Jeremiah 19:1-8

1 The Lord saith these things, Go thou, and take an earthen(ware) pottle of a potter, [and] (some) of the elder men of the people, and of the elder men of the priests. (The Lord saith these things, Go thou, and take the clay jar of a potter, and some of the elders of the people, and some of the elders of the priests.)

2 And go thou out to the valley of the sons of Hinnom, which is beside the entering of the earthen gate (And go thou out to the Valley of Ben-hinnom, which is before, or in front of, the entrance to the Potsherd Gate); and there thou shalt preach the words which I shall speak to thee;

3 and thou shalt say, Kings of Judah, and the dwellers of Jerusalem, hear ye the word of the Lord. The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall bring in torment on this place, so that each man that heareth it, his ears tingle. (and thou shalt say, Kings of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, hear ye the word of the Lord. The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall bring in torment upon this place, so that each person who heareth about it, their ears shall tingle.)

4 For they have forsaken me, and made alien this place, and offered sacrifices to alien gods therein, which they, and the fathers of them, and the kings of Judah, knew not; and they filled this place with the blood of innocents, (For they have deserted me, and made this place strange, or foreign, to me, and offered sacrifices to strange, or foreign, gods there, which they, and their forefathers, and the kings of Judah, did not know; and they filled this place with the blood of innocents,)

5 and builded high things to Baalim, to burn their sons in fire, into burnt sacrifice to Baalim (and built the high places, or the hill shrines, to Baal, to burn their children in the fire, for burnt sacrifices to Baal); which things I commanded not, neither spake, neither those (things) ascended into mine heart.

6 Therefore the Lord saith, Lo! days shall come, and this place shall no more be called Tophet, and the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaying. (And so the Lord saith, Lo! days shall come, and this place shall no longer be called Tophet, and the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.)

7 And I shall destroy the counsel of Judah and of Jerusalem in this place, and I shall destroy them by sword, in the sight of their enemies, and in the hand of men seeking the lives of them; and I shall give their dead bodies to be meat to the birds of the air, and to [the] beasts of (the) earth. (And I shall destroy the plans of Judah and of Jerusalem in this place, and I shall destroy them by the sword, before their enemies, and by the hands, or the power, of those who seek their lives; and I shall give their dead bodies to be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth.)

8 And I shall set this city into wondering, and into hissing; each that passeth by it, shall wonder, and hiss on all the vengeance thereof (each person who passeth by it, shall wonder and shall hiss at all the vengeance there).

Jeremiah 19:1-8 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 19

In this chapter is foreshadowed, represented, and confirmed, the destruction of Jerusalem, by the breaking of a potter's vessel the prophet had in his hand; and by the place where he was bid to do this, and did it. The order for it, and the witnesses of it, and the place where it was done, are declared in Jer 19:1,2; the proclamation there of Jerusalem's ruin is made, Jer 19:3; the cause of it, their apostasy, idolatry, and shedding of innocent blood, Jer 19:4,5; the great slaughter of them by the sword and famine, Jer 19:6-9; and how easy, and irresistible, and irrecoverable, their destruction would be, are signified by the breaking of the bottle, Jer 19:10,11, when Jerusalem for its idolatry would become as defiled a place as Tophet, where the prophet was, Jer 19:12,13; from whence he came to the temple, and there repeated the proclamation of the evil that should come upon that city, and all the towns around it, Jer 19:14,15.