Jeremiah, 19

1. Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and [take] of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests;

1. This was an order of Yahweh to Jeremiah, "Go and buy a jar from the potter. Take with you some elders of the people and a few senior priests,

2. And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which [is] by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee,

2. and go out to the valley of Ben-Hinnom at the entrance to the Potsherd Gate. Proclaim there what I tell you.

3. And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.

3. Say this: Hear the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem! Yahweh the God of hosts and the God of Israel is the one who speaks. I am about to send a disaster upon this place that will make the ears of those who hear it tingle.

4. Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;

4. Here they have forsaken me, offering incense to foreign gods that neither they, their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known. They have profaned this place by filling it with the blood of the innocent.

5. They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire [for] burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake [it], neither came [it] into my mind:

5. They have put up high places for Baal to burn their children in fire as a sacrifice. This is something that I have never commanded them to do, much less conceived in my mind.

6. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.

6. 'Hence, I, Yahweh, tell you now that the days will surely come when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Massacre.

7. And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

7. In this place I will frustrate the plans of Judah and Jerusalem and let them be slain by their enemies - the very people who have doggedly sought their lives. Then, I will commit their corpses to the birds and the beasts as food.

8. And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.

8. I will transform this city into a horrible wasteland - an object of scorn and a panorama of horror that will shock passers-by and make them kiss upon witnessing the terrible catastrophe!

9. And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.

9. The city will be surrounded by the enemies who have vowed to massacre the people. No one will be able to flee from this tight siege and the people in the city will be forced to eat the flesh of one another, even that of their very own children.

10. Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,

10. Then, you shall break the jar before the people who have accompanied you

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 potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury [them] in Tophet, till [there be] no place to bury.

11. and you will tell them that I, Yahweh the God of hosts, will smash the people of this city like the shattered jar of the potter which is beyond repair. People will bury the dead even in Topheth, for there is no more space in the land to bury them.

12. Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and [even] make this city as Tophet:

12. This is precisely what I will do to Jerusalem and its citizens, making this city like Topheth.

13. And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.

13. The houses of Jerusalem and the palaces of the kings of Judah will be defiled like Topheth because the roofs of these houses have been used to burn incense for the stars of the skies and to pour wine-offerings for strange gods."

14. Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD'S house; and said to all the people,

14. Then Jeremiah left Topheth where Yahweh had sent him to prophesy, and stood in the porch of the House of Yahweh. There he told 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 evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.

15. "Listen to the word of Yahweh, God of Israel: I am about to bring on this city and the towns surrounding the disaster that I have already foretold, because they are a stiff-necked people and will not listen to me."