Jeremiah 32
1 After Zedekiah had been ruling Judah for almost ten years, Yahweh gave me another message, during the time that Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling [Babylonia] for almost 18 years.
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.
2 His army was surrounding Jerusalem, and I was in a prison area in the courtyard where the guards of the king’s palace stayed.
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.
3 King Zedekiah had put me there. I continued to prophesy there [about what would happen]. I continued to say, “Yahweh says that he is about to allow [the army of] the king of Babylon to capture this city [DOU].
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.
4 And the soldiers of Babylonia will capture King Zedekiah and (take him to/put him in the hands of) the king of Babylon.
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.
5 Then his [soldiers] will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will remain there until I arrange for him to be punished. And if he tries to fight against the soldiers from Babylonia, he will not succeed.”
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.’”
6 [At that time], Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
Jeremiah answered, “The Lord gave me a message, saying:
7 “[Your cousin] Hanamel, the son of Shallum [your uncle], will come to you. He will say to you, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, [your hometown]. [Because you are my closest relative], [it is written in our laws that] you have the right to buy it [before I ask if anyone else wants to buy it].’”
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?’
8 And just as Yahweh had predicted, my cousin Hanamel came to see me in the courtyard of the palace. He said, “[Please] buy my field at Anathoth in the area [where the descendants of] Benjamin live. It is written in our laws that you have the right to buy it [before I ask if anyone else wants to buy it.]” When he said that, I knew that the message that I had received was [truly] from Yahweh.
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.
9 [So], I bought the field at Anathoth. I paid Hanamel 17 pieces of silver for it.
So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out seventeen shekels of silver to pay him.
10 I signed the paper/papyrus on which it was written that I was buying it, while others were watching/witnessing it. Then I weighed the silver [and gave it to him].
I signed the deed and sealed it, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver using the scales.
11 Then I took two copies of the paper/papyrus. One was sealed and the other was not sealed. On both of them was written the price and conditions of the purchase. I took both copies
Then I took the deed of sale, both the sealed original containing the terms and conditions, and the unsealed copy,
12 and I gave them to Baruch, who was the son of Neraiah and the grandson of Mahseiah. I did this while my cousin Hanamel, the [other] witnesses who had signed the paper/papyrus, and other men of Judah who were there in the courtyard, were watching.
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.
13 [Then], while they were [all] listening, I said to Baruch,
I gave Baruch these instructions in front of them,
14 “This is what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israelis [worship], says: ‘Take both copies of this paper/papyrus and put them in a clay jar, to preserve them for a long time.
“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.
15 [Do that] because this is what [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [you] Israelis [worship], say: “[Some day people will again own property] in this land, and they will buy and sell houses and vineyards and fields.’”
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.”
16 After I had given the papers/papyri to Baruch, I prayed to Yahweh, saying this:
After I had given the deed of sale to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord:
17 “Yahweh, [you are my] Lord! You made the sky and the earth by your very great power. [MTY, DOU] Nothing is too difficult for you [to do].
“Ah, Lord God! You created the heavens and the earth by your great strength and power. Nothing is too hard for you!
18 You show thousands of people that you faithfully love them, but you punish people for the sins that their parents have committed. [You are the] great and powerful God, the Commander of the armies of angels.
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,
19 You make wise plans and you do mighty deeds. You see how all people behave [DOU], and you do to them what they deserve.
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.
20 You performed many miracles [DOU] in Egypt, and you continue [to perform miracles here] in Israel and everywhere else in the world. [Because of that], you have (become very famous/caused many people to know that you are very great/powerful).
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.
21 You brought our Israeli ancestors out of Egypt by performing many great miracles [DOU], using your very great power [DOU], causing [our enemies to be] terrified.
You led your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and miracles, with your great power and strength that terrified people.
22 You gave to us Israeli people this land that you solemnly promised to give to our ancestors, a land that is very fertile [IDM].
You gave them this land that you had promised to give their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.
23 Our ancestors came here and conquered this land and started to live in it, but they refused to obey you or to do what you commanded them to do. Because of that, you have caused us to experience all these disasters.
