Jeremiah 19:1–6

The Broken Jar

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

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

³and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O ^akings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says the Lord 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 an alien place and have burned ¹sacrifices in it to ^cother gods, that neither they nor their forefathers 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 enter My ¹mind;

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