Jeremiah 32
32
Jeremiah Buys a Field
1 #
2 Kgs 25.1–7
The LORD spoke to me in the tenth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah, which was also the eighteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. 2At that time the army of the king of Babylonia was attacking Jerusalem, and I was locked up in the courtyard of the royal palace. 3King Zedekiah had imprisoned me there and had accused me of announcing that the LORD had said, “I am going to let the king of Babylonia capture this city, 4and King Zedekiah will not escape. He will be handed over to the king of Babylonia; he will see him face to face and will speak to him in person. 5Zedekiah will be taken to Babylonia, and he will remain there until I deal with him. Even if he fights the Babylonians, he will not be successful. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
6The LORD told me 7that Hanamel, my uncle Shallum's son, would come to me with the request to buy his field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin, because I was his nearest relative and had the right to buy it for myself. 8Then, just as the LORD had said, Hanamel came to me there in the courtyard and asked me to buy the field. So I knew that the LORD had really spoken to me. 9I bought the field from Hanamel and weighed out the money to him; the price came to seventeen pieces of silver. 10I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the money on scales. 11Then I took both copies of the deed of purchase — the sealed copy containing the contract and its conditions, and the open copy — 12and gave them to Baruch, the son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. I gave them to him in the presence of Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed of purchase and of the people who were sitting in the courtyard. 13Before them all I said to Baruch, 14“The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, has ordered you to take these deeds, both the sealed deed of purchase and the open copy, and to place them in a clay jar, so that they may be preserved for years to come. 15The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, has said that houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”
Jeremiah's Prayer
16After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch, I prayed, 17“Sovereign LORD, you made the earth and the sky by your great power and might; nothing is too difficult for you. 18You have shown constant love to thousands, but you also punish people for the sins of their parents. You are a great and powerful God; you are the LORD Almighty. 19You make wise plans and do mighty things; you see everything that people do, and you reward them according to their actions. 20Long ago, you performed miracles and wonders in Egypt, and you have continued to perform them to this day, both in Israel and among all the other nations, so that you are now known everywhere. 21By means of miracles and wonders that terrified our enemies, you used your power and might to bring your people Israel out of Egypt. 22You gave them this rich and fertile land, as you had promised their ancestors. 23But when they came into this land and took possession of it, they did not obey your commands or live according to your teaching; they did nothing that you had ordered them to do. And so you brought all this destruction on them.
24“The Babylonians have built siege mounds round the city to capture it, and they are attacking. War, starvation, and disease will make the city fall into their hands. You can see that all you have said has come true. 25Yet, Sovereign LORD, you are the one who ordered me to buy the field in the presence of witnesses, even though the city is about to be captured by the Babylonians.”
26Then the LORD said to me, 27“I am the LORD, the God of the whole human race. Nothing is too difficult for me. 28#2 Kgs 25.1–11; 2 Chr 36.17–21I am going to give this city over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his army; they will capture it 29and set it on fire. They will burn it down, together with the houses where people have made me angry by burning incense to Baal on the rooftops and by pouring out wine offerings to other gods. 30From the very beginning of their history the people of Israel and the people of Judah have displeased me and made me angry by what they have done. 31The people of this city have made me angry and furious from the day it was built. I have decided to destroy it 32because of all the evil that has been done by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, together with their kings and leaders, their priests and prophets. 33They turned their backs on me; and though I kept on teaching them, they would not listen and learn. 34#2 Kgs 23.10; Jer 7.30–31; 19.1–6They even placed their disgusting idols in the Temple built for my worship, and they have defiled it. 35#Lev 18.21; 2 Kgs 23.10; Jer 7.31They have built altars to Baal in the Valley of Hinnom, to sacrifice their sons and daughters to the god Molech. I did not command them to do this, and it did not even enter my mind that they would do such a thing and make the people of Judah sin.”
A Promise of Hope
36The LORD, the God of Israel, said to me, “Jeremiah, the people are saying that war, starvation, and disease will make this city fall into the hands of the king of Babylonia. Now listen to what else I have to say. 37I am going to gather the people from all the countries where I have scattered them in my anger and fury, and I am going to bring them back to this place and let them live here in safety. 38Then they will be my people, and I will be their God. 39I will give them a single purpose in life: to honour me for all time, for their own good and the good of their descendants. 40I will make an eternal covenant with them. I will never stop doing good things for them, and I will make them fear me with all their heart, so that they will never turn away from me. 41I will take pleasure in doing good things for them, and I will establish them permanently in this land.
