19

The Sign of the Broken Flask

¹Thus says the Lord: “Go and get a potter’s earthen flask, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests. ²And go out to ⚓the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the Potsherd Gate; and proclaim there the words that I will tell you, ³⚓and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will bring such a catastrophe on this place, that whoever hears of it, his ears will ⚓tingle.
⁴“Because they ⚓have forsaken Me and made this an alien place, because they have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known, and have filled this place with ⚓the blood of the innocents ⁵⚓(they have also built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, ⚓which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My mind), ⁶therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that this place shall no more be called Tophet or ⚓the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. ⁷And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, ⚓and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hands of those who seek their lives; their ⚓corpses I will give as meat for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. ⁸I will make this city ⚓desolate and a hissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues. ⁹And I will cause them to eat the ⚓flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the desperation with which their enemies and those who seek their lives shall drive them to despair.” ’
¹⁰⚓“Then you shall break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, ¹¹and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: ⚓“Even so I will break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot be made whole again; and they shall ⚓bury them in Tophet till there is no place to bury. ¹²Thus I will do to this place,” says the Lord, “and to its inhabitants, and make this city like Tophet. ¹³And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled ⚓like the place of Tophet, because of all the houses on whose ⚓roofs they have burned incense to all the host of heaven, and ⚓poured out drink offerings to other gods.” ’ ”
¹⁴Then Jeremiah came from Tophet, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in ⚓the court of the Lord’s house and said to all the people, ¹⁵“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will bring on this city and on all her towns all the doom that I have pronounced against it, because ⚓they have stiffened their necks that they might not hear My words.’ ”

19

Nie-Ha'louh Huv

¹Ziouv hnangv naaiv gorngv, “Meih mingh maaiz nanv nie zaangc nyei yietc norm nie-ha'louh aengx dorh deix baeqc fingx nyei ⟨mienh gox⟩ caux deix gox nyei sai mienh ²mingh taux Mben Hinnom Horngz yiem Nie-Mor Huv nyei Gaengh doix-ngaanc. Yiem wuov zunh yie mbuox meih naaiv deix waac.⚓ ³Oix zuqc gorngv, ‘Yu^ndaa nyei hungh caux yiem Ye^lu^saa^lem nyei baeqc fingx aah! Oix zuqc muangx Ziouv nyei waac. Nernh Jiex nyei Ziouv, I^saa^laa^en nyei Tin-Hungh, hnangv naaiv gorngv, “Yie oix bun ciouv haic nyei zeqc naanc taux naaiv norm dorngx. Da'faanh muangx haiz naaiv deix sic nyei mienh, m'normh ziouc nqingx nzengc, ⁴weic zuqc baeqc fingx guangc yie. Ninh mbuo yiem naaiv norm dorngx buov hung gengx nyiec nyei zienh, dongh ninh mbuo ganh caux ninh mbuo nyei ong-taaix caux Yu^ndaa nyei hungh maiv haiz jiex nyei zienh, ziouc bun naaiv norm dorngx maaih uix. Ninh mbuo yaac bun maiv zoux dorngc nyei mienh nyei nziaamv buangv nzengc naaiv norm dorngx. ⁵Ninh aengx weic ⟨mienh gox⟩ zoux hlang nyei dorngx, weic zorqv ninh mbuo nyei fu'jueiv zoux fongc horc buov ziec nyei ga'naaiv bun Mbaa^an zienh. Yaac maiv zeiz yie paaiv fai heuc ninh mbuo zoux. Yie liemh maiv hnamv taux.”
⁶Ziouv gorngv, ‘Weic naaiv, hnoi-nyieqc oix taux, naaiv norm dorngx maiv heuc Tofetv fai Mben Hinnom Horngz. Zungv oix heuc Daix Daic nyei Horngz.
⁷“ ‘Yiem naaiv norm dorngx yie oix bun Yu^ndaa Mienh caux Ye^lu^saa^lem Mienh daav nyei za'eix ndortv mi'aqv. Yie oix bun ninh mbuo nyei mienh yiem win-wangv nyei nza'hmien zuqc nzuqc ndaauv daix, yaac bun zuqc yiem hoic ninh mbuo nyei maengc wuov deix nyei buoz-ndiev. Yie oix zorqv ninh mbuo nyei sei benx ndaamv-lungh nyei norqc caux ga'ndiev ndau nyei hieh zoih nyei nyanc hopv. ⁸Yie oix bun naaiv norm zingh benx gamh nziex nyei dorngx yaac benx mienh huotv nyei ga'naaiv. Laaix naaiv norm zingh zuqc nyei yietc zungv zeqc naanc, da'faanh jiex jauv nyei mienh gengh! gamh nziex haic yaac huotv. ⁹Win-wangv caux oix hoic maengc wuov deix weih jienv zingh, bun ninh mbuo zuqc kouv nyei ziangh hoc, yie oix bun gorqv-mienh nyanc gorqv-mienh nyei dorn sieqv nyei orv caux ninh mbuo nyei juangc laangz mienh nyei orv.’
¹⁰“Meih oix zuqc dorng jienv caux meih mingh wuov deix mienh mborqv wuov norm nie-ha'louh huv, ¹¹yaac gorngv mbuox ninh mbuo, ‘Nernh Jiex nyei Ziouv hnangv naaiv gorngv, “Hnangv yie mborqv nanv nie zaangc nyei nie-ha'louh huv, yie oix mborqv naaiv deix mienh caux naaiv norm zingh huv nzengc, yietc liuz maiv haih aengx zorc. Mienh oix zuqc yiem Tofetv biopv sei, weic zuqc maiv maaih ganh norm dorngx biopv.” ’ ¹²Ziouv gorngv, “Yie oix hnangv naaiv zoux bun naaiv norm dorngx caux yiem naaiv norm dorngx nyei mienh, bun naaiv norm zingh hnangv Tofetv. ¹³Ye^lu^saa^lem nyei biauv caux Yu^ndaa nyei zuangx hungh yietc zungv hungh dinc, se da'faanh yiem haaix norm biauv nyei biauv-ngorh maaih mienh buov hung bun lungh zaangc nyei nyungc-nyungc⚓ hleix, fai ciev ziec bun nyiec nyei zienh, zungv zuqc maaih uix hnangv Tofetv nor.” ’⚓
¹⁴Ye^le^mi ziouc yiem Tofetv, dongh Ziouv paaiv ninh mingh douc waac nyei dorngx nzuonx. Ninh yaac souv jienv zaangc Ziouv nyei biauv laatc gu'nyuoz gorngv mbuox zuangx baeqc fingx, ¹⁵“Nernh Jiex nyei Ziouv, I^saa^laa^en nyei Tin-Hungh, hnangv naaiv gorngv, ‘Mangc maah! Yie oix bun naaiv norm zingh caux weih gormx nyei yietc zungv fiuv-laangz zuqc ziux yie gorngv nyei yietc zungv zeqc naanc, weic zuqc ninh mbuo hnyouv ngaengc,⚓ maiv kangv muangx yie nyei waac.’+”