Jeremiah 19–22

CHAPTER 19

The Broken Jar

¹Thus says Yahweh, “Go and buy a ^apotter’s earthenware ^bjar, and take some of the ^celders of the people and some of the ^delders of the priests.

²“Then go out to the ^avalley of Ben-hinnom, which is by the entrance of the potsherd gate, and there ^bcall out the words that I tell you

³and say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, O ^akings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to bring a ^bcalamity upon this place, at which the ^cears of everyone that hears of it will tingle.

⁴“Because they have ^aforsaken Me and have ^bmade this a foreign place and have burned incense in it to ^cother gods, that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known, and because they have filled this place with the ^dblood of the innocent

⁵and have built the ^ahigh places of Baal to burn their ^bsons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever come upon My heart,

⁶therefore, behold, ^adays are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when this place will no longer be called ^bTopheth or ^cthe valley of Ben-hinnom, but rather the valley of Slaughter.

⁷“I will ^aempty out the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem to the point of destruction in this place, and ^bI will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I will give over their ^ccarcasses as food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.

⁸“I will also make this city an ^aobject of horror and of hissing; ^beveryone who passes by it will be ¹horrified and hiss because of all its ²slaughtering.

⁹“I will make them ^aeat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them.” ’

¹⁰“Then you are to break the ^ajar in the sight of the men who accompany you,

¹¹and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Just so will I ^abreak this people and this city, even as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will ^bbury in Topheth ¹because there is no other place for burial.

¹²“This is what I will do to this place and its inhabitants,” declares Yahweh, “so as to make this city like Topheth.

¹³“And the ^ahouses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be ^bdefiled like the place Topheth because of all the ^chouses on whose rooftops they burned incense to ^dall the heavenly host and ^epoured out drink offerings to other gods.” ’ ”

¹⁴Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where Yahweh had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the ^acourt of the house of Yahweh and said to all the people:

¹⁵“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to bring on this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have spoken against it because they have ^astiffened their necks so ^bas not to hear My words.’”

CHAPTER 20

Yahweh Speaks Against Pashhur

¹Then Pashhur the priest, the son of ^aImmer, who was ^bruling overseer in the house of Yahweh, heard Jeremiah prophesying these words;

²and Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet ^astruck and put him in the ^bstocks that were at the upper ^cBenjamin Gate, which was by the house of Yahweh.

³Now it happened that on the next day, Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks. And Jeremiah said to him, “Pashhur is not the name Yahweh has ^acalled you, but rather ^1bMagor-missabib.

⁴“For thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am going to make you a ^aterror to yourself and to all your friends; and while ^byour eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. So I will ^cgive over all Judah to the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take them away into ^dexile to Babylon and will strike them down with the sword.

⁵‘I will also give over all the ^awealth of this city, all the fruit of its labor, and all its precious things; even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give over to the ^bhand of their enemies, and they will plunder them, take them away, and bring them to Babylon.

⁶‘And you, ^aPashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; and you will enter Babylon, and there you will die, and there you will be buried, you and all your ^bfriends to whom you have ^cprophesied lies.’”

Jeremiah Curses the Day He Was Born

⁷O Yahweh, You have enticed me, and I was enticed;

You were ^astronger than I, and You prevailed.

I have become a ^blaughingstock all day long;

Everyone ^cmocks me.

⁸For each time I speak, I cry aloud;

I ^acall out violence and devastation

Because for me the ^bword of Yahweh has ¹resulted

In reproach and derision all day long.

⁹But if I say, “I will not ^aremember Him

Or speak anymore in His name,”

Then in ^bmy heart it becomes like a burning fire

Shut up in my bones;

And I am weary of holding it in,

And ^cI cannot prevail.

¹⁰For ^aI have heard the bad report of many,

“^bTerror on every side!

^cDenounce him; yes, let us denounce him!”

¹All my ^dtrusted friends,

Keeping watch for my fall, say:

“Perhaps he will be ²deceived, so that we may ^eprevail against him

And take our revenge on him.”

¹¹But ^aYahweh is with me like a ruthless mighty one;

Therefore my ^bpersecutors will stumble and not prevail.

