< Jeremiah 19 >

1 This is what the LORD says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take some of the elders of the people and leaders of the priests,
Lokhu yikho akutshoyo uThixo: “Hamba uyethenga udiwo kumbumbi wezimbiza. Thatha abanye abadala babantu labanye babaphristi
2 and go out to the Valley of Ben-hinnom near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Proclaim there the words I speak to you,
uhambe labo esigodini seBheni-Hinomu, eduze lentuba yeSango loDengezi. Umemezele amazwi engikutshela wona,
3 saying, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on this place that the ears of all who hear of it will ring,
uthi, ‘Zwanini ilizwi likaThixo, lina makhosi akoJuda lani bantu abahlala eJerusalema. UThixo uSomandla, uNkulunkulu ka-Israyeli, uthi: Lalelani! Ngizaletha umonakalo kule indawo ozabanda indlebe zomuntu wonke owuzwayo.
4 because they have abandoned Me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in this place to other gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have ever known. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.
Ngoba bangidelile kwathi indawo le bayenza eyabonkulunkulu bezizweni; kuyo batshisele imihlatshelo onkulunkulu abangabaziyo, bona labokhokho babo kanye lamakhosi akoJuda, njalo indawo le sebayigcwalisa igazi labantu abangelacala.
5 They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I never commanded or mentioned, nor did it even enter My mind.
Sebakhele uBhali izindawo eziphakemeyo ukuba batshise amadodana abo emlilweni njengeminikelo yokutshiswa kuBhali, into engingazange ngibalaye kumbe ngitsho ukuthi bayenze, kumbe ukuthi ike ifike engqondweni yami.
6 So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.
Ngakho qaphelani, insuku ziyeza, kutsho uThixo, lapho abantu bengayikubiza indawo le ngokuthi Thofethi loba iSigodi seBheni-Hinomu kodwa iSigodi sokuBulala.
7 And in this place I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, by the hands of those who seek their lives, and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.
Kuyonale indawo ngizawachitha amacebo kaJuda laweJerusalema. Ngizabenza bafe ngenkemba phambi kwezitha zabo, lasezandleni zalabo abafuna ukubabulala, njalo ngizanikela izidumbu zabo ukuba zibe yikudla kwezinyoni zasemoyeni lezinyamazana zeganga.
8 I will make this city a desolation and an object of scorn. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.
Idolobho leli ngizalichitha ngilenze libe yinto yokwesatshwa lenhlekisa; bonke abadlula khona bazathuthumela njalo baklolode ngenxa yamanxeba alo wonke.
9 I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and distress inflicted on them by their enemies who seek their lives.’
Ngizabenza badle inyama yamadodana abo leyamadodakazi abo, njalo labo bazadlana inyama ngesikhathi esinzima sokuvinjezelwa kwabo yizitha ezifuna ukubabulala.’
10 Then you are to shatter the jar in the presence of the men who accompany you,
Emva kwalokho bulala udiwo labo abahamba lawe bekhangele,
11 and you are to proclaim to them that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I will shatter this nation and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.
ubususithi kubo, ‘UThixo uSomandla uthi: Ngizasiphahlaza isizwe lesi kanye ledolobho leli njengokuphahlazwa kodiwo lombumbi lolu olungeke lulungiswe futhi. Abafileyo bazabangcwaba eThofethi kuze kusweleke indawo.
12 This is what I will do to this place and to its residents, declares the LORD. I will make this city like Topheth.
Lokhu yikho engizakwenza kule indawo lakulabo abahlala lapha, kutsho uThixo. Idolobho leli ngizalenza lifanane leThofethi.
13 The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like that place, Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops they burned incense to all the host of heaven and poured out drink offerings to other gods.”
Izindlu zaseJerusalema kanye lezamakhosi akoJuda zizangcoliswa njengale indawo, iThofethi, zonke izindlu lapho abazatshisela khona impepha phezu kwezimpahla kuwo wonke amaxuku ezinkanyezi, bathelela abanye onkulunkulu umnikelo wokunathwayo.’”
14 Then Jeremiah returned from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the courtyard of the house of the LORD and proclaimed to all the people,
UJeremiya wabuya evela eThofethi, lapho uThixo ayemthume ukuyaphrofetha khona, wasesima egumeni lethempeli likaThixo wathi ebantwini bonke,
15 “This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I am about to bring on this city and on all the villages around it every disaster I have pronounced against them, because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words.’”
“UThixo uSomandla, uNkulunkulu ka-Israyeli, uthi: ‘Lalelani! Ngizakwehlisela kulelidolobho lasemizini elizungezileyo wonke umonakalo engawutshoyo, ngoba izintamo zabo zilukhuni njalo bayala ukulalela amazwi ami.’”

< Jeremiah 19 >