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.
The worde that came vnto Ieremiah from the Lord, in the tenth yere of Zedekiah king of Iudah, which was the eightenth yeere of Nebuchad-nezzar.
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.
For then the King of Babels hoste besieged Ierusalem: And Ieremiah the Prophet was shutte vp in the court of the prison, which was in the King of Iudahs house.
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].
For Zedekiah King of Iudah had shut him vp, saying, Wherefore doest thou prophesie, and say, Thus saith the Lord, Beholde, I will giue this citie into the handes of the King of Babel, and he shall take 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.
And Zedekiah the King of Iudah shall not escape out of the hande of the Caldeans, but shall surely be deliuered into the handes of the King of Babel, and shall speake with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall beholde his 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.”
And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babel, and there shall he be, vntil I visit him, saith ye Lord: though ye fight with the Caldeans, ye shall not prosper.
6 [At that time], Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
And Ieremiah said, The word of the Lord came vnto me, 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].’”
Beholde, Hanameel, the sonne of Shallum thine vncle, shall come vnto thee and say, Bye vnto thee my fielde, that is in Anathoth: for the title by kindred appertaineth vnto thee to bye 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.
So Hanameel, mine vncles sonne, came to mee in the court of the prison, according to the word of the Lord, and said vnto me, Bye my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the countrey of Beniamin: for the right of the possession is thine, and the purchase belongeth vnto thee: bye it for thee. Then I knewe that this was the worde of the Lord.
9 [So], I bought the field at Anathoth. I paid Hanamel 17 pieces of silver for it.
And I bought the field of Hanameel, mine vncles sonne, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the siluer, euen seuen shekels, and tenne pieces of siluer.
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].
And I writ it in the booke and signed it, and tooke witnesses, and weighed him the siluer in the balances.
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
So I tooke the booke of the possession, being sealed according to the Lawe, and custome, with the booke that was open,
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 I gaue the booke of the possession vnto Baruch the sonne of Neriah, the sonne of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine vncles sonne, and in the presence of the witnesses, written in the booke of the possession, before al the Iewes that sate in the court of the prison.
13 [Then], while they were [all] listening, I said to Baruch,
And I charged Baruch before them, saying,
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.
Thus saith the Lord of hostes, the God of Israel, Take the writings, euen this booke of the possession, both that is sealed, and this booke that is open, and put them in an earthen vessell, that they may continue 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 the Lord of hostes, the God of Israel saith thus, Houses and fieldes, and vineyardes shall be possessed againe in this land.
16 After I had given the papers/papyri to Baruch, I prayed to Yahweh, saying this:
Now when I had deliuered the booke of the possession vnto Baruch, the sonne of Neriah, I prayed vnto the Lord, saying,
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, beholde, thou hast made the heauen and the earth by thy great power, and by thy stretched out arme, and there is nothing hard vnto thee.
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.
Thou shewest mercie vnto thousands, and recompensest the iniquitie of the fathers into the bosome of their children after them: O God the great and mightie, whose Name is ye Lord of hostes,
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.
Great in counsell, and mightie in worke, (for thine eyes are open vpon all the wayes of ye sonnes of men, to giue to euery one according to his wayes, and according to the fruite of his workes)
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).
Which hast set signes and wonders in the land of Egypt vnto this day, and in Israel, and among all men, and hast made thee a Name, as appeareth this day,
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.
And hast brought thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signes, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, with a stretched out arme, and with great terrour,
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].
And hast giuen them this land, which thou diddest sweare to their fathers to giue them, euen a land, that floweth with milke and hony,
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.
And they came in, and possessed it, but they obeyed not thy voyce, neither walked in thy Law: all that thou commaundedst them to doe, they haue not done: therefore thou hast caused this whole plague to come vpon 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.
Beholde, the mounts, they are come into the citie to take it, and the citie is giuen into the hande of the Caldeans, that fight against it by meanes of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence, and what thou hast spoken, is come to passe, and beholde, thou seest it.
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]!”
And thou hast sayd vnto me, O Lord God, Bye vnto thee the fielde for siluer, and take witnesses: for the citie shall be giuen into the hand of the Caldeans.
26 [Then] Yahweh gave me this message:
Then came the worde of the Lord vnto Ieremiah, saying,
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].
Beholde, I am the LORD GOD of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
28 So, this is what I say: [It is true that] I will enable the Babylonian army and King Nebuchadnezzar to capture this city.
Therefore thus saith the Lord, Beholde, I wil giue this citie into the hand of the Caldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchad-nezzar, King of Babel, and he shall take 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.
And the Caldeans shall come and fight against this citie, and set fire on this citie and burne it, with the houses, vpon whose rouses they haue offred incense vnto Baal, and powred drinke offrings vnto other gods, to prouoke me vnto anger.
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.
For the children of Israel, and the children of Iudah haue surely done euill before me from their youth: for the children of Israel haue surely prouoked me to anger with the workes of their hands, saith 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.
Therefore this citie hath bene vnto me as a prouocation of mine anger, and of my wrath, from the day, that they built it, euen vnto this day, that I should remoue it out of my sight,
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 euill of the children of Israel, and of the children of Iudah, which they haue done to prouoke mee to anger, euen they, their Kings, their Princes, their Priests, and their Prophets, and the men of Iudah, and the inhabitants of Ierusalem.
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.
And they haue turned vnto me the backe and not the face: though I taught them rising vp earely, and instructing them, yet they were not obedient to receiue doctrine,
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).
But they set their abominations in ye house (whereupon my Name was called) to defile it,
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.”
And they built the hie places of Baal, which are in the valley of Ben-hinnom, to cause their sonnes and their daughters to passe through the fire vnto Molech, which I commanded them not, neither came it into my minde, that they should doe such abomination, to cause Iudah to sinne.
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:
And nowe therefore, thus hath the Lord God of Israel spoken, concerning this citie, whereof ye say, It shalbe deliuered into the hand of the King of Babel by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence,
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.
Beholde, I will gather them out of all countreys, wherein I haue scattered them in mine anger, and in my wrath, and in great indignation, and I wil bring them againe vnto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely.
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 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.
And I wil giue them one heart and one way that they may feare me for euer for ye wealth of them, and of their children after them.
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.
And I wil make an euerlasting couenant with them, that I wil neuer turne away from them to doe them good, but I wil put my feare in their hearts, that they shall not depart from 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.’
Yea, I wil delite in them to do them good, and I wil plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart, and with all my soule.
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.
For thus sayth the Lord, Like as I haue brought all this great plague vpon this people, so wil I bring vpon them all the good that I haue promised them.
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.”
And the fields shalbe possessed in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast, and shalbe giuen into the hand of the Caldeans.
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.’”
Men shall buy fields for siluer, and make writings and seale them, and take witnesses in the land of Beniamin, and round about Ierusalem, and in the cities of Iudah, and in the cities of the mountaines, and in the cities of the plaine, and in the cities of the South: for I wil cause their captiuitie to returne, saith the Lord.
