The Broken Flask
1 Thus says the Lord, “Go, buy ca potter’s earthenware dflask, and take some of ethe elders of the people and some of ethe elders of the priests, 2 and go out fto the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you. 3 You shall say, g‘Hear the word of the Lord, hO kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing such disaster upon this place that ithe ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 4 jBecause the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; kand because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, 5 land have built the high places of Baal lto burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, mwhich I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind— 6 therefore, nbehold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or othe Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7 And in this place pI will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, qand will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. rI will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth. 8 And I will make this city sa horror, sa thing to be hissed at. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds. 9 tAnd I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his neighbor uin the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.’
10 “Then vyou shall break wthe flask in the sight of the men who go with you, 11 and shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, xas one breaks a potter’s vessel, yso that it can never be mended. zMen shall bury in Topheth because there will be no place else to bury. 12 Thus will I do to this place, declares the Lord, and to its inhabitants, making this city alike Topheth. 13 The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah—ball the houses on whose croofs offerings have been offered dto all the host of heaven, and edrink offerings have been poured out to other gods—shall be defiled alike the place of Topheth.’”
14 Then Jeremiah came from fTopheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, gand he stood in the court of the Lord’s house and said to all the people: 15 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I am bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, hbecause they have stiffened their neck, irefusing to hear my words.”
Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur
1 Now jPashhur the priest, the son of kImmer, who was lchief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2 Then jPashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him min the stocks that were in the upper nBenjamin Gate of the house of the Lord. 3 The next day, when jPashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name jPashhur, but Terror on Every Side. 4 For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you oa terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. 5 Moreover, pI will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its qprized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. 6 And you, rPashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, sto whom you have prophesied falsely.”
7 O Lord, tyou have deceived me,
and I was deceived;
uyou are stronger than I,
and you have prevailed.
vI have become a laughingstock all the day;
everyone mocks me.
8 For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I shout, w“Violence and destruction!”
For xthe word of the Lord has become for me
ya reproach and yderision all day long.
9 If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
zthere is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and aI am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
10 bFor I hear many whispering.
cTerror is on every side!
“Denounce him! dLet us denounce him!”
say all my eclose friends,
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
then hwe can overcome him
and take our revenge on him.”
11 But ithe Lord is with me as a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble;
ithey will not overcome me.
jThey will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their keternal dishonor
will never be forgotten.
12 O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous,
lwho sees the heart and the mind,1
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause.
13 mSing to the Lord;
praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hand of evildoers.
14 nCursed be the day
on which I was born!
The day when my mother bore me,
let it not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father,
“A son is born to you,”
omaking him very glad.
16 Let that man be like pthe cities
that the Lord overthrew without pity;
qlet him hear a cry in the morning
and an alarm at noon,
17 rbecause he did not kill me in the womb;
so my mother would have been my grave,
and her womb forever great.
18 sWhy did I come out from the womb
tto see toil and sorrow,
and spend my days in shame?
Jerusalem Will Fall to Nebuchadnezzar
1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him uPashhur the son of Malchiah and vZephaniah the priest, the son of wMaaseiah, saying, 2 x“Inquire of the Lord for us, yfor Nebuchadnezzar2 king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to zall his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”
3 Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: aBehold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. bAnd I will bring them together into the midst of this city. 5 I myself will fight against you cwith outstretched hand and strong arm, din anger and in fury and in great wrath. 6 And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. 7 Afterward, declares the Lord, eI will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. fHe shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’
8 “And to this people you shall say: g‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, hI set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who stays in this city shall die iby the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and jsurrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live kand shall have his life as a prize of war. 10 For lI have set my face against this city for harm and mnot for good, declares the Lord: nit shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’
Message to the House of David
11 “And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, 12 O house of David! Thus says the Lord:
o“‘Execute justice pin the morning,
and deliver from the hand of the oppressor
him who has been robbed,
qlest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of your evil deeds.’”
13 r“Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,
O rock of the plain,
declares the Lord;
you who say, s‘Who shall come down against us,
or who shall enter our habitations?’
14 tI will punish you according to uthe fruit of your deeds,
declares the Lord;
vI will kindle a fire in her forest,
vand it shall devour all that is around her.”
1 aBetter is a poor person who bwalks in his integrity
than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.
2 Desire1 without knowledge is not good,
and whoever cmakes haste with his feet misses his way.
3 When a man’s folly dbrings his way to ruin,
his heart erages against the Lord.
4 fWealth brings many new friends,
fbut a poor man is deserted by his friend.
5 gA false witness will not go unpunished,
and he who hbreathes out lies will not escape.
6 Many seek the favor of a generous man,2
and everyone is a friend to a man who gives igifts.
7 jAll a poor man’s brothers hate him;
khow much more do his friends go far from him!
He pursues them with words, but does not have them.3
8 lWhoever gets sense loves his own soul;
he who keeps understanding will mdiscover good.
9 gA false witness will not go unpunished,
and he who hbreathes out lies will perish.
10 nIt is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury,
much less for oa slave to rule over princes.
11 pGood sense makes one slow to anger,
and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
12 A king’s wrath is like qthe growling of a lion,
but his rfavor is like sdew on the grass.
13 tA foolish son is ruin to his father,
and ua wife’s quarreling is va continual dripping of rain.
14 wHouse and wealth are inherited from fathers,
but a prudent wife is xfrom the Lord.
15 ySlothfulness casts into za deep sleep,
and aan idle person will suffer hunger.
16 Whoever bkeeps the commandment keeps his life;
he who despises his ways will die.
17 cWhoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord,
and he dwill repay him for his edeed.
18 fDiscipline your son, for there is hope;
do not set your heart on gputting him to death.
19 A man of great wrath will pay the penalty,
for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again.
20 Listen to advice and accept instruction,
that you may gain wisdom in hthe future.
21 iMany are the plans in the mind of a man,
but jit is the purpose of the Lord kthat will stand.
22 What is desired in a man is steadfast love,
and a poor man is better than a liar.
23 The fear of the Lord lleads to life,
and whoever has it rests msatisfied;
he will nnot be visited by harm.
24 oThe sluggard buries his hand in pthe dish
and will not even bring it back to his mouth.
25 qStrike ra scoffer, and the simple will slearn prudence;
treprove a man of understanding, and he will gain knowledge.
26 He who does violence to his father and chases away his mother
is ua son who brings shame and reproach.
27 Cease to hear instruction, my son,
vand you will stray from the words of knowledge.
28 A worthless witness mocks at justice,
and the mouth of the wicked wdevours iniquity.
29 Condemnation is ready for rscoffers,
and xbeating for the backs of fools.
