahweh, and I was persuaded.

You have overpowered me, and you have prevailed.

I have become a laughingstock all day long.

Everyone^e is mocking me.

⁸For as often as^f I speak,

I must cry out violence and destruction.

I must shout, for the word of Yahweh has become for me

a disgrace and derision all day long.

⁹But if I say, “I will not mention him

and I will no longer speak in his name,”

then it becomes in my heart like a fire burning,

locked up in my bones,

and I struggle to contain it,^g

and I am not able.

¹⁰For I hear the rumor of many,

“Terror is from all around, denounce him,^h

yes, let us denounce him!”

All my close friendsⁱ are watchers of my stumbling,

saying, “perhaps he can be persuaded,

and we can prevail over him,

and we can take our revenge on him.”

¹¹But Yahweh is with me like a powerful warrior.

Therefore^j my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail.

They will be very ashamed, for they will not achieve success.

Their everlasting insult^k will not be forgotten.

¹²Yet, O Yahweh of hosts, who tests the righteous,

who sees the heart^l and the mind,^m

let me see your retribution upon them,

for to you I have revealed my legal case.

¹³Sing to Yahweh, praise Yahweh,

for he has delivered the life of the poor from the hand of evildoers.

¹⁴Cursed be the day on which I was born,

let not the day on which my mother gave birth to me be blessed.

¹⁵Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father,

saying,ⁿ “A child is born to you, a son!”

and he made him very glad.

¹⁶And let that man be like the cities

that Yahweh demolished without regret,

and let him hear a cry for help in the morning,

and an alarm at the time of noon.

¹⁷Because he did not kill me in the womb,

so that my mother would have been for me my grave,

and her womb would be pregnant forever.

¹⁸Why^o did I come out from the womb,

to see toil, and sorrow, and to end my days in shame?^p

A Message for Zedekiah

21The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur, the son of Malchiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying,^{a 2}“Please inquire of Yahweh on behalf of us, for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon is fighting against us. Perhaps Yahweh will do with us according to all his miraculous acts, so that he may withdraw from^b us.”

³Then Jeremiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah: ⁴‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: “Look, I am about to turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands,^c with which you are fighting against them, the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are laying siege to you from outside the wall, and I will gather them into the center of this city. ⁵And I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand, and with strong arm, and in anger,^d and in fury, and in great wrath. ⁶And I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both humankind and animal; by a great plague they will die. ⁷And afterward,”^e declares^f Yahweh, “I will give Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and those who remain in this city from the plague, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their lives, and he will strike them with the edge^g of the sword. He will not take pity on them, and he will not have compassion, nor will he show compassion.” ’

The Way of Life and the Way of Death

⁸“And to this people you shall say, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Look, I am setting before you^h the way of life and the way of death. ⁹He who stays in this city will die by the sword, or by the famine, or by the plague. And he who goes out and goes over to the Chaldeans who are laying siege to you will live, and his life will be to him as booty. ¹⁰For I have set my face against this city for evil and not for good,” declaresⁱ Yahweh. It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.” ’

A Series of Messages for the House of the King of Judah

¹¹“And to the house of the king of Judah, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, ¹²O house of David, thus says Yahweh,

“Execute judgment in the morning, justice,

and deliver the one who has been seized

from the hand of the oppressor,

lest my wrath goes forth like the fire and it burns,

and there is no one who quenches it^j

because of the evil of your deeds.

¹³Look, I am against you,

O inhabitants^k of the valley,

O rock of the plain,” declares^l Yahweh;

“you who say, ‘Who can descend against us,

or who can enter into our hiding place?’

¹⁴And I will punish you

according to the fruit of your deeds,” declares^m Yahweh,

“And I will kindle a fire in its forest,

and it will devour all its surroundings.” ’ ”

22Thus says Yahweh: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and you must speak this word there. ²And you must say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter through these gates. ³Thus says Yahweh, “Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been seized from the hand of the oppressor. And you must not oppress or treat violently the immigrant, the orphan, and the widow. And you must not shed innocent blood in this place. ⁴And if you indeed obey this word, then kings who sit for David on his throne will enter through the gates of this house, riding in chariots^a and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. ⁵But if you do not obey these words, I swear by myself,” declares^b Yahweh, “that this house will become a site of ruins.” ’ ”

⁶For thus says Yahweh concerning the house of the king of Judah,

“You are like Gilead to me,

like the head of the Lebanon.

Surely^c I will make you a desert,^d

like cities …