¹ Thus saith Jehovah: Go and buy a potter's earthen flagon, 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 of the pottery-gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee,

³ and say, Hear the word of Jehovah, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle;

⁴ because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place [from me], 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 they have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire as burnt-offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it up into my mind:

⁶ therefore behold, days come, saith Jehovah, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor Valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of 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 hand of them that seek their life, and their carcases will I give as food to the fowl of the heavens and to the beasts of the earth.

⁸ And I will make this city an astonishment and a hissing; every one that passeth by shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.

⁹ And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat everyone the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the straitness wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.

¹⁰ And thou shalt break the flagon in the sight of the men that go with thee,

¹¹ and shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again. And they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place to bury.

¹² Thus will I do unto this place, saith Jehovah, and to the inhabitants thereof, and make this city as Topheth.

¹³ And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be as the place of Topheth, defiled, all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of the heavens, and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods.

¹⁴ And Jeremiah came from Topheth, whither Jehovah had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of Jehovah's house, and said to all the people,

¹⁵ Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her cities all the evil that I have spoken against it; for they have hardened their necks, not to hear my words.

¹ In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, came this word from Jehovah, saying,

² Thus saith Jehovah: Stand in the court of Jehovah's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in Jehovah's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them: diminish not a word.

³ Peradventure they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil which I purpose to do unto them because of the wickedness of their doings.

⁴ And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah: If ye will not hearken unto me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,

⁵ to hearken unto the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent unto you, even rising early and sending [them], but ye have not hearkened,

⁶ -- then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.

⁷ And the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of Jehovah.

⁸ And it came to pass when Jeremiah had ended speaking all that Jehovah had commanded [him] to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, Thou shalt certainly die.

⁹ Why hast thou prophesied in the name of Jehovah, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah.

¹⁰ And the princes of Judah heard these things; and they went up from the king's house unto the house of Jehovah, and sat in the entry of the new gate of Jehovah.

¹¹ And the priests and the prophets spoke unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die, for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.

¹² And Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and to all the people, saying, Jehovah sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.

¹³ And now, amend your ways and your doings, and hearken to the voice of Jehovah your God; and Jehovah will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.

¹⁴ But as for me, behold, I am in your hand; do unto me as seemeth good and right in your eyes:

¹⁵ only know for certain that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof; for of a truth Jehovah hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.

¹⁶ And the princes and all the people said unto the priests and to the prophets, This man is not worthy to die; for he hath spoken to us in the name of Jehovah our God.

¹⁷ And there rose up certain of the elders of the land and spoke to all the congregation of the people, saying,

¹⁸ Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Zion shall be ploughed [as] a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.

¹⁹ Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? Did he not fear Jehovah, and supplicate Jehovah, and Jehovah repented him of the evil that he had pronounced against them? And we should be doing a great evil against our souls.

²⁰ And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of Jehovah, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath-jearim: and he prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah;

²¹ and Jehoiakim the king, and all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, and the king sought to put him to death; but Urijah heard it, and he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt.

²² And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and men with him, into Egypt;

²³ and they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him to Jehoiakim the king; and he slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the children of the people.

²⁴ -- Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.