42“Just as I have brought this disaster on these people, so I am going to give them all the good things that I have promised. 43The people are saying that this land will be like a desert where neither people nor animals live, and that it will be given over to the Babylonians. But fields will once again be bought in this land. 44People will buy them, and the deeds will be signed, sealed, and witnessed. This will take place in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages round Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah, and in the towns in the hill country, in the foothills, and in southern Judah. I will restore the people to their land. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 32: GNBDC
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Jeremiah 32
32
Why Jeremiah Bought Property
1The word that came to Jeremiah from Adonai, in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.
2Now at the time the king of Babylon’s army was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the palace of the king of Judah.
3For King Zedekiah of Judah had shut him up, saying: “Why do you prophesy and say, thus says Adonai: ‘I will soon give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take it;
4and King Zedekiah of Judah will not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but will surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him mouth to mouth and his eyes will behold his eyes;
5and he will lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there will he remain until I take note of him,’ says Adonai—though you fight with the Chaldeans, you will not succeed?”
6So Jeremiah said: “The word of Adonai came to me, saying:
7‘Hanamel, son of Shallum your uncle, will soon come to you saying: ‘Buy for yourself my field in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is yours to buy it.’”
8So my uncle’s son Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard as was the word of Adonai, and said to me: “Buy my field, please, which is in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was the word of Adonai.
9So I bought the field that was in Anathoth from the son of my uncle Hanamel, and weighed him the money—seventeen shekels of silver.
10I signed and sealed the deed, called in witnesses, and weighed the money on the scales.
11Then I took the purchase deed, both the sealed copy, containing the terms and conditions, and the open copy,
12and I gave the purchase deed to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my uncle’s son Hanamel and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the purchase deed, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the guard.
13Then I charged Baruch before them, saying,
14thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds—this purchase deed, both the sealed copy and the open copy—and put them in a clay jar, so they may last many days.”
15For thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “Houses and fields and vineyards will yet again be bought in this land.”
16After I had given the purchase deed to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to Adonai, saying:
17“Ah, my Lord Adonai! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm—nothing is too hard for You!
18You are the One doing mercy to thousands, but repaying the iniquity of the fathers into the lap of their children after them. Great, mighty God, Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name!
19Great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of men, to give each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.
20You set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day in Israel and among mankind, and made Yourself a Name, as to this day.
21You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror.
22You gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.
23They came in and possessed it. But they did not obey your voice nor walk in your Torah. They have done nothing of all you commanded them to do. Therefore you caused all this evil to fall on them.
24Look, the siege ramps have just come up to the city to take it. The city has been handed over to the Chaldeans fighting against it, because of the sword, the famine and the pestilence. What You have spoken has happened. Here it is, You see it.
25Yet You said to me, my Lord Adonai: ‘Buy for yourself the field for money and call in witnesses’—even as the city is handed over to the Chaldeans.”
26Then came the word of Adonai to Jeremiah, saying:
27“Behold, I am Adonai, the God of all flesh; is there anything too hard for Me?”
28Therefore thus says Adonai: “I am about to give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it.
29Then the Chaldeans fighting against this city will come and set this city on fire and burn it, with the houses—where they burned incense to Baal on their roofs and poured out drink-offerings to other gods, to provoke Me.
30For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in My sight from their youth; indeed, the children of Israel have done nothing but provoke Me with the work of their hands,” declares Adonai.
31“Indeed this city has caused My anger and of My fury from the day that they built it up to this day, so that I will remove it from before My face,
32because of all the evil the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done to provoke Me—they, their kings, their princes, their kohanim, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
33“They have turned their back to Me and not their face. Though I taught them early and often, they have not listened to receive instruction.
34Instead they set up their abominations in the House where My Name is called, to defile it.
35They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom, to make their sons and their daughters pass through fire to Molech—something I never commanded them, nor did it enter My mind that they would do this loathsome thing, causing Judah to sin.”
36Now therefore thus says Adonai, the God of Israel, concerning this city, about which you say, “It is handed over to the king of Babylon by the sword, famine, and pestilence.
37“See, I will gather them out of all the countries, where I have driven them in My anger, My fury, and great wrath, and I will bring them back to this place and cause them to dwell securely.
38They will be My people, and I will be their God.
39I will give them one heart and one way, so they may fear Me forever; for their good and for their children after them.
40I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good for them. I will put My fear in their hearts, so that they will not depart from Me.
41“Yes, I will delight in doing good for them, and with all My heart and all My soul I will in truth plant them in this land.”
42For thus says Adonai: “Just as I have brought all this great evil on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them.
43So fields will be bought in this land, about which you are saying: ‘It will be a desolation, without man or beast; it is handed over to the Chaldeans.’
44Men will buy fields for money and sign and seal the deeds and call witnesses in the land of Benjamin and in the areas around Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah, in the towns of the hill-country, in the towns of the foothills, and in the cities of the South—because I will bring them back from exile.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society