191 Thus says the Lord , "Go and buy a potter's earthenware jar , and take some of the elders of the people and some of the senior priests . 2 "Then go out to the valley of Ben-hinnom e , which is by the entrance of the potsherd gate , and proclaim there the words that I tell you, 3 and say , 'Hear the word of the Lord , O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem : thus says the Lord of hosts , the God of Israel , "Behold I am about to bring a calamity upon this place , at which the ears of everyone that hears of it will tingle . 4 "Because e they have forsaken Me and have made this an alien place and have burned sacrifices in it to other gods , that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known , and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent 5 and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal , a thing which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever enter My mind ; 6 therefore , behold , days are coming ," declares the Lord , "when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-hinnom e , but rather e the valley of Slaughter .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 19:1-6
Commentary on Jeremiah 19:1-9
(Read Jeremiah 19:1-9)
The prophet must give notice of ruin coming upon Judah and Jerusalem. Both rulers and ruled must attend to it. That place which holiness made the joy of the whole earth, sin made the reproach and shame of the whole earth. There is no fleeing from God's justice, but by fleeing to his mercy.