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.”
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Jeremiah 32: GNBDK
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. 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
Jeremiah Buys a Field
1The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord #2 Kin. 25:1, 2; Jer. 39:1, 2in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2For then the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up #Neh. 3:25; Jer. 33:1; 37:21; 39:14in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah’s house. 3For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you #Jer. 26:8, 9prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: #Jer. 21:3–7; 34:2“Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; 4and Zedekiah king of Judah #2 Kin. 25:4–7; Jer. 34:3; 38:18, 23; 39:5; 52:9shall not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face to face, and see him #Jer. 39:5eye to eye; 5then he shall #Jer. 27:22; 39:7; Ezek. 12:12, 13lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall be #Jer. 27:22until I visit him,” says the Lord; #Jer. 21:4; 33:5“though you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed” ’?”
6And Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 7‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you, saying, “Buy my field which is in Anathoth, for the #Lev. 25:24, 25, 32; Ruth 4:4right of redemption is yours to buy it.” ’ 8Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the Lord, and said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. 9So I bought the field from Hanamel, the son of my uncle who was in Anathoth, and #Gen. 23:16; Zech. 11:12weighed out to him the money—seventeen shekels of silver. 10And I signed the deed and sealed it, took witnesses, and weighed the money on the scales. 11So I took the purchase deed, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open; 12and I gave the purchase deed to #Jer. 36:4Baruch the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my uncle’s son, and in the presence of the #Is. 8:2witnesses who signed the purchase deed, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the prison.
13“Then I charged #Jer. 36:4Baruch before them, saying, 14‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Take these deeds, both this purchase deed which is sealed and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may last many days.” 15For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Houses and fields and vineyards shall be #Ezra 2:1; (Jer. 31:5, 12, 14); Amos 9:14, 15; Zech. 3:10possessed again in this land.” ’
Jeremiah Prays for Understanding
16“Now when I had delivered the purchase deed to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: 17‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, #2 Kin. 19:15; Ps. 102:25; Is. 40:26–29; Jer. 27:5You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. #Gen. 18:14; Jer. 32:27; Zech. 8:6; Matt. 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 18:27There is nothing too hard for You. 18You show #Ex. 20:6; 34:7; Deut. 5:9, 10lovingkindness to thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them—the Great, #Ps. 50:1; (Is. 9:6); Jer. 20:11the Mighty God, whose name is #Jer. 10:16the Lord of hosts. 19You are #Is. 28:29great in counsel and mighty in work, for Your #Job 34:21; Ps. 33:13; Prov. 5:21; Jer. 16:17eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, #Ps. 62:12; Jer. 17:10; (Matt. 16:27; John 5:29)to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. 20You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, to this day, and in Israel and among other men; and You have made Yourself #Ex. 9:16; 1 Chr. 17:21; Is. 63:12; Jer. 13:11; Dan. 9:15a name, as it is this day. 21You #Ex. 6:6; 2 Sam. 7:23; 1 Chr. 17:21; Ps. 136:11, 12have 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 have given them this land, of which You swore to their fathers to give them—#Ex. 3:8, 17; Deut. 1:8; Ps. 105:9–11; Jer. 11:5“a land flowing with milk and honey.” 23And they came in and took possession of it, but #(Neh. 9:26); Jer. 11:8; (Dan. 9:10–14)they have not obeyed Your voice or walked in Your law. They have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do; therefore You have caused all this calamity to come upon them.
24‘Look, the siege mounds! They have come to the city to take it; and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of #Jer. 14:12; Ezek. 14:21the sword and famine and pestilence. What You have spoken has happened; there You see it! 25And You have said to me, O Lord God, “Buy the field for money, and take witnesses”!—yet the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ ”
God’s Assurance of the People’s Return
26Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 27“Behold, I am the Lord, the #(Num. 16:22)God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? 28Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it. 29And the Chaldeans who fight against this city shall come and #2 Chr. 36:19; Jer. 21:10; 37:8, 10; 52:13set fire to this city and burn it, with the houses #Jer. 19:13on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger; 30because the children of Israel and the children of Judah #Deut. 9:7–12; Is. 63:10; Jer. 2:7; 3:25; 7:22–26; Ezek. 20:28have done only evil before Me from their youth. For the children of Israel have provoked Me only to anger with the work of their hands,’ says the Lord. 31‘For this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My fury from the day that they built it, even to this day; #2 Kin. 23:27; 24:3; Jer. 27:10so I will remove it from before My face 32because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger—#Ezra 9:7; Is. 1:4, 6; Dan. 9:8they, their kings, their princes, their priests, #Jer. 23:14their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33And they have turned to Me the #Jer. 2:27; 7:24back, and not the face; though I taught them, #Jer. 7:13rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction. 34But they #2 Kin. 21:1–7; Jer. 7:10–12, 30; 23:11; Ezek. 8:5, 6set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 35And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to #2 Chr. 28:2, 3; 33:6; Jer. 7:31; 19:5cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to #Lev. 18:21; 1 Kin. 11:33; 2 Kin. 23:10; Acts 7:43Molech, #Jer. 7:31which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.’
36“Now therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence’: 37Behold, I will #Deut. 30:3; Jer. 23:3; 29:14; 31:10; 50:19; Ezek. 37:21gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them #Jer. 33:16to dwell safely. 38They shall be #(Jer. 24:7; 30:22; 31:33)My people, and I will be their God; 39then I will #(Jer. 24:7; Ezek. 11:19)give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. 40And #Is. 55:3; Jer. 31:31; Ezek. 37:26I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but #Deut. 31:6, 8; (Ezek. 39:29; Jer. 31:33)I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me. 41Yes, #Deut. 30:9; Is. 62:5; 65:19; Zeph. 3:17I will rejoice over them to do them good, and #Jer. 24:6; 31:28; Amos 9:15I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.’
42“For thus says the Lord: #Jer. 31:28; Zech. 8:14, 15‘Just as I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them. 43And fields will be bought in this land #Jer. 33:10of which you say, “It is desolate, without man or beast; it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.” 44Men will buy fields for money, sign deeds and seal them, and take witnesses, in #Jer. 17:26the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South; for #Jer. 33:7, 11I will cause their captives to return,’ says the Lord.”
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.