< Jeremiah 19 >

1 The Lord seith these thingis, Go thou, and take an erthene potel of a pottere, of the eldre men of the puple, and of the eldre men of preestis.
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 with you,
2 And go thou out to the valei of the sones of Ennon, which is bisidis the entring of the erthene yate; and there thou schalt preche the wordis whiche Y schal speke to thee;
and go through the Broken Pottery Gate to the valley of Ben-hinnom. Announce this message I'm giving you.
3 and thou schalt seie, Kyngis of Juda, and the dwelleris of Jerusalem, here ye the word of the Lord. The Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis, Lo! Y schal bringe in turment on this place, so that ech man that herith it, hise eeris tyngle.
Tell them, Listen to what the Lord says, kings of Judah and people living in Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring down on this place such a disaster that it will make the ears of anyone who hears about it ring.
4 For thei han forsake me, and maad alien this place, and offriden sacrifices to alien goddis ther ynne, whiche thei, and the fadris of hem, and the kingis of Juda, knewen not; and thei filliden this place with the blood of innocentis,
My people have deserted me and have made this a place where foreign gods are worshiped. They have burned incense in it to other gods that they and their forefathers and the kings of Judah never knew anything about. They have filled this place with the blood of innocent people.
5 and bildiden hiy thingis to Baalym, to brenne her sones in fier, in to brent sacrifice to Baalym; whiche thingis Y comaundide not, nether spak, nether tho stieden in to myn herte.
They have built pagan shrines to Baal where they burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal. This is something I never commanded or even mentioned. I never even thought of such a thing!
6 Therfor the Lord seith, Lo! daies comen, and this place schal no more be clepid Tophet, and the valei of the sone of Ennon, but the valei of sleyng.
So watch out! The time is coming, declares the Lord, when instead of Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom this place will be called the Valley of Killing.
7 And Y schal distrie the councel of Juda and of Jerusalem in this place, and Y schal distrie hem bi swerd, in the siyt of her enemyes, and in the hond of men sekynge the lyues of hem; and Y schal yyue her deed bodies mete to the briddis of the eir, and to beestis of erthe.
Right here in this place I'm going to spoil the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will let their enemies who want to kill them come and do exactly that. Their dead bodies will be food for birds of prey and wild animals.
8 And Y schal sette this citee in to wondring, and in to hissing; ech that passith bi it, schal wondre, and hisse on al the veniaunce therof.
I'm going to make this city desolate, a place that is mocked. Everyone who passes by will be horrified, shocked by all its damage.
9 And Y schal feede hem with the fleischis of her sones, and with the fleischis of her douytris; and ech man schal ete the fleischis of his frend in the bisegyng and angwisch, in which the enemyes of hem, and thei that seken the lyues of hem, schulen close hem togidere.
The siege brought by their enemies who want to kill them will be so terrible that I will make them eat each other, even their own sons and daughters.
10 And thou schalt al to-breke the potel bifore the iyen of the men, that schulen go with thee.
Then smash the jar in front of the people with you.
11 And thou schalt seie to hem, The Lord of oostis seith these thingis, So Y schal al to-breke this puple, and this citee, as the vessel of a pottere is al to-brokun, which mai no more be restorid; and thei schulen be biried in Tophet, for noon other place is to birie.
Tell them: this is what the Lord Almighty says: I'm going to smash this nation and this city, just like a clay jar is smashed so it can't ever be repaired. People will bury their dead in Topheth until it's full.
12 So Y schal do to this place, seith the Lord, and to dwelleris therof, that Y sette this citee as Tophet.
This is what I'm going to do to this place and to the people who live here, declares the Lord. I will turn this city into Topheth.
13 And the housis of Jerusalem, and the housis of the kingis of Juda, schulen be as the place of Tophet; alle the vncleene housis, in whose roouys thei sacrifieden to al the chyualrie of heuene, and offriden moist sacrifices to alien goddis.
All the houses of Jerusalem and the palaces of the kings of Judah will become unclean just like Topheth, because they are all the houses whose rooftops they used to burn incense to the sun, moon, and stars, and poured out drink offerings to other gods.
14 Forsothe Jeremye cam fro Tophet, whidur the Lord hadde sente hym for to profesie; and he stood in the porche of the hous of the Lord,
Jeremiah returned from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to deliver this message. He went and stood in the court of the Lord's Temple and announced to everyone,
15 and seide to al the puple, The Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis, Lo! Y schal bringe in on this citee, and on alle the citees therof, alle the yuelis whiche Y spak ayens it; for thei maden hard her nol, that thei herden not my wordis.
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Watch out! I am about to bring down on this city and on all its surrounding villages every disaster I warned them about, because they have stubbornly refused to listen to what I say.

< Jeremiah 19 >