Jeremiah 32
32
Jeremiah Buys a Field
1The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah during Zedekiah’s tenth year as king of Judah. (This was Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year as king.) 2At that time the army of the king of Babylon was blockading Jerusalem.
The prophet Jeremiah was locked up in the courtyard of the prison. This prison was in the palace of the king of Judah. 3When King Zedekiah of Judah locked up Jeremiah, Zedekiah asked him, “Why are you prophesying? You are saying, ‘This is what the Lord says: I’m going to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. 4King Zedekiah of Judah will not escape from the Babylonians. He will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon. He will talk to Nebuchadnezzar in person and look him in the eye. 5Nebuchadnezzar will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and Zedekiah will stay there until I deal with him, declares the Lord. When you fight the Babylonians, you won’t win.’ ”
6Jeremiah said, “The Lord spoke his word to me. He said, 7‘Jeremiah, your cousin Hanamel, son of Shallum, is going to come to you and say, “Buy my field that is in Anathoth, because as the closest relative it is your responsibility to buy it.” ’
8“Then, as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the prison. He said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. It is your responsibility to purchase it, because the rights of the closest relative belong to you. Buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that the Lord had spoken to me.
9“So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and gave him the money. The field cost seven ounces of silver. 10I signed the deed, sealed it, had people witness the signing of the deed, and paid out the silver. 11Then I took the sealed copy of the deed, containing the terms and conditions, as well as an unsealed copy. 12I gave the copies of the deeds to Baruch, son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. I did this in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and the witnesses who had signed the deed and in the presence of all the Jews who were sitting in the courtyard of the prison. 13Then I gave Baruch these orders: 14‘This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Take both of these documents, both the sealed and the unsealed copies of the deed. Put them in a clay jar so that they will last a long time. 15This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: My people will again buy houses, fields, and vineyards in this land.’
16“After I had given the copies to Baruch, son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord. I prayed, 17‘Almighty Lord, you made heaven and earth by your great strength and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you. 18You show mercy to thousands of generations. However, you punish children for the wickedness of their parents. You, God, are great and mighty. Your name is the Lord of Armies. 19You make wise plans and do mighty things. You see everything the descendants of Adam do. You reward them for the way they live and for what they do. 20You performed miraculous signs and amazing things in Egypt. To this day you are still doing them in Israel. You made a name for yourself that continues to this day. 21You brought your people from Egypt with miraculous signs and amazing things, with a mighty hand and a powerful arm, and with great terror. 22You gave them the land that you swore with an oath to give their ancestors, the land flowing with milk and honey. 23They entered and took possession of it. However, they refused to obey you or to follow your teachings. They didn’t do anything you commanded them to do, so you brought all this disaster on them.
24“ ‘See how the dirt ramps have been built up around the city to capture it! Because of wars, famines, and plagues, the city will be handed over to the Babylonians who are attacking it. What you have threatened to do has happened, as you can see. 25Yet you, Almighty Lord, told me to buy a field with money and get witnesses to confirm it, although the city was handed over to the Babylonians.’ ”
26The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. He said, 27“I am the Lord God of all humanity. Nothing is too hard for me. 28This is what the Lord says: I’m going to hand this city over to the Babylonians and King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. They will capture it.
29“The Babylonians who are attacking this city will break in, set this city on fire, and burn it down. They will burn down the houses of people who made me furious by going up to the roofs to burn incense to Baal and to pour out wine offerings to other gods. 30Ever since they were young, the people of Israel and Judah have done what I consider evil. The people of Israel have made me furious by what they’ve done,” declares the Lord. 31“The people in this city have made me so angry and furious from the day they built it to this day. So now I must remove this city from my presence.
32“The people of Israel and Judah have made me furious because they are evil. The people, their kings and officials, their priests and prophets, and the Judeans and those who live in Jerusalem 33have turned their backs, not their faces to me. I taught them again and again, but they refused to listen and learn. 34They set up their detestable idols in the temple that is called by my name, and they dishonored it. 35In the valley of Ben Hinnom they built worship sites for Baal to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech. I didn’t ask them to do this. It never entered my mind. I didn’t make Judah sin.
36“You have said this about the city, ‘Because of wars, famines, and plagues it will be handed over to the king of Babylon.’ Now this is what the Lord God of Israel says: 37I am going to gather the people from all the lands where I scattered them in my anger, fury, and terrifying wrath. I will bring them back to this place and make them live here securely. 38They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39I will give them the same attitude and the same purpose so that they will fear me as long as they live. This will be for their own good and for the good of their children. 40I will make an eternal promise #32:40 Or “covenant.” to them that I will never stop blessing them. I will make them fear me so that they will never turn away from me. 41I will enjoy blessing them. With all my heart and soul I will faithfully plant them in this land.
42“This is what the Lord says: As I brought all these disasters on these people, so I will bring on them all these blessings that I have promised them. 43You have said that this land is a wasteland, without people or animals living in it. You have also said that it has been handed over to the Babylonians. But people will once again buy fields in this land. 44They will buy fields for money, sign deeds, seal them, and have people witness the signing of the deeds. This will happen in the territory of Benjamin, in the region of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities on the mountains, in the hill country, and in the Negev because I will bring them back from their captivity,” declares the Lord.
