Jeremiah 32
32
Pledge of Restoration.#This chapter recounts a prophecy “in action.” At the Lord’s command, Jeremiah fulfills his family duty to purchase the land of his cousin, carrying out all the legal details, even putting the deed away for safekeeping against the day he will have to produce it to verify his ownership of the land. The Lord defines the meaning of this symbolic action: In the future, Judah will be restored and daily life will return to normal. 1The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah,#The tenth year of Zedekiah: 588 B.C. The eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar: dating his reign from his victory at Carchemish; see note on 25:1–14. king of Judah, the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, while Jeremiah the prophet was confined to the court of the guard, in the house of the king of Judah.#Jer 33:1; 37:20; 38:6; 39:14. 3Zedekiah, king of Judah, had confined him there, saying: “How dare you prophesy: Thus says the Lord: I am handing this city over to the king of Babylon that he may capture it.#Jer 26:9; 34:2; 37:6–10. 4Zedekiah, king of Judah, shall not escape the hands of the Chaldeans: he shall indeed be handed over to the king of Babylon. He shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye.#Jer 34:3; 38:18, 23; 39:4–7. 5He shall take Zedekiah to Babylon. There he shall remain, until I attend to him—oracle of the Lord. If you fight against the Chaldeans, you cannot win!”#Jer 39:7; 52:11.
6#Jeremiah’s imprisonment by the weak-willed Zedekiah was a technical custody that did not deprive him of all freedom of action. Jeremiah said, This word came to me from the Lord: 7Hanamel, son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you with the offer:#Lv 25:24–34; Ru 4:4. “Purchase my field in Anathoth, since you, as nearest relative, have the first right of purchase.”#The first right of purchase: the obligation of the closest relative to redeem the property of a family member in economic distress so that the ancestral land remains within the family (Lv 25:25–28); see note on Ru 2:20. 8And, just as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard and said, “Please purchase my field in Anathoth, in the territory of Benjamin; as nearest relative, you have the first right of possession—purchase it for yourself.” Then I knew this was the word of the Lord. 9So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, weighing out for him the silver, seventeen shekels of silver.
10When I had written and sealed the deed, called witnesses and weighed out the silver on the scales, 11I accepted the deed of purchase, both the sealed copy, containing title and conditions, and the open copy.#The sealed copy…and the open copy: the legal deed of sale was written on a scroll, which was then rolled up and sealed; a second scroll containing a copy of the legal deed was then rolled around it and left unsealed so the contents of the legal deed would be accessible without destroying the original seal. 12I gave this deed of purchase to Baruch, son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and the witnesses who had signed the deed of purchase and before all the Judahites sitting around in the court of the guard.#Jer 36:4.
13In their presence I gave Baruch this charge: 14Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds of purchase, both the sealed and the open deeds, and put them in an earthenware jar,#In an earthenware jar: to protect the scroll from drying out and disintegrating. Some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in such jars. so they can last a long time. 15For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: They shall again purchase houses and fields and vineyards in this land.
16After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch, son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord: 17Ah, my Lord God! You made the heavens and the earth with your great power and your outstretched arm; nothing is too difficult for you.#2 Kgs 19:15; Jb 42:2. 18You continue your kindness through a thousand generations; but you repay the ancestors’ guilt upon their children who follow them. Great and mighty God, whose name is Lord of hosts,#Ex 20:5–6; 34:6; Dt 5:9. 19great in counsel, mighty in deed, whose eyes are fixed on all the ways of mortals, giving to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their deeds:#Jb 34:21; Ps 33:13–15. 20you performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt and to this day, in Israel and among all peoples, you have made a name for yourself as on this day.#Ex 6:6; Dt 4:34; Ps 135:9. 21You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and great terror. 22And you gave them this land, as you had sworn to their ancestors to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.#Jer 11:5; Gn 15:18; 17:8; 26:3. 23They went in and took possession of it, but they did not listen to your voice. They did not live by your law; they did not do anything you commanded them to do. Then you made all this evil fall upon them.#Jer 7:24–26; Dn 9:10–14. 24See, the siegeworks have arrived at this city to capture it; the city is handed over to the Chaldeans who are attacking it, with sword, starvation, and disease. What you threatened has happened—you can see it for yourself.#Jer 21:5; 33:4. 25Yet you told me, my Lord God: Purchase the field with silver and summon witnesses, when the city has already been handed over to the Chaldeans!
