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.
Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 32
32
1The word that came to Yirmeyahu from יהוה in the tenth year of Tsiḏqiyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah, which was the eighteenth year of Neḇuḵaḏretstsar.
2Now at that time the army of the sovereign of Baḇel besieged Yerushalayim, and Yirmeyahu the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the house of the sovereign of Yehuḏah.
3For Tsiḏqiyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah had shut him up, saying, “Why are you prophesying, saying, ‘Thus said יהוה, “See, I am giving this city into the hand of the sovereign of Baḇel, and he shall take it,
4and Tsiḏqiyahu sovereign of Yehuḏah shall not escape from the hand of the Kasdim, but certainly be given into the hand of the sovereign of Baḇel, and shall speak with him face to face, and see him eye to eye,
5and he shall lead Tsiḏqiyahu to Baḇel, and be there until I visit him,” declares יהוה, “though you fight with the Kasdim, you shall not prosper” ’?”
6And Yirmeyahu said, “The word of יהוה came to me, saying,
7See, Ḥaname’ĕl son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy my field which is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is yours to buy it.” ’
8“So Ḥaname’ĕl my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of יהוה, and said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Binyamin, for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption. Buy it for yourself.’ And I knew that this was the word of יהוה.
9“And I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Ḥaname’ĕl, my uncle’s son, and weighed out to him the silver, seventeen sheqels of silver.
10“And I signed the deed and sealed it, took witnesses, and weighed the silver in the scales.
11“Then I took the deed of purchase – that which was sealed according to the command and law, and that which was open –
12and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruḵ son of Nĕriyah, son of Maḥsĕyah, in the presence of Ḥaname’ĕl my uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Yehuḏim who sat in the court of the guard.
13“And I commanded Baruḵ before their eyes, saying,
14Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “Take these deeds, both this deed of purchase which is sealed and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, so that they remain many days.”
15For thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.” ’
16“And after I had given the deed of purchase to Baruḵ son of Nĕriyah, I prayed to יהוה, saying,
17Ah, Master יהוה! See, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is no matter too hard for You,
18who show loving-commitment to thousands, and repay the crookedness of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them – the Great, the Mighty Ěl, יהוה of hosts is His Name,
19great in counsel and mighty in work, for Your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.
20For You have set signs and wonders in the land of Mitsrayim, to this day, and in Yisra’ĕl and among other men. And You have made Yourself a Name, as it is this day.
21And You have brought Your people Yisra’ĕl out of the land of Mitsrayim with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great fearsome deeds.
22And You gave them this land, of which You swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.
23And they came in and possessed it, but they did not obey Your voice nor did they walk in Your Torah. They did not do all that You commanded them to do, so You brought all this evil upon them.
24See the siege mounds! They have come to the city to take it. And the city has been given into the hand of the Kasdim who fight against it, because of the sword and the scarcity of food and the pestilence. And what You have spoken has come about, and look, You see it!
25Yet You, O Master יהוה, have said to me, “Buy the field for silver, and take witnesses”! although the city has been given into the hand of the Kasdim.’ ”
26Then the word of יהוה came to Yirmeyahu, saying,
27“See, I am יהוה, the Elohim of all flesh. Is there any matter too hard for Me?”
28Therefore thus said יהוה, “See, I am giving this city into the hand of the Kasdim, into the hand of Neḇuḵaḏretstsar sovereign of Baḇel, and he shall take it.
29“And the Kasdim who fight against this city shall come and set fire to this city and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs they burned incense to Ba‛al and poured out drink offerings to other mighty ones, to provoke Me.
30“For the children of Yisra’ĕl and the children of Yehuḏah have done only evil before Me, from their youth. For the children of Yisra’ĕl have only provoked Me with the work of their hands,” declares יהוה.
31“For this city has been a cause for My displeasure and My wrath from the day that they built it, even to this day that I should remove it from before My face,
32because of all the evil of the children of Yisra’ĕl and the children of Yehuḏah, which they have done to provoke Me – they, their sovereigns, their heads, their priests, their prophets, and the men of Yehuḏah, and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim.
33“And they have turned their back to Me, and not their face – though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, they did not listen to receive instruction.
34“And they set their abominations in the house which is called by My Name, to defile it.
35“And they built the high places of Ba‛al which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and their daughters to Moleḵ, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My heart, that they should do this abomination, to make Yehuḏah sin.
36“And now, thus said יהוה, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It shall be given into the hand of the sovereign of Baḇel by the sword, and by scarcity of food, and by pestilence’:
37See, I am gathering them out of all the lands where I have driven them in My displeasure, and in My wrath, and in great rage. And I shall bring them back to this place, and shall let them dwell in safety.
38And they shall be My people, and I shall be their Elohim.
39And I shall give them one heart and one way, to fear Me all the days, for the good of them and of their children after them.
40And I shall make an everlasting covenant with them, that I do not turn back from doing good to them. And I shall put My fear in their hearts so as not to turn aside from Me.
41And I shall rejoice over them to do good to them, and shall plant them in this land in truth, with all My heart and with all My being.’
42“For thus said יהוה, ‘As I have brought all this great evil on this people, so I am bringing on them all the good that I am speaking to them.
43And fields shall be bought in this land of which you are saying, “It is a wasteland, without man or beast. It has been given into the hand of the Kasdim.”
44Fields shall be bought for silver, and deeds signed and sealed, and witnesses be called, in the land of Binyamin, and in the places around Yerushalayim, and in the cities of Yehuḏah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the low country, and in the cities of the South. For I shall turn back their captivity,’ declares יהוה.”
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