Jeremias 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.
At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard, which was in the palace of the king of Judah.
For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying: “Why are you prophesying like this? You claim that the LORD says, ‘Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.
Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the hands of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye.
He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will stay until I attend to him, declares the LORD. If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed.’”
Jeremiah replied, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Behold! Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, is coming to you to say, ‘Buy for yourself my field in Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy it.’
Then, as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and urged me, ‘Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for you own the right of inheritance and redemption. Buy it for yourself.’” Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.
So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and I weighed out seventeen shekels of silver.
I signed and sealed the deed, called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales.
Then I took the deed of purchase—the sealed copy with its terms and conditions, as well as the open copy—
and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of my cousin Hanamel and the witnesses who were signing the purchase agreement and all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.
In their sight I instructed Baruch,
“This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Take these deeds—both the sealed copy and the open copy of the deed of purchase—and put them in a clay jar to preserve them for a long time.
15 Thus said the Lord God of Israel; Take the cup of this unmixed wine from mine hand, and you shall cause all the nations to drink, to whom I send you.
For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”
16 And they shall drink, and vomit, and be mad, because of the sword which I send amongst them.
After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD:
17 So I took the cup out of the Lord's hand, and caused the nations to whom the Lord sent me to drink:
“Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!
18 Jerusalem, and the cities of Juda, and the kings of Juda, and his princes, to make them a desert place, a desolation, and a hissing;
You show loving devotion to thousands but lay the iniquity of the fathers into the laps of their children after them, O great and mighty God whose name is the LORD of Hosts,
19 and Pharao king of Egypt, and his servants, and his nobles, and all his people;
the One great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are on all the ways of the sons of men, to reward each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.
20 and all the mingled [people], and all the kings of the Philistines, and Ascalon, and Gaza, and Accaron, and the remnant of Azotus,
You performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and You do so to this very day, both in Israel and among all mankind. And You have made a name for Yourself, as is the case to this day.
21 and Idumea, and the land of Moab, and the children of Ammon,
You 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.
22 and the kings of Tyre, and the kings of Sidon, and the kings in the [country] beyond the sea,
You gave them this land that You had sworn to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.
23 and Daedan, and Thaeman, and Ros, and every one that is shaved round about the face,
They came in and possessed it, but they did not obey Your voice or walk in Your law. They failed to perform all that You commanded them to do, and so You have brought upon them all this disaster.
24 and all the mingled [people] lodging in the wilderness,
See how the siege ramps are mounted against the city to capture it. And by sword and famine and plague, the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What You have spoken has happened, as You now see!
25 and all the kings of Aelam, and all the kings of the Persians,
Yet You, O Lord GOD, have said to me, ‘Buy for yourself the field with silver and call in witnesses, even though the city has been delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans!’”
26 and all the kings from the north, the far and the near, each one with his brother, and all the kingdoms which are on the face of the earth.
Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
27 And you shall say to them, Thus said the Lord Almighty; Drink you, be you drunken; and you shall vomit, and shall fall, and shall in nowise rise, because of the sword which I send amongst you.
“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?
28 And it shall come to pass, when they refuse to take the cup out of your hand, to drink it, that you shall say, Thus said the Lord; You shall surely drink.
Therefore this is what the LORD says: Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it.
29 For I am beginning to afflict the city whereon my name is called, and you shall by no means be held guiltless: for I am calling a sword upon all that dwell upon the earth.
And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in, set it on fire, and burn it, along with the houses of those who provoked Me to anger by burning incense to Baal on their rooftops and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.
30 And you shall prophesy against them these words, and shall say, The Lord shall speak from on high, from his sanctuary he will utter his voice; he will pronounce a declaration on his place; and these shall answer like men gathering grapes: and destruction is coming on them that dwell on the earth,
For the children of Israel and of Judah have done nothing but evil in My sight from their youth; indeed, they have done nothing but provoke Me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the LORD.
31 [even] upon [the extreme] part of the earth; for the Lord [has] a controversy with the nations, he is pleading with all flesh, and the ungodly are given to the sword, says the Lord.
For this city has aroused My wrath and fury from the day it was built until now. Therefore I will remove it from My presence
32 Thus said the Lord; Behold, evils are proceeding from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind goes forth from the end of the earth.
because of all the evil the children of Israel and of Judah have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings, their officials, their priests and prophets, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem.
33 And the slain of the Lord shall be in the day of the Lord from [one] end of the earth even to the [other] end of the earth: they shall not be buried; they shall be as dung on the face of the earth.
They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline.
34 Howl, you shepherds, and cry; and lament, you rams of the flock: for your days have been completed for slaughter, and you shall fall as the choice rams.
They have placed their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it.
35 And flight shall perish from the shepherds, and safety from the rams of the flock.
They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech—something I never commanded them, nor had it ever entered My mind, that they should commit such an abomination and cause Judah to sin.
36 A voice of the crying of the shepherds, and a moaning of the sheep and the rams: for the Lord has destroyed their pastures.
Now therefore, about this city of which you say, ‘It will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword and famine and plague,’ this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:
37 And the peaceful abodes that remain shall be destroyed before the fierceness of my anger.
I will surely gather My people from all the lands to which I have banished them in My furious anger and great wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them dwell in safety.
38 He has forsaken his lair, as a lion: for their land is become desolate before the great sword.
They will be My people, and I will be their God.
I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and for the good of their children after them.
I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put My fear in their hearts, so that they will never turn away from Me.
Yes, I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.
For this is what the LORD says: Just as I have brought all this great disaster on this people, so I will bring on them all the good I have promised them.
And fields will be bought in this land about which you are saying, ‘It is a desolation, without man or beast; it has been delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans.’
Fields will be purchased with silver, and deeds will be signed, sealed, and witnessed in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah—the cities of the hill country, the foothills, and the Negev—because I will restore them from captivity, declares the LORD.”
