Jeremiah 32
1 This is the Lord's message that came to Jeremiah in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah's reign, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign.
The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah in the tenth year of Zedekiah, the king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.
2 This was when the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem. Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the guard's courtyard, part of the king of Judah's palace.
And at that time the army of the king of Babylon was laying siege to Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the house of the king of Judah.
3 Zedekiah king of Judah had put him in prison, telling him: “Why do you have to prophesy like this? You say the Lord is saying, ‘Look, I'm going to hand over this city to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.
For Zedekiah, the king of Judah, had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, “Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;
4 Zedekiah king of Judah won't escape from the Babylonians. He will be captured and taken to the king of Babylon to speak with him personally and see him face to face.
and Zedekiah, the king of Judah, shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldaeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;
5 He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he'll remain until I deal with him, declares the Lord. You won't be successful if you fight against the Babylonians.’”
and he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith Jehovah; though ye fight with the Chaldaeans, ye shall not prosper?”
6 Jeremiah answered, “The Lord gave me a message, saying:
Then said Jeremiah, The word of Jehovah came to me, and said:
7 Your cousin Hanamel, son of Shallum, is coming to tell you, ‘Why don't you buy my field in Anathoth because you have the right to redeem it and buy it?’
Behold, Hanameel, the son of Shallum, thine uncle, will come to thee, and say, Buy thee my field which is in Anathoth, for thine is the redemption-right to buy it.
8 Just as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel arrived to see me in the guard's courtyard and asked me, ‘Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin because you have the right of family ownership to redeem it. You should buy it for yourself.’” This convinced me that this was a message from the Lord.
And so Hanameel, the son of my uncle, came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of Jehovah, and said to me: Buy, I pray thee, my field, which is in Anathoth, for thine is the right of inheritance and redemption; buy it for thyself! Then I knew that this was the word of Jehovah.
9 So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out seventeen shekels of silver to pay him.
I bought, therefore, the field of Hanameel, my uncle's son, in Anathoth, and I paid him the money, seventeen shekels of silver.
10 I signed the deed and sealed it, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver using the scales.
And I wrote a deed, and sealed it, and took witnesses thereto, and weighed the silver in the balances.
11 Then I took the deed of sale, both the sealed original containing the terms and conditions, and the unsealed copy,
And I took the purchase-deed, that which was sealed according to the law and the statutes, and that which was open,
12 and handed them to Baruch son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah. I did this in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the deed of sale, and all the people of Judah who were sitting there in the guard's courtyard.
and I gave the purchase-deed to Baruch, the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the presence of Hanameel, my uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses, who subscribed their names to the purchase-deed, and in the presence of all the Jews who sat in the court of the prison.
13 I gave Baruch these instructions in front of them,
And I charged Baruch in their presence, saying,
14 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Put these deeds of sale, the sealed original and the open copy, in a clay jar so they can be kept safe for a long time.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these writings, this sealed purchase-deed, and this open deed, and put them into an earthen vessel, that they may endure a great length of time.
15 For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: The time will come when once again houses, fields, and vineyards will be bought in this country.”
For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Yet again shall houses and fields and vineyards be bought in this land.
16 After I had given the deed of sale to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord:
And when I had delivered the purchase-deed to Baruch, the son of Neriah, I prayed to Jehovah, saying,
17 “Ah, Lord God! You created the heavens and the earth by your great strength and power. Nothing is too hard for you!
Ah, Lord, Jehovah! Behold, thou hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great power and thy stretched-out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.
18 You give your trustworthy love to thousands, but you punish the sins of the fathers the consequences affect their children too., Great and powerful God whose name is the Lord Almighty,
Thou showest kindness to a thousand generations, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of the children who come after them. The great, the mighty God, Jehovah of hosts is his name,
19 you are the one who is supremely wise and who does incredible things. You watch what everyone does, and you reward them according to the way they live and what their actions deserve.
great in counsel and mighty in work; for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men, to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings;
20 You carried out signs and miracles in Egypt, and you still do so today, both here in Israel and among all people everywhere. As a result you gained a great reputation, and this is still true today.
who hast displayed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt even to this day, and in Israel, and among other men, and hast made thee a name, as at this day;
21 You led your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and miracles, with your great power and strength that terrified people.
and hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched-out arm, and with great terror,
22 You gave them this land that you had promised to give their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.
and hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;
23 They came and took it over, but they didn't do what you said or follow your laws. They didn't do everything you ordered them to do, which is why you've brought all this disaster down on them.
and they have come in and possessed it; but they have not obeyed thy voice, nor walked according to thy law. They have done nothing of all which thou commandedst them to do. Therefore hast thou caused all this evil to come upon them.
