1This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take along some of the elders of the people and of the priests 2and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. There proclaim the words I tell you, 3and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. 4For they have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods; they have burned incense in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent. 5They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind. 6So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call this place Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.
7“ ‘In this place I will ruin19:7 The Hebrew for ruin sounds like the Hebrew for jar (see verses 1 and 10). the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, at the hands of those who want to kill them, and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds and the wild animals. 8I will devastate this city and make it an object of horror and scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds. 9I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh because their enemies will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.’
10“Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching, 11and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. 12This is what I will do to this place and to those who live here, declares the Lord. I will make this city like Topheth. 13The houses in Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah will be defiled like this place, Topheth—all the houses where they burned incense on the roofs to all the starry hosts and poured out drink offerings to other gods.’ ”
14Jeremiah then returned from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and stood in the court of the Lord’s temple and said to all the people, 15“This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to my words.’ ”
瓦瓶的比喻
1耶和华对我说： 2“你去向陶匠买一个瓦瓶，带着百姓和祭司中的一些首领到哈珥西19:2 “哈珥西”意思是“碎陶片”。城门旁的欣嫩子谷，在那里宣告我的话。 3你要说，‘犹大王和耶路撒冷的居民啊，你们要听耶和华的话！以色列的上帝——万军之耶和华说，看啊，我要在这里降下灾祸，听见这消息的人都必耳鸣。 4因为他们背弃了我，玷污了这地方。他们向自己、自己的祖先及犹大君王都不认识的神明烧香，使这地方流满了无辜人的血。 5他们为巴力建丘坛，烧死自己的儿子作燔祭献给巴力。我从未吩咐他们这样做，连提都没提过，连想都没想过。 6因此，看啊，时候将到，这地方不再叫陀斐特或欣嫩子谷，要叫杀戮谷。这是耶和华说的。 7我要在这地方挫败犹大人和耶路撒冷居民的计谋，使他们丧身在敌人刀下，死在仇敌手中，尸体成为飞鸟和野兽的食物。 8我必摧毁这城，使它令人惊惧、嗤笑，它的满目疮痍必令路人惊惧、嗤笑。 9我必使他们在敌人的围困之下陷入绝境，吃儿女和亲友的肉。’
10“耶利米啊，你要在同去的人面前打碎瓦瓶， 11然后告诉他们万军之耶和华说，‘我要把这百姓和这城打得粉碎，正如人打碎瓦瓶一样，再也不能修复。人们要在陀斐特埋死人，直到无处可埋。 12我必这样惩罚这城和其中的居民，使这城像陀斐特一样。这是耶和华说的。 13耶路撒冷的房屋和犹大君王的宫殿将被玷污，像陀斐特一样，因为他们在房顶向天上的万象烧香，向别的神明奠酒。’”
14耶利米奉耶和华之命到陀斐特说预言回来后，站在耶和华殿的院子中对百姓说： 15“以色列的上帝——万军之耶和华说，‘看啊，我要把我说过的灾祸降在这城及其周围的村庄，因为他们顽固不化，不肯听我的话。’”
