Jeremiah
32
- This is the word that came to Jeremiah from
the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth
year of Nebuchadnezzar.
- The army of the king of Babylon was then
besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard
of the guard in the royal palace of Judah.
- Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned
him there, saying, "Why do you prophesy as you do? You say, 'This is
what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon,
and he will capture it.
- Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape out
of the hands of the Babylonians but will certainly be handed over to the king
of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own
eyes.
- He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he
will remain until I deal with him, declares the LORD. If you fight against
the Babylonians, you will not succeed.'"
- Jeremiah said, "The word of the LORD
came to me:
- Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going
to come to you and say, 'Buy my field at Anathoth, because as nearest relative
it is your right and duty to buy it.'
- "Then, just as the LORD had said, my
cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, 'Buy my
field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to
redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.' "I knew that this was
the word of the LORD;
- so I bought the field at Anathoth from my
cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels of silver.
- I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed,
and weighed out the silver on the scales.
- I took the deed of purchase--the sealed copy
containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy --
- and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah,
the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses
who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the
guard.
- "In their presence I gave Baruch these
instructions:
- 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God
of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies
of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long
time.
- For this is what the LORD Almighty, the God
of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this
land.'
- "After I had given the deed of purchase
to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD:
- "Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the
heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is
too hard for you.
- You show love to thousands but bring the
punishment for the fathers' sins into the laps of their children after them.
O great and powerful God, whose name is the LORD Almighty,
- great are your purposes and mighty are your
deeds. Your eyes are open to all the ways of men; you reward everyone according
to his conduct and as his deeds deserve.
- You performed miraculous signs and wonders
in Egypt and have continued them to this day, both in Israel and among all
mankind, and have gained the renown that is still yours.
- You brought your people Israel out of Egypt
with signs and wonders, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with
great terror.
- You gave them this land you had sworn to
give their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.
- They came in and took possession of it, but
they did not obey you or follow your law; they did not do what you commanded
them to do. So you brought all this disaster upon them.
- "See how the siege ramps are built up
to take the city. Because of the sword, famine and plague, the city will be
handed over to the Babylonians who are attacking it. What you said has happened,
as you now see.
- And though the city will be handed over to
the Babylonians, you, O Sovereign LORD, say to me, 'Buy the field with silver
and have the transaction witnessed.'"
- Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
- "I am the LORD, the God of all mankind.
Is anything too hard for me ?
- Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I
am about to hand this city over to the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon, who will capture it.
- The Babylonians who are attacking this city
will come in and set it on fire; they will burn it down, along with the houses
where the people provoked me to anger by burning incense on the roofs to Baal
and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.
- "The people of Israel and Judah have
done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth; indeed, the people of
Israel have done nothing but provoke me with what their hands have made, declares
the LORD.
- From the day it was built until now, this
city has so aroused my anger and wrath that I must remove it from my sight.
- The people of Israel and Judah have provoked
me by all the evil they have done -- they, their kings and officials, their
priests and prophets, the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem.
- They turned their backs to me and not their
faces; though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond
to discipline.
- They set up their abominable idols in the
house that bears my Name and defiled it.
- They built high places for Baal in the Valley
of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech, though I never
commanded, nor did it enter my mind, that they should do such a detestable
thing and so make Judah sin.
- "You are saying about this city, 'By
the sword, famine and plague it will be handed over to the king of Babylon';
but this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:
- I will surely gather them from all the lands
where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them
back to this place and let them live in safety.
- They will be my people, and I will be their
God.
- I will give them singleness of heart and
action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of
their children after them.
- I will make an everlasting covenant with
them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear
me, so that they will never turn away from me.
- I will rejoice in doing them good and will
assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.
- "This is what the LORD says: As I have
brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the
prosperity I have promised them.
- Once more fields will be bought in this land
of which you say, 'It is a desolate waste, without men or animals, for it
has been handed over to the Babylonians.'
- Fields will be bought for silver, and deeds
will be signed, sealed and witnessed in the territory of Benjamin, in the
villages around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the towns of the hill
country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, because I will restore
their fortunes, declares the LORD."
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