UJeremiya 19
1 Lokhu yikho akutshoyo uThixo: “Hamba uyethenga udiwo kumbumbi wezimbiza. Thatha abanye abadala babantu labanye babaphristi
Thus says the Lord: “Go, and take a potter’s earthen bottle from the elders of the people and from the elders of the priests.
2 uhambe labo esigodini seBheni-Hinomu, eduze lentuba yeSango loDengezi. Umemezele amazwi engikutshela wona,
And go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is near the entrance to the earthen gate, and there you shall proclaim the words that I will speak to you.
3 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.
And you shall say: Listen to the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will lead an affliction over this place, so much so that it will ring in the ears of all who hear about it.
4 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.
For they have abandoned me, and they have made this place foreign, and they have offered libations in it to foreign gods, whom neither they, nor their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known. And they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.
5 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.
And they have built the exalted places of Baal, in order to burn their children with fire as a holocaust to Baal, something that I did not instruct or speak of, nor did it enter into my heart.
6 Ngakho qaphelani, insuku ziyeza, kutsho uThixo, lapho abantu bengayikubiza indawo le ngokuthi Thofethi loba iSigodi seBheni-Hinomu kodwa iSigodi sokuBulala.
Because of this, behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when this place will no longer be called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.
7 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.
And I will scatter the counsel of Judah and of Jerusalem in this place. And I will overthrow them with the sword, in the sight of their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their lives. And I will give their carcasses to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the land as food.
8 Idolobho leli ngizalichitha ngilenze libe yinto yokwesatshwa lenhlekisa; bonke abadlula khona bazathuthumela njalo baklolode ngenxa yamanxeba alo wonke.
And I will set this city amid stupor and hissing. Everyone who passes by it will be stupefied, and they will hiss over all its wounds.
9 Ngizabenza badle inyama yamadodana abo leyamadodakazi abo, njalo labo bazadlana inyama ngesikhathi esinzima sokuvinjezelwa kwabo yizitha ezifuna ukubabulala.’
And I will feed them with the flesh of their sons and with the flesh of their daughters. And each one of them will eat the flesh of his friend during the blockade and the embargo by which their enemies, and those who seek their lives, will enclose them.
10 Emva kwalokho bulala udiwo labo abahamba lawe bekhangele,
And you shall crush the bottle in the sight of the men who will go with you.
11 ubususithi kubo, ‘UThixo uSomandla uthi: Ngizasiphahlaza isizwe lesi kanye ledolobho leli njengokuphahlazwa kodiwo lombumbi lolu olungeke lulungiswe futhi. Abafileyo bazabangcwaba eThofethi kuze kusweleke indawo.
And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts: In the same way, I will crush this people and this city, just as the potter’s vessel was crushed and cannot be made whole again. And they will be buried at Topheth, because there will be no other place for burial.
12 Lokhu yikho engizakwenza kule indawo lakulabo abahlala lapha, kutsho uThixo. Idolobho leli ngizalenza lifanane leThofethi.
So will I do to this place and to its inhabitants, says the Lord. And I will make this city to be like Topheth.
13 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.’”
And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be unclean, just like the place of Topheth: all the houses on whose roofs they sacrificed to all the armies of heaven and poured out libations to strange gods.”
14 UJeremiya wabuya evela eThofethi, lapho uThixo ayemthume ukuyaphrofetha khona, wasesima egumeni lethempeli likaThixo wathi ebantwini bonke,
Then Jeremiah arrived from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the atrium of the house of the Lord, and he said to all the people:
15 “UThixo uSomandla, uNkulunkulu ka-Israyeli, uthi: ‘Lalelani! Ngizakwehlisela kulelidolobho lasemizini elizungezileyo wonke umonakalo engawutshoyo, ngoba izintamo zabo zilukhuni njalo bayala ukulalela amazwi ami.’”
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will lead over this community, and over all its cities, all the evils that I have spoken against it. For they have hardened their necks, so that they would not heed my words.”
