Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 256
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IMMERSE
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PROPHETS
19:6–20:6
it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing! So beware,
for the time is coming, says the Lord, when this garbage dump will no
longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the Valley
of Slaughter.
“‘For I will upset the careful plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will allow
the people to be slaughtered by invading armies, and I will leave their dead
bodies as food for the vultures and wild animals. I will reduce Jerusalem
to ruins, making it a monument to their stupidity. All who pass by will be
astonished and will gasp at the destruction they see there. I will see to it
that your enemies lay siege to the city until all the food is gone. Then those
trapped inside will eat their own sons and daughters and friends. They will
be driven to utter despair.’
“As these men watch you, Jeremiah, smash the jar you brought. Then
say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: As this jar
lies shattered, so I will shatter the people of Judah and Jerusalem beyond
all hope of repair. They will bury the bodies here in Topheth, the garbage
dump, until there is no more room for them. This is what I will do to this
place and its people, says the Lord. I will cause this city to become defiled
like Topheth. Yes, all the houses in Jerusalem, including the palace of Ju
dah’s kings, will become like Topheth—all the houses where you burned
incense on the rooftops to your star gods, and where liquid offerings were
poured out to your idols.’”
Then Jeremiah returned from Topheth, the garbage dump where he
had delivered this message, and he stopped in front of the Temple of the
Lord. He said to the people there, “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s
Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will bring disaster upon this city and its
surrounding towns as I promised, because you have stubbornly refused
to listen to me.’”
Now Pashhur son of Immer, the priest in charge of the Temple of the
Lord, heard what Jeremiah was prophesying. So he arrested Jeremiah the
prophet and had him whipped and put in stocks at the Benjamin Gate of
the Lord’s Temple.
The next day, when Pashhur finally released him, Jeremiah said, “Pash
hur, the Lord has changed your name. From now on you are to be called
‘The Man Who Lives in Terror.’ For this is what the Lord says: ‘I will
send terror upon you and all your friends, and you will watch as they are
slaughtered by the swords of the enemy. I will hand the people of Judah
over to the king of Babylon. He will take them captive to Babylon or run
them through with the sword. And I will let your enemies plunder Jerusa
lem. All the famed treasures of the city—the precious jewels and gold and
silver of your kings—will be carried off to Babylon. As for you, Pashhur,
