Jeremiæ 19
1 Hæc dicit Dominus: Vade, et accipe lagunculam figuli testeam a senioribus populi et a senioribus sacerdotum,
This is another message that Yahweh gave [to me]: “Go and buy a clay jar from a man who makes them. Then take with you some of the elders of the people and leaders of the priests.
2 et egredere ad vallem filii Ennom, quæ est juxta introitum portæ fictilis: et prædicabis ibi verba quæ ego loquar ad te.
Go out [of the city] past the Gate of Broken Pots, to the place [overlooking the dump for broken pottery in] the Ben-Hinnom Valley. Then give them a message.
3 Et dices: Audite verbum Domini, reges Juda, et habitatores Jerusalem. Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum, Deus Israël: Ecce ego inducam afflictionem super locum istum, ita ut omnis qui audierit illam, tinniant aures ejus,
Say to them, ‘[This message is for] you kings of Judah and [other] people of Jerusalem. Listen to what Yahweh is saying! The Commander of the armies of angels says that he will cause there to be a terrible disaster in [Jerusalem]. Those who hear about it will be stunned/shocked [IDM].
4 eo quod dereliquerint me, et alienum fecerint locum istum, et libaverunt in eo diis alienis quos nescierunt, ipsi et patres eorum, et reges Juda: et repleverunt locum istum sanguine innocentum,
[That will happen] because [you Israeli] people have stopped worshiping me, and have caused this place to be a place where [you worship] foreign gods. You burn sacrifices to gods that neither you nor your ancestors nor [even] the kings of Judah ever heard about. And you have filled this place with the blood of innocent people [whom you have killed].
5 et ædificaverunt excelsa Baalim, ad comburendos filios suos igni in holocaustum Baalim: quæ non præcepi, nec locutus sum, nec ascenderunt in cor meum.
You have built shrines to honor [your god] Baal, and at those shrines you have [killed] your own children and offered them to be sacrifices to Baal. I never commanded you to do that, I never spoke about doing that, I never even thought about anyone doing that.
6 Propterea ecce dies veniunt, dicit Dominus, et non vocabitur amplius locus iste Topheth, et vallis filii Ennom, sed vallis occisionis.
So, beware, [because I, ] Yahweh, say that there will be a time when this garbage dump will no longer be called Topheth or Ben-Hinnom Valley; it will be called Slaughter Valley.
7 Et dissipabo consilium Juda et Jerusalem in loco isto, et subvertam eos gladio in conspectu inimicorum suorum, et in manu quærentium animas eorum: et dabo cadavera eorum escam volatilibus cæli et bestiis terræ.
In this place I will ruin the plans of [you people who live in] Jerusalem and in [other places in] Judah. I will allow your enemies who want to kill you to kill [many of] you with their swords. [Then] I will allow your corpses to remain on the ground to be food for vultures and wild animals.
8 Et ponam civitatem hanc in stuporem, et in sibilum: omnis qui præterierit per eam obstupescet, et sibilabit super universa plaga ejus.
I will [completely destroy] Jerusalem and cause it to become a heap of ruins that people will despise. All the people who pass by will be appalled, and they will be shocked when they see that the city has been destroyed.
9 Et cibabo eos carnibus filiorum suorum et carnibus filiarum suarum: et unusquisque carnem amici sui comedet in obsidione, et in angustia in qua concludent eos inimici eorum, et qui quærunt animas eorum.
I will enable your enemies who want to kill you to surround the city for a long time. [Then the food will be all gone, and you people will be extremely hungry, with the result that] you people in the city will eat the flesh of your own children and your neighbors’ children.’
10 Et conteres lagunculam in oculis virorum qui ibunt tecum,
[Jeremiah, after you tell that to them], while the people who are with you are watching, smash the jar [that you brought].
11 et dices ad eos: Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum: Sic conteram populum istum, et civitatem istam, sicut conteritur vas figuli, quod non potest ultra instaurari: et in Topheth sepelientur, eo quod non sit alius locus ad sepeliendum.
Then say to them, ‘This is what the Commander of the armies of angels says: “Just like this jar has been smashed and cannot be repaired, I will smash this city of Jerusalem and other places in Judah. You will bury some of your corpses here in this dump, until there is no more space to bury any more corpses.
12 Sic faciam loco huic, ait Dominus, et habitatoribus ejus, et ponam civitatem istam sicut Topheth.
That is what I will do to this city and to you people who live here. I will cause this city to be desecrated, like [King Josiah caused Topheth to be] a place that was unfit for people to worship me there.
13 Et erunt domus Jerusalem, et domus regum Juda, sicut locus Topheth, immundæ, omnes domus in quarum domatibus sacrificaverunt omni militiæ cæli, et libaverunt libamina diis alienis.
The houses in Jerusalem and the palaces of the kings of Judah will be desecrated like this place will be. All the houses where you burned incense on the rooftops to honor the stars [that you worshiped], and where you poured out wine [to be an offering] to your gods, will become (desecrated/unacceptable places for people to worship me).”’”
14 Venit autem Jeremias de Topheth, quo miserat eum Dominus ad prophetandum, et stetit in atrio domus Domini, et dixit ad omnem populum:
Then I returned from the garbage dump where Yahweh had sent me to tell them that message. Then I stood in the courtyard of Yahweh’s temple and said this to all the people [who were there]:
15 Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum, Deus Israël: Ecce ego inducam super civitatem hanc, et super omnes urbes ejus, universa mala quæ locutus sum adversum eam, quoniam induraverunt cervicem suam ut non audirent sermones meos.
“This is what the Commander of the armies of angels says: ‘I will cause there to be a disaster in this city and in the villages around it like I promised, because you people have stubbornly [IDM] refused to pay attention to what I said to you.’”