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.
24 And now, [the army] of Babylonia has built ramps up against our city [walls] in order to attack our city. Because of [our enemies’] swords and because of famines and diseases, they will be able to conquer it [easily]. The things that you said would happen have [now] happened.
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.
25 [And it is evident that] the Babylonian army will soon conquer this city. So now, Yahweh my Lord, [I do not understand] why you told me to buy this field with my silver, while others were watching. [It seems that I have just been wasting my money by doing that]!”
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!’”
26 [Then] Yahweh gave me this message:
Then Lord gave Jeremiah this message:
27 “I am Yahweh, the God [who rules] all the people [in the world]. There is absolutely nothing [RHQ] that is too difficult for me [to do].
Look! I am the Lord, the God of everyone. Is anything too hard for me to do?
28 So, this is what I say: [It is true that] I will enable the Babylonian army and King Nebuchadnezzar to capture this city.
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.
29 The soldiers of Babylonia who are [now outside the walls] around the city will enter and burn this city. They will burn down [all] the houses where people caused me to become angry by burning incense on [the tops of] their roofs to [honor] Baal and by pouring out offerings of wine to other gods.
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.
30 The people of Israel and Judah have continually done only evil things from the time that they became a nation. They have caused me to become very angry by all their evil deeds.
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.
31 From the time that this city was built until now, the people of this city have done [only] things that caused me to be very angry [DOU]. So [now] I will destroy it.
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,
32 The people of Israel and Judah, [including] their kings, their officials, the priests, the [false] prophets, and all the other people in Jerusalem have committed many sins that have caused me to become angry.
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
33 My people have turned away from me and have refused to return to me. Even though I taught them things many times, they would not pay attention to what I taught them, and they would not obey me.
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.
34 They have set up their detestable idols [even] in my own [MTY] temple and (defiled it/caused it to become a place that is unacceptable for people to worship me).
They have put their disgusting idols in my Temple, making it unclean.
35 They have built shrines to [honor] Baal in Ben-Hinnom Valley [outside Jerusalem], and there they sacrifice their sons and daughters to [their god] Molech. I never commanded them to do such horrible things. I never even thought that anyone might do such a terrible thing. And by doing it they have caused [all the people of] Judah to [be guilty of having] sinned.”
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.
36 “But now [I will say something more] about this city. You [people of Jerusalem] have been saying, ‘[The army of] the King of Babylon will conquer it, either by their swords or because of famines or diseases.’ But this is what [I], Yahweh, the God whom you Israeli people [say you belong to], say:
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:
37 ‘I will certainly bring my people back here again, from all the countries to which I will force them to go because I am extremely angry [DOU] with them. I will bring them back to this city and allow them to live here safely.
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.
38 They will be my people, and I will be their God.
They will be my people, and I will be their God.
39 I will cause them to have one way of thinking [IDM] and behaving, in order that they may revere me, for their good and for the good of their descendants.
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.
40 I will make an agreement with them that will last forever: I will never stop doing good things for them, and I will encourage them to revere me and never turn away from me.
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.
41 I will be happy to do good things for them, and I will surely enable them to return to this land and remain here [MET]; I will do that with all my inner being and all my strength.’
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.
42 And this is [also] what [I], Yahweh, say: ‘I have caused them to experience all these disasters. Similarly, [some day] I will do for them all the good things that I have promised.
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.
43 [By buying land you, Jeremiah, have predicted that some day] people will buy and sell fields in this land about which you [people of Jerusalem] now say, “The Babylonian soldiers have destroyed it. It is [now] desolate. [It is a land where] there are no longer any people or animals.”
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.”
44 [But some day] people will [again] buy [and sell] fields here. People will sign documents [about buying those fields], and [other people] will witness them doing that. [That will happen] in the land where [the descendants of] Benjamin live and [here] in the villages near Jerusalem, in [other] towns in Judah, in the hilly areas and in the foothills [to the west], and in the southern desert area, [too. Some day] I will cause them to prosper again. [That will surely happen because I], Yahweh, have said it.’”
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.