26Then this word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 27I am the Lord, the God of all the living! Is anything too difficult for me? 28Therefore the Lord says: I am handing over this city to the Chaldeans and to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he shall capture it. 29The Chaldeans who are attacking this city shall go in and set the city on fire, burning it and the houses, on whose roofs incense was burned to Baal and libations were poured out to other gods in order to provoke me.#Jer 21:10; 37:8–10. 30From their youth the Israelites and the Judahites have been doing only what is evil in my eyes; the Israelites have been provoking me with the works of their hands—oracle of the Lord.#Jer 3:25; 44:8. 31This city has so stirred my anger and wrath, from the day it was built to this day, that I must put it out of my sight, 32for all the evil the Israelites and Judahites have done to provoke me—they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.#Jer 2:26; Is 3:8. 33They turned their backs to me, not their faces; though I taught them persistently, they would not listen or accept correction.#Jer 7:24. 34Instead they set up their abominations in the house which bears my name in order to defile it.#Jer 7:30; 2 Kgs 21:4–5. 35They built high places to Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech;#Molech: a god to whom human sacrifice was offered in the Valley of Ben-hinnom. Here, as in 19:5, he is called “Baal”; see note on Lv 18:21. I never commanded them to do this, nor did it even enter my mind that they would practice this abomination, so as to bring sin upon Judah.#Jer 7:31; 19:5; Ps 106:37–38.
36Now, therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city, which you say is being handed over to the king of Babylon by means of the sword, starvation, and disease: 37See, I am gathering them from all the lands to which I drove them in my rising fury and great anger; I will bring them back to this place and settle them here in safety.#Jer 23:3; 29:14; Is 11:12; Ez 11:17. 38They shall be my people, and I will be their God.#Jer 24:7; 31:33. 39I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me always, for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40With them I will make an everlasting covenant, never to cease doing good to them; I will put fear of me in their hearts so that they never turn away from me.#Jer 31:31–33. 41I will take delight in doing good to them: I will plant them firmly in this land, with all my heart and soul.#Dt 30:9.
42For thus says the Lord: Just as I have brought upon this people all this great evil, so I will bring upon them all the good I have promised them.#Jer 33:10–14; Zec 8:13. 43Fields shall be purchased in this land, about which you say, “It is a wasteland, without human beings or animals, handed over to the Chaldeans.”#Jer 33:10. 44They will purchase fields with silver, write up deeds, seal them, and have them witnessed in the land of Benjamin, in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah and of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah and the Negeb, when I restore their fortunes—oracle of the Lord.#Jer 17:26; 33:7.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Jeremiah 32
32
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah, the king of Judah. The same is the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.
2 It was then that the army of the king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem. And Jeremiah, the prophet, was confined to the atrium of the prison, which was in the house of the king of Judah.
3 For Zedekiah, the king of Judah, had confined him, saying: "Why do you make predictions, saying: 'Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it?
4 And Zedekiah, the king of Judah, will not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans. Instead, he will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon. And he will speak to him, mouth to mouth, and he will see him, eye to eye.
5 And he will lead Zedekiah to Babylon. And he will be there until I visit him, says the Lord. So then, if you contend against the Chaldeans, you will have no success.' "
6 And Jeremiah said: "The word of the Lord came to me, saying:
7 Behold, Hanamel, the son of Shallum, your cousin, will come to you, saying: 'Buy for yourself my field, which is in Anathoth. For it is your right, as next of kin, to buy it.'
8 And in accord with the word of the Lord, Hanamel, the son of my uncle, came to me, to the entrance of the prison, and he said to me: 'Take possession of my field, which is in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. For the right of inheritance is yours, and as the next of kin you may possess it.' Then I understood that this was the word of the Lord.
9 And I bought the field, which is in Anathoth, from Hanamel, the son of my uncle. And I weighed out the money to him, seven small coins and ten pieces of silver.
