Jeremiah 32
32
Jeremiah Buys a Field
1This is the message from the Lord that came to Jeremiah during the tenth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah.#32:1 the tenth year … Judah This was 588–587 B.C. This was the year Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. The tenth year of Zedekiah was the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2At that time the army of the king of Babylon was surrounding the city of Jerusalem, and Jeremiah was under arrest in the courtyard of the guardhouse. This courtyard was at the palace of the king of Judah. 3King Zedekiah of Judah had put Jeremiah in prison in that place. Zedekiah didn’t like the things Jeremiah prophesied. Jeremiah had said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I will soon give the city of Jerusalem to the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar will capture this city. 4King Zedekiah of Judah will not escape from the army of the Babylonians. But he will surely be given to the king of Babylon. And Zedekiah will speak to the king of Babylon face to face. He will see him with his own eyes. 5The king of Babylon will take Zedekiah to Babylon. Zedekiah will stay there until I have punished him.’ This message is from the Lord. ‘If you fight against the army of the Babylonians, you will not succeed.’”
6While Jeremiah was a prisoner, he said, “This message from the Lord came to me. This was the message: 7‘Jeremiah, your cousin, Hanamel, will come to you soon. He is the son of your uncle Shallum. Hanamel will say to you, “Jeremiah, buy my field near the town of Anathoth. Buy it because you are my nearest relative. It is your right and your responsibility to buy that field.”’
8“Then it happened just as the Lord said. My cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guardhouse. Hanamel said to me, ‘Jeremiah, buy my field near the town of Anathoth, in the land of the tribe of Benjamin. Buy that land for yourself because it is your right to buy it and own it.’”
So I knew that this was a message from the Lord. 9I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out 17 shekels#32:9 shekel 2/5 of an ounce (11.5 g). of silver for him. 10I signed the deed and had a copy of the deed sealed up.#32:10 sealed up Important documents were rolled up and tied with a string. Then a piece of clay or wax was put on the string. Then a person’s mark was put in that clay or wax. This way, people could prove nothing in the document was changed. I got some men to witness what I had done, and I weighed out the silver on the scales. 11Then I took the sealed copy of the deed, which contained the demands and limits of my purchase, and the copy that was not sealed. 12I gave the deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah. I did this while my cousin Hanamel and the other witnesses were there. They also signed the deed. There were also many people of Judah sitting in the courtyard of the guardhouse who saw me give the deed to Baruch.
13With all the people watching, I said to Baruch, 14“This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘Take both copies of the deed—the sealed copy and the copy that was not sealed—and put them in a clay jar. Do this so that these deeds will last a long time.’ 15The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says, ‘In the future my people will once again buy houses, fields, and vineyards in the land of Israel.’”
16After I gave the deed to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord:
17“Lord GOD, with your great power you made the earth and the sky. There is nothing too hard for you to do. 18You are loyal and kind to thousands of people, but you also bring punishment to children for their fathers’ sins. Great and powerful God, your name is the Lord All-Powerful. 19You plan and do great things. You see everything that people do. You give a reward to those who do good things, and you punish those who do bad things—you give them what they deserve. 20You have been doing powerful miracles in the land of Egypt until now, in Israel and elsewhere. You are the one who made yourself as famous as you are today. 21You used powerful miracles and brought your people Israel out of Egypt. You used your own powerful hand to do this. Your power was amazing!
22“You gave the Israelites this land that you promised to give to their ancestors long ago. It is a very good land filled with many good things. 23They came into this land and took it for their own. But they didn’t obey you. They didn’t follow your teachings or do what you commanded. So you made all these terrible things happen to them.
24“And now the enemy has surrounded the city. They are building ramps so that they can get over the walls of Jerusalem and capture it. Because of war, hunger, and disease, the city of Jerusalem will fall to the Babylonian army. The Babylonians are attacking the city now. You said this would happen, and now you see it is happening.
25“Lord GOD, all those bad things are happening. But now you are telling me, ‘Jeremiah, buy the field with silver and choose some men to witness the purchase.’ You are telling me this while the Babylonian army is ready to capture the city. Why should I waste my money like that?”
26Then this message from the Lord came to Jeremiah: 27“Jeremiah, I am the Lord. I am the God of every person on the earth. You know that nothing is impossible for me.” 28The Lord also said, “I will soon give the city of Jerusalem to the Babylonian army and to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The army will capture the city. 29The Babylonian army is already attacking the city of Jerusalem. They will soon enter the city and start a fire. They will burn down this city. There are houses in this city where the people of Jerusalem made me angry by offering sacrifices to the false god Baal on the housetops. And they poured out drink offerings to other idol gods. The Babylonian army will burn down those houses. 30I have watched the people of Israel and the people of Judah. Everything they do is evil. They have done evil things since they were young. The people of Israel have made me very angry because they worship idols that they made with their own hands.” This message is from the Lord. 31“From the time that Jerusalem was built until now, the people of this city have made me angry. This city has made me very angry, so I must remove it from my sight. 32I will destroy Jerusalem because of all the evil things the people of Israel and Judah have done. The people, their kings, leaders, their priests and prophets, the people of Judah, and the people of Jerusalem have all made me angry.
