The Lord spoke to Jeremiah again.
But this time, the voice did not have the potter's patient tone.—Go —he told her— and buy a clay pot.
Take the village elders with you.and
the priests.
Jeremiah felt a chill.It wasn't
a vision.
It was not a spoken parable.
It was a public action.
He obeyed.
He walked through the market until he found the potter. The vessel was simple,
sturdy, and well made.It was cooked. It had no visible cracks. It seemed strong.
Too strong.
He paid for it and held it in his hands. It weighed more than he expected.
—That's Judah for you —he thought—.
Hardened by the fire of her own pride.
The elders and priests followed him, curious and tense. Jeremiah explained nothing.
He walked toward the Valley of Ben-hinnom, a place marked by death and shame.
Trash was being burned there.
There, abominable sacrifices were
offered. There, innocent blood had
been shed.
The air was heavy.
Jeremiah stopped.
She lifted the vessel so that everyone could see it.
"Listen to the word of the Lord," he
proclaimed, "kings of Judah and inhabitants of
Jerusalem."
The murmuring stopped.
—Thus says the Lord of hosts—he continued—:
"I am going to bring such calamity upon this
place
"Whoever hears it will have their ears ringing."
Some shifted uncomfortably."Because they forsook me," Jeremiah said,
"and filled this place with the blood of
innocents."
Because they built altars to gods they did not know.A
priest raised his voice.
"That's an exaggeration!"
Jeremiah looked at him
sadly.
—It isn't —he replied—.
They have burned their children in the fire.
They have called what I called an abomination a
good thing.The silence was thick.
—Therefore —he continued—,
This place will no longer be called the Valley
of Ben-hinnom,but Valley of the Slaughter.
Some retreated.
Jeremiah lifted the vessel a little higher.
—I will make the council of Judah empty—he said.
—I will make them fall by the sword before their
enemies.
The words were like blows.
"They will eat the flesh of their children," he added.
at the site of the siege.
An old man closed his eyes.
"Enough!" shouted another.
That will never happen!
Jeremiah took a deep
breath.
So…
raising the vessel above his head…
He smashed it against the ground.The sound was
sharp. Brutal.The vase shattered.
Fragments of mud flew in all directions.Nobody
spoke.
The echo of the blow seemed to hang suspended in the
air.Jeremiah pointed to the pieces.
"Thus I will break this people," he said in a firm
voice, "as a potter's vessel is broken."
that cannot be restored.A priest
took a step back.
"Isn't... is there no going back?" he asked, his voice
trembling. Jeremiah looked at him with pain.
—Not when the clay refuses to be molded—he replied. —Not
when it hardens forever.
The group silently returned to the city.
Jeremiah felt an unbearable weight on his chest. There was no joy in that message.
NoThere was satisfaction.
Only obedience…
andduel.
Upon arriving at the temple, Jeremiah spoke again.
—Thus says the Lord—he proclaimed—:
"I will bring upon this city all the evil that I have spoken."
Their faces were filled with hatred now.
"This man is dangerous!" someone shouted.
Destroy the people's hope!Jeremiah
lowered his voice.
"I don't destroy hope," he said. "I
announce consequences."The priest Pasjur, chief of the temple officials, glared at him furiously.
"Hit him!" he ordered.
Jeremiah was flogged and put in the stocks, exposed to public shame. His body
It hurt. His soul… even more.
That night, hanging and bleeding, Jeremiah spoke to God from the depths of his
being.
"You seduced me," he
said, "and I was
seduced."
You were stronger than me.
Tears streamed down her face.
"I've been the butt of jokes all day," she whispered.
"Everyone's laughing at me."
He remembered the sound of the vase breaking.
—This is how my heart breaks —she thought—.
—But if I say, "I will not speak of Him anymore…" —he continued—
There is in my heart like a burning fire.He
clenched his teeth.
—I cannot remain silent.
At dawn, he was released.
He walked slowly, in pain, but upright.The
message had been delivered.
The vase was broken.
ANDJudah…
She could no longer pretend that she hadn't heard the sound.