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Jeremiah 32: GW
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 32
32
1The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah — it [is] the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar,
2And then the forces of the king of Babylon are laying siege against Jerusalem, and
3Where Zedekiah king of Judah hath shut him up, saying, ‘Wherefore art thou prophesying, saying, Thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he hath captured it;
4And Zedekiah king of Judah doth not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but is certainly given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and his mouth hath spoken with his mouth, and his eyes see his eyes,
5And [to] Babylon he leadeth Zedekiah, and there he is till My inspecting him, — an affirmation of Jehovah — because ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye do not prosper.’
6And Jeremiah saith, ‘A word of Jehovah hath been unto me saying,
7Lo, Hanameel son of Shallum, thine uncle, is coming unto thee, saying, Buy for thee my field that [is] in Anathoth, for thine [is] the right of redemption — to buy.
8And Hanameel, my uncle's son, cometh in unto me, according to the word of Jehovah, unto the court of the prison, and saith unto me, ‘Buy, I pray thee, my field that [is] in Anathoth, that [is] in the land of Benjamin, for thine [is] the right of possession, and thine of redemption — buy for thee.’ And I know that it [is] the word of Jehovah,
9And I buy the field, that [is] in Anathoth, from Hanameel, my uncle's son, and I weigh to him the money — seventeen shekels of silver.
10And I write in a book, and seal, and cause witnesses to testify, and weigh the silver in balances;
11And I take the purchase-book, the sealed one, according to law and custom, and the open one.
12And I give the purchase-book unto Baruch son of Neriah, son of Maaseiah, before the eyes of Hanameel, my uncle's son, and before the eyes of the witnesses, those writing in the purchase-book, before the eyes of all the Jews who are sitting in the court of the prison.
13And I charge Baruch before their eyes, saying,
14‘Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, Take these books, this purchase-book, both the sealed one and the open one, and thou hast put them in an earthen vessel, that they may remain many days;
15For thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, Again are houses and fields and vineyards bought in this land.’
16And I pray unto Jehovah — after my giving the purchase-book unto Baruch son of Neriah — saying,
17‘Ah, Lord Jehovah, lo, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power, and by Thy stretched-out arm; there is nothing too wonderful for Thee:
18Doing kindness to thousands, and recompensing iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their sons after them; God, the great, the mighty, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name,
19Great in counsel, and mighty in act, in that Thine eyes are open on all the ways of the sons of Adam, to give to each according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:
20In that thou hast done signs and wonders in the land of Egypt unto this day, and in Israel, and among men, and Thou dost make for Thee a name as [at] this day.
21‘And Thou bringest forth Thy people Israel from the land of Egypt, with signs and with wonders, and by a strong hand, and by a stretched-out arm, and by great fear,
22And thou givest to them this land that thou didst swear to their fathers to give to them, a land flowing with milk and honey,
23And they come in, and possess it, and they have not hearkened to Thy voice, and in Thy law have not walked, all that which Thou didst lay a charge on them to do they have not done, and Thou dost proclaim [to] them all this evil.
24‘Lo, the mounts — they have come in to the city to capture it, and the city hath been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it, because of the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence; and that which Thou hast spoken hath come to pass, and lo, Thou art seeing;
25Yet Thou hast said unto me, O Lord Jehovah, Buy for thee the field with money, and cause witnesses to testify — and the city hath been given into the hand of the Chaldeans!’
26And the word of Jehovah is unto Jeremiah, saying:
27‘Lo, I [am] Jehovah, God of all flesh: For Me is anything too wonderful?
28‘Therefore, thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am giving this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he hath captured it;
29And come in have the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city, and they have set this city on fire, and have burned it, and the houses on whose roofs they made perfume to Baal, and poured out libations to other gods, so as to provoke Me to anger.
30For the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have been only doing evil in Mine eyes, from their youth; for the sons of Israel are only provoking Me with the work of their hands — an affirmation of Jehovah.
31‘For a cause of Mine anger, and a cause of My fury, hath this city been to Me, even from the day that they built it, and unto this day — to turn it aside from before My face,
32Because of all the evil of the sons of Israel, and of the sons of Judah that they have done, so as to provoke Me — they, their kings, their heads, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
33And they turn unto Me the neck, and not the face, and teaching them, rising early and teaching, and they are not hearkening to accept instruction.
34‘And they set their abominations in the house over which My name is called, so as to defile it;
35And they build the high places of Baal, that [are] in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come up on my heart to do this abomination, so as to cause Judah to sin.
36‘And now, therefore, thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, concerning this city, of which ye are saying, It hath been given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, and by famine, and by pestilence,
37Lo, I am gathering them out of all the lands whither I have driven them in Mine anger, and in My fury, and in great wrath, and I have brought them back unto this place, and have caused them to dwell confidently;
38and they have been to Me for a people, and I am to them for God;
39and I have given to them one heart, and one way, to fear Me all the days, for good to them, and to their sons after them:
40and I have made for them a covenant age-during, in that I turn not back from after them for My doing them good, and My fear I put in their heart, so as not to turn aside from me;
41and I have rejoiced over them to do them good, and have planted them in this land in truth, with all my heart, and with all My soul.
42‘For thus said Jehovah: As I brought in unto this people all this great evil, so I am bringing in on them all the good that I am speaking concerning them;
43and bought hath been the field in this land of which ye are saying, A desolation it [is], without man and beast, it hath been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
44Fields with money they buy, so as to write in a book, and to seal, and to cause witnesses to testify, in the land of Benjamin, and in suburbs of Jerusalem, and in cities of Judah, and in cities of the hill-country, and in cities of the lowcountry, and in cities of the south, for I turn back their captivity — an affirmation of Jehovah.’
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