Līdzība ar sasisto māla krūku
1 Tā saka Kungs: “Ej nopērc no podnieka māla krūku, paņem sev līdzi kādu no tautas, kas vecs, un kādu pieredzējušu priesteri 2 un ej uz Ben-Hinnomas ieleju, kur jāiet pa Podnieku vārtiem, un sauc tur tos vārdus, ko es tev teikšu! 3 Saki tur: klausieties Kunga vārdu, Jūdas ķēniņi un Jeruzālemes iemītnieki, tā saka Pulku Kungs, Israēla Dievs: redzi, es nesu šai vietai ļaunu, un ikvienam, kas to dzird, džinkstēs ausīs, 4 jo viņi mani pametuši un padarījuši svešu šo vietu, kvēpinādami citiem dieviem, kurus nepazina ne viņi, ne viņu tēvi, ne Jūdas ķēniņi, un tādēļ, ka viņi piepildījuši šo vietu ar nevainīgo asinīm! 5 Un arī tādēļ, ka viņi cēluši augstienes Baalam, lai dedzinātu ugunī savus dēlus, upurēdami Baalam, – to es tiem nepavēlēju un neteicu, no manas sirds tas nenāca!
6 Redzi, tādēļ nāk dienas, saka Kungs, kad šo vietu vairs nesauks par Tofetu vai Ben-Hinnomas ieleju, bet gan par Slepkavu ieleju! 7 Un šajā vietā es laupīšu padomu Jūdai un Jeruzālemei, un es likšu tiem krist no zobena viņu ienaidnieku priekšā un no to rokas, kuri tīko pēc viņu dzīvības, un es atdošu viņu līķus par rijamo debesu putniem un zemes zvēriem! 8 Un šo pilsētu es padarīšu par postažu un izsmieklu. Visi, kas tai ies cauri, šausmināsies par to un izsmies viņas brūču dēļ! 9 Es likšu tiem ēst viņu dēlu gaļu un viņu meitu gaļu, un tie ēdīs viens otra gaļu aplenkumā un spaidos, ar ko tos apspiedīs viņu ienaidnieki un tie, kas lūko pēc viņu dzīvības. 10 Un tu sasit krūku to ļaužu priekšā, kuri iet kopā ar tevi, 11 un saki viņiem: tā saka Pulku Kungs: es sasitīšu šo tautu un šo pilsētu tāpat, kā sasit podnieka trauku, ko vairs nesalabot! Tofetā viņi bedīs, ka vairs nebūs vietas kur bedīt! 12 Tā es darīšu šai vietai, saka Kungs, un tās iemītniekiem. Šai pilsētai es darīšu kā Tofetai! 13 Un Jeruzālemes mājas un Jūdas ķēniņu nami būs nešķīsti kā Tofeta – visu to māju dēļ, uz kuru jumtiem tie kvēpināja visiem debesu pulkiem un laistīja laistekļus citiem dieviem!”
14 Tad Jeremija nāca no Tofetas, uz kurieni Kungs bija viņu sūtījis pravietot, un viņš nostājās Kunga nama pagalmā un teica visai tautai:
15 “Tā saka Pulku Kungs, Israēla Dievs: redzi, es nesu šai pilsētai un visām tās pilsētām visu ļaunumu, par ko esmu runājis, jo viņi kļuvuši stūrgalvīgus un manos vārdos nav klausījušies!”
The Broken Jar
1 The Lord told me to go and buy a clay jar. He also told me to take some of the elders of the people and some of the older priests, 2 and to go through Potsherd Gate out to Hinnom Valley. There I was to proclaim the message that he would give me. 3 The Lord told me to say, “Kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem, listen to what I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, have to say. I am going to bring such a disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will be stunned. 4 I am going to do this because the people have abandoned me and defiled this place by offering sacrifices here to other gods—gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah have known anything about. They have filled this place with the blood of innocent people, 5 and they have built altars for Baal in order to burn their children in the fire as sacrifices. I never commanded them to do this; it never even entered my mind. 6 So then, the time will come when this place will no longer be called Topheth or Hinnom Valley. Instead, it will be known as Slaughter Valley. 7 In this place I will frustrate all the plans of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. I will let their enemies triumph over them and kill them in battle. I will give their corpses to the birds and the wild animals as food. 8 I will bring such terrible destruction on this city that everyone who passes by will be shocked and amazed. 9 The enemy will surround the city and try to kill its people. The siege will be so terrible that the people inside the city will eat one another and even their own children.”
10 Then the Lord told me to break the jar in front of those who had gone with me 11 and to tell them that the Lord Almighty had said, “I will break this people and this city, and it will be like this broken clay jar that cannot be put together again. People will bury their dead even in Topheth because there will be nowhere else to bury them. 12 I promise that I will make this city and its inhabitants like Topheth. 13 The houses of Jerusalem, the houses of the kings of Judah, and indeed all the houses on whose roofs incense has been burned to the stars and where wine has been poured out as an offering to other gods—they will all be as unclean as Topheth.”
14 Then I left Topheth, where the Lord had sent me to proclaim his message. I went and stood in the court of the Temple and told all the people 15 that the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, had said, “I am going to bring on this city and on every nearby town all the punishment that I said I would, because you are stubborn and will not listen to what I say.”