10 And I wrote it in a book and signed it, and I summoned witnesses. And I weighed out the silver on a scale.
11 And I received the signed deed of possession, and the stipulations, and the ratifications, with the exterior seals.
12 And I gave the deed of possession to Baruch, the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel, the son of my uncle, in the sight of the witnesses who had been recorded in the book of the purchase, and in the sight of all the Jews who were sitting in the atrium of the prison.
13 And I instructed Baruch, in their sight, saying:
14 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Take these writings, this sealed deed of purchase, and this deed which is open, and place them in an earthen vessel, so that they will be preserved for many days.'
15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Houses, and fields, and vineyards will be possessed still, in this land.'
16 And after I had delivered the deed of possession to Baruch, the son of Neri, I prayed to the Lord, saying:
17 Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God! Behold, you have made heaven and earth, by your great strength and by your outstretched arm. No word is difficult for you.
18 You act with mercy a thousand-fold, but you repay the iniquity of the fathers into the sinews of their sons after them. The Lord of hosts is your name: most strong, great, and powerful!
19 You are great in counsel and incomprehensible in thought. Your eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of Adam, so that you may repay each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his intentions.
20 You caused signs and portents in the land of Egypt, and in Israel, and among men, even until this day. And you have made a name for yourself, just as in this day.
21 And you have led your people Israel away from the land of Egypt, with signs and portents, and with a robust hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror.
22 And you have given them this land, which you swore, to their fathers, that you would give to them, a land flowing with milk and honey.
23 And they entered it and possessed it. But they did not obey your voice, and they did not walk in your law. And they did not do all of the things that you commanded them to do. And so, all of these evils have happened to them.
24 Behold, fortifications were built against the city, so as to capture it. And the city was given into the hands of the Chaldeans, who fight against it, before the face of the sword, and of famine, and of pestilence. And what you have spoken has occurred, just as you yourself discern.
25 So why, O Lord God, are you saying to me: 'Buy a field with money, and summon witnesses,' while the city is being given into the hands of the Chaldeans?"
26 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying:
27 "Behold, I am the Lord God; I am above all flesh. Can any word be difficult for me?
28 Therefore, thus says the Lord: Behold, I will deliver this city into the hands of the Chaldeans, and into the hands of the king of Babylon, and they will capture it.
29 And the Chaldeans fighting against this city will advance, and set fire to it, and burn it, along with the houses on whose roofs they were offering sacrifice to Baal and were pouring out libations to strange gods, so that they provoked me to wrath.
30 For the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah, from their youth, have continually done evil in my eyes. The sons of Israel, even until now, have been provoking me with the work of their hands, says the Lord.
31 For this city has been a cause of fury and indignation to me, from the day when they built it, until this day, in which it will be taken away from my sight,
32 because of all the wickedness of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah, which they have done, provoking me to wrath, they and their kings, their leaders and their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
33 And they have turned their backs to me, and not their faces. And though I taught them and instructed them, rising at first light, they were not willing to listen, so that they would receive discipline.
34 And they have placed their idols in the house where my name is invoked, so that they defiled it.
35 And they have built the exalted places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, so that they may initiate their sons and their daughters into Molech, though I did not command, nor did it enter into my heart, that they should do this abomination, and so lead Judah into sin.
36 And now, because of these things, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to this city, about which you say that it will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence:
37 Behold, I will gather them together from all the lands to which I have cast them out in my fury, and in my wrath, and in my great indignation. And I will lead them back to this place, and I will cause them to live in confidence.
38 And they will be my people, and I will be their God.
39 And I will give to them one heart and one way, so that they may fear me all their days, and so that it may be well with them, and with their sons after them.
40 And I will form an everlasting covenant with them, and I will not cease to do good for them. And I will put my fear into their heart, so that they do not withdraw from me.
41 And I will rejoice over them, while I do good for them. And I will plant them in this land, in truth, with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
42 For thus says the Lord: Just as I have led over this people all this great evil, so will I lead over them all the good that I am speaking to them now.
43 And fields will be possessed in this land, about which you say that it is desolate because there remains neither man nor beast, and because it has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans.
44 Fields will be bought for money, and deeds will be written and signed, and witnesses will be summoned, in the land of Benjamin and all around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, and in the cities on the mountains, and in the cities on the plains, and in the cities that are toward the south. For I will convert their captivity, says the Lord."
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