33“They should have come to me for help, but they turned their backs to me. I tried to teach them again and again, but they would not listen to me. I tried to correct them, but they would not listen. 34They have made their idols, and I hate those idols. They put their idols in the Temple that is called by my name, so they made my Temple ‘dirty.’
35“In the Valley of Ben Hinnom,#32:35 Valley of Ben Hinnom This valley is also called “Gehenna.” This name comes from the Hebrew name “Ge Hinnom—Hinnom’s Valley.” This place became an example of how God punishes wicked people. they built high places to the false god Baal. They built those worship places so that they could burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices. I never commanded them to do such a terrible thing. I never even thought the people of Judah would do such a terrible thing.
36“You people are saying, ‘The king of Babylon will capture Jerusalem. He will use war, hunger, and disease to defeat this city.’ But this is what the Lord, the God of the people of Israel, says: 37‘I have forced the people of Israel and Judah to leave their land. I was very angry with them, but I will bring them back to this place. I will gather them from the land where I forced them to go. I will bring them back to this place. I will let them live in peace and safety. 38The people of Israel and Judah will be my people, and I will be their God. 39I will give them the desire to be one, united people. They will have one goal—to worship me all their lives. They and their children will want to do this.
40“‘I will make an agreement with the people of Israel and Judah that will last forever. In this agreement I will never turn away from them. I will always be good to them. I will make them want to respect me. Then they will never turn away from me. 41They will make me happy. I will enjoy doing good to them. And I will surely plant them in this land and make them grow. I will do this with all my heart and soul.’”
42This is what the Lord says: “I have brought this great disaster to the people of Israel and Judah. In the same way I will bring good things to them. I promise to do good things for them. 43You people are saying, ‘This land is an empty desert. There are no people or animals here. The Babylonian army defeated this country.’ But in the future people will once again buy fields in this land. 44They will use their money and buy fields. They will sign and seal their agreements. They will witness the people signing their deeds. They will again buy fields in the land where the tribe of Benjamin lives, in the area around Jerusalem, in the towns of the land of Judah, in the hill country, in the western foothills, and in the area of the southern desert. This will happen because I will bring them back home.” This message is from the Lord.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Jeremiah 32
32
Jeremiah Buys a Field
1This is the word the Lord spoke to Jeremiah. It was in the tenth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah. The tenth year of Zedekiah was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2At that time the army of Babylon was surrounding Jerusalem. Jeremiah was under arrest in the courtyard of the guard. This courtyard was at the palace of the king of Judah.
3Zedekiah king of Judah had put Jeremiah in prison there. Zedekiah had asked, “Why have you prophesied the things you have?” (Jeremiah had said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I will soon give the city of Jerusalem to the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar will capture this city. 4Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the army of the Babylonians. But he will surely be given to the king of Babylon. And Zedekiah will speak to the king of Babylon face to face. Zedekiah will see him with his own eyes. 5The king of Babylon will take Zedekiah to Babylon. Zedekiah will stay there until I have punished him,’ says the Lord. ‘If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed.’”)
6While Jeremiah was prisoner, he said, “The Lord spoke his word to me. He said: 7Jeremiah, your cousin Hanamel will come to you soon. He is the son of your uncle Shallum. Hanamel will say to you, ‘Jeremiah, you are my nearest relative. So buy my field near the town of Anathoth. It is your right and your responsibility to buy that field.’
8“Then it happened just as the Lord had said. My cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard. He said to me, ‘Buy my field near Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. Buy that land for yourself. It is your right to buy it and own it.’ So I knew this was a message from the Lord.
9“I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out seven ounces of silver for him. 10I signed the record that showed I now owned the field. And I had a copy of the record sealed up. Some men witnessed it and signed it also. And I weighed out the silver on the scales. 11Then I took the sealed copy of the record of ownership. And I took the copy that was not sealed. 12And I gave them to Baruch son of Neriah. Neriah was the son of Mahseiah. The sealed copy of the record of ownership had all the demands and limits of my purchase. I gave this paper of ownership to Baruch. It was while my cousin Hanamel and the other witnesses were there. Those witnesses also signed the record of ownership. There were also many Jews sitting in the courtyard. And they saw me give the record of ownership to Baruch.
