Jeremiah 19:3

3 The Lord told me to say, "Kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem, listen to what I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, have to say. I am going to bring such a disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will be stunned.

Jeremiah 19:3 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 19:3

And say, hear ye the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah
The king and his queen; or the king and his sons; or the king and his princes, and nobles; for there was but one king reigning at a time in Judah, and the present king was Zedekiah; see ( Jeremiah 21:1 ) ; and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
the elders of which, and of the priests, were now before him; to whom he said the following things, that they might tell them to the persons mentioned: thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel;
who is able to do whatsoever he pleases in the armies of the heavens, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and will do so among his own people, notwithstanding his being the God of Israel: behold, I will bring evil upon this place;
the evil of punishment for the evil of sin; such as the sword, famine, and captivity; meaning not on that spot of ground where the prophet with the elders were, but upon the city of Jerusalem, and on all the land of Judea: the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle;
it shall be astonishing and surprising to him; it shall even stun him; he shall stand as one thunderstruck or be so affected with it as a man is at a violent clap of thunder, or at some exceeding vehement sound, which leaves such an impression upon him, and continues with him, that he cannot get rid of it; but seems to be continually sounding in his ears, and they even echo and ring with it; see ( 1 Samuel 3:11 ) . The phrase denotes the greatness of the calamity, and the surprise which the bare report of it would bring with it.

Jeremiah 19:3 In-Context

1 The Lord told me to go and buy a clay jar. He also told me to take some of the elders of the people and some of the older priests,

2 and to go through Potsherd Gate out to Hinnom Valley. There I was to proclaim the message that he would give me.

3 The Lord told me to say, "Kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem, listen to what I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, have to say. I am going to bring such a disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will be stunned.

4 I am going to do this because the people have abandoned me and defiled this place by offering sacrifices here to other gods - gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah have known anything about. They have filled this place with the blood of innocent people,

5 and they have built altars for Baal in order to burn their children in the fire as sacrifices. I never commanded them to do this; it never even entered my mind.