24 Look at the siege ramps piled up against the city to capture it! Through war and famine and disease, the city will be taken by the Babylonians who are attacking it. You can see that everything you said would happen has happened.
Behold, the mounds of the enemy have already come up against the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldaeans, who fight against it by means of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence; and what thou hast spoken is come to pass, and, behold, thou seest it.
25 Yet, Lord God, you have told me, ‘Buy yourself the field with silver in front of witnesses, even though the city has been handed over to the Babylonians!’”
And yet hast thou said to me, O Lord Jehovah, “Buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses thereto!” when the city is given into the hand of the Chaldaeans.
26 Then Lord gave Jeremiah this message:
Then came the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah, saying:
27 Look! I am the Lord, the God of everyone. Is anything too hard for me to do?
Behold, I, Jehovah, am the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me?
28 So this is what the Lord says: Listen! I'm going to hand over this city to the king of Babylon and the Babylonians, and they will capture it.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldaeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.
29 The Babylonians who are attacking the city are going to come and set fire to it. They will burn it down, including the houses belonging to the people who made me angry by burning incense to Baal on their rooftops, and by pouring out drink offerings in worship of other gods.
And the Chaldaeans who fight against this city shall come and set this city on fire, and burn it, with the houses upon whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal, and poured out incense to other gods, to provoke me to anger.
30 From their earliest days all the people of Israel and of Judah have ever done has been evil in my sight. In fact all they've even done is to make me angry through their actions, declares the Lord.
For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil before me from their youth; yea, the children of Israel have but provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith Jehovah.
31 This city has been such a source of anger and frustration from the time it was built right up till now. So I'm going to get rid of it,
For this city hath been the object of my anger and my fury, from the day when they built it even to this day; that I might remove it from before my face,
32 because of all the evil things the people of Israel and Judah did that made me angry—their kings, and officials, their priests and prophets, all of those living in Judah and Jerusalem, everyone
because of all the wickedness of the children of Israel, and of the children of Judah, which they have committed to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
33 They have turned their backs on me. They wouldn't even look at me. Even though I kept on trying to teach them, they refused to listen or accept instruction.
For they have turned to me the back, and not the face; though I have taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet have they not hearkened to receive instruction.
34 They have put their disgusting idols in my Temple, making it unclean.
And they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.
35 They have built pagan shrines to Baal in the Valley of Hinnom so they could sacrifice their sons and daughters by burning them in the fire. This is something I never commanded. I never even thought of such a thing—doing something so awful and making the people of Judah guilty of sin.
And they have built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Moloch, which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should practise their abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
36 Now about this city. You are correctly saying, “It's going be handed over to the king of Babylon through war and famine and disease.” However, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:
Yet now thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel concerning this city, of which ye say, “It is delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.”
37 I promise to gather my people from all the lands where I exiled them because they made me so very angry. I will bring them back here and they will live in safety.
Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries whither I have driven them in my anger and my fury and my great wrath, and I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell securely,
38 They will be my people, and I will be their God.
and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
39 I will make sure they think the same way and act in harmony, so that they will always honor me so all will be good for them and their descendants.
And I will give them one heart, and one way, to fear me continually, that it may be well with them, and with their children after them.
40 I will make an everlasting agreement with them: I'm never going to stop doing them good and I will help them to respect me so that they won't ever abandon me.
And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, nor cease to do them good; for I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
41 I will be delighted to treat them well, and I will commit myself with the whole of my being to helping them to grow as a nation in this land.
Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land in truth, with my whole heart, and with my whole soul.
42 This is what the Lord says: Just as certainly as I have brought this whole disaster down on my people, so I'm going to give to them all the good things I have promised.
For thus saith Jehovah: As I have brought upon this people all this great evil, so will I bring upon them all the good which I have promised them.
43 Fields will once again be bought in this country that you're describing, saying, “It's been completely destroyed—no people or animals are left. It's been handed over to the Babylonians.”
And fields shall yet be bought in this land, of which ye say, “It is desolate, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldaeans.”
44 People will buy fields with silver again, deeds will be signed, sealed, and witnessed. This will happen here in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in all the towns of Judah—including the towns of the hill country, the foothills, and the Negev—because I will bring the people back from exile, declares the Lord.
Fields shall men buy for money, and subscribe deeds, and seal them, and take witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill-country, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south; for I will bring them back from their captivity, saith Jehovah.
