1
Bwana akasema hivi, Enenda ukanunue gudulia la mfinyanzi, ukachukue pamoja nawe baadhi ya wazee wa watu, na baadhi ya wazee wa makuhani;
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,
2
ukatoke uende mpaka bonde la mwana wa Hinomu lililo karibu na mahali pa kuingia kwa lango la vigae, ukahubiri huko maneno nitakayokuambia,
and go out to the Valley of Ben-hinnom near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Proclaim there the words I speak to you,
3
ukisema, Lisikieni neno la Bwana, enyi wafalme wa Yuda, na wenyeji wa Yerusalemu; Bwana wa majeshi, Mungu wa Israeli asema hivi, Angalieni, nitaleta mabaya juu ya mahali hapa, ambayo mtu ye yote akisikia habari yake, masikio yake yatawaka.
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,
4
Kwa sababu wameniacha mimi, nao wamepafanya mahali hapa kuwa mahali pageni, nao hapa wamewafukizia uvumba miungu mingine wasiowajua, wala wao, wala baba zao, wala wafalme wa Yuda; nao wamepajaza mahali hapa damu ya wasio na hatia;
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.
5
nao wamemjengea Baali mahali pake palipo juu, ili kuwachoma moto wana wao, wawe sadaka za kuteketezwa kwa Baali; tendo nisiloliamuru mimi, wala kulinena, wala halikuingia moyoni mwangu;
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.
6
basi, angalieni, siku zinakuja, asema Bwana, ambazo katika siku hizo mahali hapa hapataitwa tena Tofethi, wala Bonde la mwana wa Hinomu, bali, Bonde la Machinjo.
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.
7
Nami nitalitangua shauri la Yuda na Yerusalemu mahali hapa; nami nitawaangusha kwa upanga mbele za adui zao, na kwa mkono wa watu watafutao roho zao; na mizoga yao nitawapa ndege wa angani na wanyama wakali wa nchi, iwe chakula chao.
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.
8
Nami nitaufanya mji huu kuwa kitu cha kushangaza watu, na kuzomewa; kila mtu apitaye karibu nao atashangaa, na kuzomea kwa sababu ya mapigo yake.
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.
9
Nami nitawalazimisha kula nyama ya wana wao, na nyama ya binti zao, nao watakula kila mmoja nyama ya rafiki yake, wakati wa mazingira na dhiki, ambayo adui zao, na watu wale watafutao roho zao, watawadhiikisha.
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.’
10
Ndipo hapo utalivunja gudulia lile, mbele ya macho ya watu wale waendao pamoja nawe,
Then you are to shatter the jar in the presence of the men who accompany you,
11
na kuwaambia, Bwana wa majeshi asema hivi, Hivyo ndivyo nitakavyowavunja watu hawa, na mji huu, kama mtu avunjavyo chombo cha mfinyanzi, kisichoweza kutengenezwa tena na kuwa kizima; nao watazika watu katika Tofethi hata hapatabaki mahali pa kuzika.
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.
12
Hivyo ndivyo nitakavyopatenda mahali hapa, asema Bwana, nao wakaao humo, hata kufanya mji huu kuwa kama Tofethi;
This is what I will do to this place and to its residents, declares the LORD. I will make this city like Topheth.
13
na nyumba za Yerusalemu, na nyumba za wafalme wa Yuda, zilizotiwa unajisi, zitakuwa kama mahali pa Tofethi; naam, nyumba zote ambazo juu ya dari zake wamelifukizia uvumba jeshi lote la mbinguni, na kuwamiminia miungu mingine sadaka za kunywewa.
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.”
14
Kisha Yeremia akatoka huko Tofethi, huko ambako Bwana alimtuma atoe unabii; naye akasimama katika ua wa nyumba ya Bwana, akawaambia watu wote,
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,
15
Bwana wa majeshi, Mungu wa Israeli, asema hivi, Tazama, nitaleta juu ya mji huu, na juu ya vijiji vyake vyote, mabaya yote niliyoyanena juu yake; kwa sababu wamefanya shingo zao kuwa ngumu, kusudi wasiyasikie maneno yangu.
“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.’”