13“With all the people watching, I said to Baruch, 14‘This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: Take both copies of the record of ownership. Take both the sealed copy and the copy that was not sealed. And put them in a clay jar. Do this so that they will last a long time. 15This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: In the future my people will once again buy houses. They will also buy fields for grain and vineyards in the land of Israel.’
16“I gave the record of ownership to Baruch son of Neriah. Then I prayed to the Lord. I said: 17Oh, Lord God, you made the skies and the earth. You made them with your very great power. There is nothing too wonderful for you to do. 18Lord, you show love and kindness to thousands of people. But you also bring punishment to children for their fathers’ sins. Great and powerful God, your name is the Lord of heaven’s armies. 19You plan and do great things, Lord. You see everything that people do. You reward people for the way they live and for what they do. 20Lord, you did miracles and wonderful things in the land of Egypt. You have kept on doing them even until today. You did miracles in Israel and among the other nations. You have become well known. 21Lord, you used signs and miracles and brought your people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. You used your great power and strength to do those things. You brought great terror on everyone. 22Lord, you gave this land to the people of Israel. This is the land you promised to their ancestors long ago. It’s a land where much food grows. 23The people of Israel came into this land and took it for their own. But those people did not obey you. They did not follow your teachings. They did not do the things you commanded. So you made all these terrible things happen to them.
24“And now, the enemy has surrounded the city. They are building roads to the top of the walls. There will be war, hunger and terrible diseases. These will cause the city to be handed over to the Babylonians. They are attacking the city now. Lord, you said this would happen. And now you see it is happening. 25But now, Lord God, you are telling me, ‘Buy the field with silver. Choose some men to watch while I purchase it.’ You are telling me this while the Babylonian army is ready to capture the city.”
26Then the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah: 27“I am the Lord. I am the God of every person on the earth. You know that nothing is impossible for me. 28So this is what I say: I will soon give the city of Jerusalem to the Babylonian army. And I will give it to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. That army will capture the city. 29The Babylonian army is already attacking the city of Jerusalem. They will soon enter the city and start a fire to burn down the city. They will also burn down the houses. The people of Jerusalem made me angry. They offered sacrifices to Baal on the roofs# In Bible times houses were built with flat roofs. The roof was used for drying things such as flax and fruit. And it was used as an extra room, as a place for worship and as a place to sleep in the summer. of their houses. And the people poured out drink offerings to other idols. 30The people of Israel and Judah have done only the things I said were wrong. They have done this since they were young. They have made me angry by worshiping idols made with their own hands,” says the Lord. 31“From the day Jerusalem was built until now, they have made me very angry. Jerusalem has made me so angry I must remove it from my sight. 32I will destroy it. This is because of the evil the people of Israel and Judah have done. The people, their kings and officers have made me angry. Their priests and prophets have made me angry. All the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem have made me angry. 33They turned their backs to me. I tried to teach them again and again. But they wouldn’t listen to me. I tried to correct them, but they wouldn’t listen. 34They put their hated idols in the place where I have chosen to be worshiped. In this way they made it unclean. 35In the Valley of Ben Hinnom those people built places to worship Baal. They built them so they could burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices to Molech. But I never commanded them to do such a hated thing. I never even thought of it! This would make Judah sin.
36“You are saying, ‘There will be war, hunger and terrible diseases. So the city will be handed over to the king of Babylon.’ But the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 37I have forced the people of Israel and Judah to leave their land. I was very furious and angry with them. But I will gather them from the land where I forced them to go. I will bring them back to this place. I will let them live in peace and safety. 38The people of Israel and Judah will be my people. And I will be their God. 39I will make them want to be truly one people. They will have one goal. They will truly want to worship me all their lives. They will do this for their own good and for their children after them.
40“I will make an agreement with them. This agreement will last forever. And I will never turn away from them. I will always be good to them. I will make them want to respect me. Then they will never turn away from me. 41I will enjoy doing good to them. And I will surely plant them in this land and make them grow. I will do this with my whole being.”
42This is what the Lord says: “I have brought this great disaster to the people of Israel and Judah. In the same way I will bring good things to them. I promise to do good things for them. 43You are saying, ‘This land is an empty desert. There are no people or animals here. The Babylonian army defeated this country.’ But in the future, people will once again buy fields in this land. 44They will use their money and buy fields. They will sign and seal their agreements. People will witness their signing records of ownership. They will again buy fields in the land of Benjamin and in the area around Jerusalem. They will buy fields in the towns of Judah and in the mountains. They will buy them in the western mountain slopes and in southern Judah. This is because I will make everything as good as it once was,” says the Lord.
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