Jeremias 32
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, 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 at the house of the king of Judah.
Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him and said, “Why do you prophesy and say, 'Yahweh says this: Look, I am about to give over this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.
Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, for he will certainly be given into the hand of the king of Babylon. His mouth will speak to the king's mouth, and his eyes will see the king's eyes.
He will take Zekediah to Babylon, and he will remain there until I have dealt with him—this is Yahweh's declaration. Though you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed.'”
Jeremiah said, “The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
'Look, Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you and will say, “Buy my field that is in Anathoth for yourself, for the right to buy it belongs to you.”'”
Then, as Yahweh had declared, Hanamel, the son of my uncle, came to me in the courtyard of the guard, and he said to me, “Buy my field that is in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of inheritance is yours, and the right to buy it belongs to you. Buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was Yahweh's word.
So I bought the field in Anathoth from Hanamel, the son of my uncle, and I weighed out for him the silver, seventeen shekels in weight.
Then I wrote in a scroll and sealed it, and had witnesses witness it. Then I weighed the silver in the scales.
Next I took the deed of purchase that was sealed, following the command and the statutes, as well as the unsealed deed.
I gave the sealed scroll to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah in front of Hanamel, the son of my uncle, and the witnesses who had written in the sealed scroll, and in front of all the Judeans who sat in the courtyard of the guard.
So I gave a command to Baruch before them. I said,
“Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: Take these documents, both this receipt of purchase that is sealed and the unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last 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 Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: 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 gave the receipt of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to Yahweh and said,
17 So I took the cup out of the Lord's hand, and caused the nations to whom the Lord sent me to drink:
“Woe, Lord Yahweh! Look! You alone have made the heavens and the earth by your great strength and with your raised arm. Nothing you say is too difficult for you to do.
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 covenant faithfulness to thousands and pour the guilt of men into the laps of their children after them. You are the great and mighty God; Yahweh of hosts is your name.
19 and Pharao king of Egypt, and his servants, and his nobles, and all his people;
You are great in wisdom and mighty in deeds, for your eyes are open to all the ways of people, to give to each man what his conduct and deeds deserve.
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 did signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. To this present day here in Israel and among all mankind, you have made your name famous.
21 and Idumea, and the land of Moab, and the children of Ammon,
For you brought your people Israel out from the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand, with a raised 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,
Then you gave them this land—which you had sworn to their ancestors to give to them—a land flowing with milk and honey.
23 and Daedan, and Thaeman, and Ros, and every one that is shaved round about the face,
So they entered and took possession of it. But they did not obey your voice or live in obedience to your law. They did nothing of what you had commanded them to do, so you brought all this disaster on them.
24 and all the mingled [people] lodging in the wilderness,
Look! The siege mounds have reached up to the city to capture it. For because of sword, famine, and plague, the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. For what you have said would happen is happening, and see, you are watching.
25 and all the kings of Aelam, and all the kings of the Persians,
Then you yourself said to me, “Purchase a field for yourself with silver and have witnesses witness it, even though this city is being given into the hand 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.
The word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,
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.
“Look! I am Yahweh, God of all mankind. Is anything too difficult for me to do?
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 Yahweh says this, 'See, I am about to give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He 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.
The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come and set fire to this city and burn it, along with the houses on the roofs of which the people worshiped Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods in order to provoke me.
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 people of Israel and Judah have certainly been people who have been doing evil before my eyes since their youth. The people of Israel have certainly offended me with the practices of their hands—this is Yahweh's declaration.
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.
Yahweh declares that this city has been a provocation of my wrath and fury since the day that they built it. It has been that right up to this present day. So I will remove it from before my face
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 wickedness of the people of Israel and Judah, the things that they have done to provoke me—they, their kings, princes, priests, prophets, and every person in Judah and inhabitant 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 turned their backs to me instead of their faces, though I had eagerly taught them. I tried to teach them, but not one of them listened in order to receive correction.
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 set up their abominable idols in the house that is called by my name, to defile it.
35 And flight shall perish from the shepherds, and safety from the rams of the flock.
They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom in order to put their sons and daughters in the fire for Molech. I did not command them. It never entered my mind that they should do this detestable thing and so 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.
So now therefore, I, Yahweh, the God of Israel, say this concerning this city, the city about which you are saying, 'It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, famine, and plague.'
37 And the peaceful abodes that remain shall be destroyed before the fierceness of my anger.
See, I am about to gather them from every land where I had driven them in my wrath, fury, and great anger. I am about to bring them back to this place and enable them to live in security.
38 He has forsaken his lair, as a lion: for their land is become desolate before the great sword.
Then they will be my people, and I will be their God.
I will give them one heart and one way to honor me every day so it will be good for them and their descendants after them.
Then I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. I will set honor for me in their hearts, so that they will never turn away from me.
Then I will rejoice in doing good to them. I will faithfully plant them in this land with all my heart and all my life.
For Yahweh says this, 'Just as I have brought all this great disaster on this people, so I will bring on them all the good things that I have said I would do for them.
Then fields will be bought in this land, about which you are saying, “This is a ruined land, which has neither man nor beast. It has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.”
They will buy fields with silver and write in sealed scrolls. They will assemble witnesses in the land of Benjamin, all around Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, in the cities in the hill country and in the lowlands, and in the cities of the Negev. For I will bring back their fortunes—this is Yahweh's declaration.'”
