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 word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah the king of Judah, which is the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar.
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.
And at that time the king of Babylon's army was besieging 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 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].
Because Zedekiah the king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore art thou prophesying, saying, Thus hath said the Lord, Behold, I will give up this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall 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.
And Zedekiah the king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, because he shall surely be given up into the hand of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak to his mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;
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 to Babylon shall he lead Zedekiah, and there shall he remain until I think of him, saith the Lord: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper.
6 [At that time], Yahweh gave me another message. He said,
And Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came unto 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].’”
Behold, Chanamel the son of Shallum thy uncle is coming unto thee, saying, Buy for thyself my field that is in 'Anathoth; for unto thee belongeth the right of redemption to 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.
And there came to me Chanamel my uncle's son according to the word of the Lord into the court of the prison, and he said unto me, Buy, I pray thee, my field, that is in 'Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for to thee belongeth the right of inheritance, and to thee belongeth the redemption, buy it for thyself: then did I know that it was the word 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 from Chanamel my uncle's son, that is in 'Anathoth; and I weighed out unto him the money, seven shekels, and ten pieces of silver.
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 wrote it in a deed, and sealed it, and had it certified by witnesses, and weighed the money in 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
And I took the deed of the purchase, both that which was sealed, according to the law and custom, and that which 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 gave the deed of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriyah, the son of Machseyah, before the eyes of Chanamel my kinsman, and before the eyes of the witnesses that had signed the deed of the purchase, before the eyes of all the Jews that were sitting in the court of the prison.
13 [Then], while they were [all] listening, I said to Baruch,
And I charged Baruch before their eyes, 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 hath said the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase, both the sealed, and this open deed, and place them in an earthen vessel, in order that they may last many days.
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 thus hath said the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Yet again shall there be bought houses and fields and vineyards in this land.
16 After I had given the papers/papyri to Baruch, I prayed to Yahweh, saying this:
And I prayed to the Lord after I had delivered the deed of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriyah, 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 Eternal! behold, it is thou that hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great power and by thy outstretched arm; nothing is too wonderful for 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 exercisest kindness unto the thousandth [generation], and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers unto the bosom of their children after them; [thou art] the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts is his name;
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 counsel, and mighty in execution: [thou] whose eyes are open over all the ways of the sons of man, to give unto every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings;
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).
Who hast displayed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, up to this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and thou hast made thyself a name, as it is at 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 thou didst bring forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror;
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 thou gavest them this land, which thou hadst sworn to their fathers to give unto them, 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.
And they came in, and took possession of it; but they hearkened not to thy voice, and in thy law they did not walk; all that thou hadst commanded them to do they did not do: and thou hast therefore caused all this evil to befall 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.
Behold the mounds reach unto the city to capture it; and the city is given up into the hand of the Chaldeans, who fight against it, because 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 [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 yet thou hast said unto me, O Lord Eternal, Buy for thyself the field for money, and have it certified by witnesses: while the city is given up into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 [Then] Yahweh gave me this message:
Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, 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].
Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: shall any thing be too wonderful 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 hath said the Lord, Behold, I will give up this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, and he shall 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.
And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set this city on fire, and burn it, with the houses upon the roofs of which they have offered incense unto Ba'al, and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods, in order to provoke me to 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 Judah have been doing only what is evil in my eyes from their youth; for the children of Israel have been only provoking me to anger with the work 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.
For to excite my anger and my fury hath been unto me this city from the day that they built it, even until this day; so that I will remove it from before my presence:
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 wickedness of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done 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 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 turned unto me the back, and not the face: though [my prophets] taught them, rising up early and teaching; yet they hearkened not to receive 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).
But they placed their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, 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 high-places of Ba'al, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through [the fire] unto Molech; which I had not commanded them, and which had not come into my mind, to practise this abomination, in order to mislead Judah to 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:
But now, therefore, thus hath said the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, it is given up into the hand of the king of Babylon through the sword, and through the famine, and through 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.
Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries, whither I have driven them in my anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them back again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell in safety;
38 They will be my people, and I will be their God.
And they shall be unto me for a people, and I will be unto them for a 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 will give them one heart, and one manner, to fear me at all times, that it may be well with them, and with 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 will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good on my part; and my fear will I place in their heart, so that they may 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.’
And I will be glad over them to do them good; and I will plant them in this land in truth, with all my heart and with all my soul.
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 hath said the Lord, Just as I have brought upon this people all this great evil, so will I bring upon them all the good that I speak concerning 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 field shall yet be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast, it is given up into the hand of the Chaldeans.
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 money, and write it in deeds, and seal it, and certify it by witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the environs of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountain, and in the cities of the lowlands, and in the cities of the south; for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the Lord.
