Jeremiah 19:1-15 - The Valley Of The Slaughter

¹ Thus hath the LORD said, Go and buy a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the elders of the people and of the elders of the priests; ² and go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry by the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee. ³ Therefore thou shalt say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus saith the LORD of the hosts, God of Israel: Behold, I bring evil upon this place, such that whoever hears of it, his ears shall 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; ⁵ and have built high places unto Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto this same Baal, which I did not command, nor speak, neither did it come into my mind.

⁶ Therefore, behold, the days come, said the LORD, that this place shall no longer be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of the slaughter. 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 those that seek their souls and I will give their carcasses to be food for the fowls of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. ⁸ And I will make this city desolate and a hissing; every one that passes thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues. ⁹ And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and each one shall eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, with which their enemies and those that seek their souls shall straiten them.

¹⁰ Then thou shalt break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee, ¹¹ and shalt say unto them, Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said: Even so will I break this people and this city as one breaks a potter's vessel that cannot be restored again; and they shall bury them in Tophet, for there shall be no other place to bury. ¹² Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to its inhabitants and even make this city as Tophet: ¹³ And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be as the place of Tophet, defiled, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of the heaven and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.

¹⁴ Then Jeremiah returned from Tophet, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD's house and said to all the people, ¹⁵ Thus hath the LORD of the hosts, God of Israel said: Behold, I bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have spoken against her because they have hardened their necks that they might not hear my words.

²⁸ Therefore thou shalt say unto them, This is the nation that did not hear the voice of the LORD their God, nor receive chastisement; the faith is lost and was cut off from their mouth. ²⁹ Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD has cast off and forsaken the nation of his wrath.

³⁰ For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, said the LORD; they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name to pollute it. ³¹ And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command them, neither did it come into my heart.

³² Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no longer be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter; for they shall bury in Tophet, for there shall be no other place. ³³ And the carcasses of this people shall be food for the fowls of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth; and there shall be no one to chase them away. ³⁴ Then I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.

¹ At that time, said the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of his princes and the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves; ² and they shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved and whom they have served and after whom they have walked and whom they have sought and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth. ³ And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of those that remain of this evil generation, in all the places where I have driven those that remain, said the LORD of the hosts.