They will be utterly ashamed, because they have not prospered,

With an ^ceverlasting dishonor that will not be forgotten.

¹²Yet, O Yahweh of hosts, You who ^atest the righteous,

Who see the ¹mind and the heart;

Let me ^bsee Your vengeance on them,

For ^cto You I have revealed my cause.

^13aSing to Yahweh, praise Yahweh!

For He has ^bdelivered the soul of the needy one

From the hand of evildoers.

¹⁴Cursed be the ^aday when I was born;

Let the day not be blessed when my mother bore me!

¹⁵Cursed be the man who brought the good news

To my father, saying,

“A ^1ababy boy has been born to you!”

And made him very glad.

¹⁶But let that man be like the cities

Which Yahweh ^aoverthrew without ¹relenting,

And let him hear an ^boutcry in the morning

And a ²shout of war at noon,

¹⁷Because he did not ^aput me to death from the womb,

So that my mother would have been my grave,

And her womb ever pregnant.

¹⁸Why did I ever come forth from the womb

To ^alook on trouble and sorrow,

So that my ^bdays have been spent in ^cshame?

CHAPTER 21

Jeremiah’s Message for Zedekiah

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh when ^aKing Zedekiah sent to him ^bPashhur, the son of Malchijah, and ^cZephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying,

²“Please ^ainquire of Yahweh on our behalf, for ^1bNebuchadnezzar king of ^cBabylon is warring against us; perhaps Yahweh will deal with us ^daccording to all His ²wonderful acts, so that the enemy will go up from us.”

³Then Jeremiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah,

⁴‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to ^aturn back the weapons of war which are in your hands, with which you are warring against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall; and I will ^bgather them into the center of this city.

⁵“I ^aMyself will war against you with an ^boutstretched hand and a strong arm, even in ^canger and wrath and great indignation.

⁶“I will also strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great ^apestilence.

⁷“Then afterwards,” declares Yahweh, “^aI will give over Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people, even those who remain in this city from the pestilence, the sword, and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar 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 down with the edge of the sword. He ^bwill not show pity on them nor spare nor have compassion.” ’

⁸“You shall also say to this people, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I ^aset before you the way of life and the way of death.

⁹“He who ^ainhabits this city will die by the ^bsword and by famine and by pestilence; but he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as spoil.

¹⁰“For I have ^aset My face against this city for ¹evil and not for good,” declares Yahweh. “It will be ^bgiven into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will ^cburn it with fire.” ’

¹¹“Then say to the household of the ^aking of Judah, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh,

¹²O ^ahouse of David, thus says Yahweh:

“^bRender justice ¹every ^cmorning;

And deliver the person who has been robbed from the ²power of his oppressor,

^dLest My wrath go forth like fire

And ^eburn with none to extinguish it,

Because of the evil of their deeds.

¹³“Behold, ^aI am against you, O ^binhabitant of the valley,

O ¹rocky plain,” declares Yahweh,

“You men who say, ‘^cWho will come down against us?

Or who will enter into our dwelling places?’

¹⁴“But I will punish you ^aaccording to the ¹results of your deeds,” declares Yahweh,

“And I will ^bkindle a fire in its forest

That it may devour all its surroundings.” ’ ”

CHAPTER 22

O Land, Hear Yahweh

¹Thus says Yahweh, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there you shall speak this word

²and say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, O king of Judah, who ^asits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates.

³‘Thus says Yahweh, “^aDo justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his ^boppressor. Also ^cdo not mistreat or do violence to the sojourner, the orphan, or the widow; and do not ^dshed innocent blood in this place.

⁴“For if you men will indeed do this thing, then ^akings will enter the gates of this house, sitting for David on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people.

⁵“^aBut if you will not obey these words, I ^bswear by Myself,” declares Yahweh, “that this house will become a waste place.” ’ ”

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

“You are like ^aGilead to Me,

Like the summit of Lebanon;

Yet most assuredly I will make you like a ^bwilderness,

Like cities which are not inhabited.

⁷“For I will set apart ^a…