Jeremiah 32

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which [was] the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar.

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.

2 For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the court of the prison, which [was] in the king of Judah's house.

His army was surrounding Jerusalem, and I was in a prison area in the courtyard where the guards of the king’s palace stayed.

3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had confined him, saying, Why dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;

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].

4 And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;

And the soldiers of Babylonia will capture King Zedekiah and (take him to/put him in the hands of) the king of Babylon.

5 And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith the LORD: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper.

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.”

6 And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

[At that time], Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

7 Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thy uncle shall come to thee, saying, Buy for thee my field that [is] in Anathoth: for the right of redemption [is] thine to buy [it].

“[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].’”

8 So Hanameel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison, according to the word of the LORD, and said to me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that [is] in Anathoth, which [is] in the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance [is] thine, and the redemption [is] thine; buy [it] for thyself. Then I knew that this [was] the word of the LORD.

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.

9 And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that [was] in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, [even] seventeen shekels of silver.

[So], I bought the field at Anathoth. I paid Hanamel 17 pieces of silver for it.

10 And I subscribed the contract, and sealed [it], and took witnesses, and weighed [him] the money in the balances.

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].

11 So I took the evidence of the purchase, [both] that which was sealed [according] to the law and custom, and that which was open:

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

12 And I gave the evidence of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel my uncle's [son], and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.

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.

13 And I charged Baruch before them, saying,

[Then], while they were [all] listening, I said to Baruch,

14 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both that which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.

“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.

15 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.

[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.’”

16 Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD, saying,

After I had given the papers/papyri to Baruch, I prayed to Yahweh, saying this:

17 Ah LORD God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and out-stretched arm, [and] there is nothing too hard for thee:

“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].

18 Thou showest loving-kindness to thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, JEHOVAH of hosts, [is] his name,

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.

19 Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thy 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:

You make wise plans and you do mighty deeds. You see how all people behave [DOU], and you do to them what they deserve.

20 Who hast set 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;

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).

21 And hast brought forth thy people Israel from the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with an out-stretched arm, and with great terror;

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.

22 And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;

You gave to us Israeli people this land that you solemnly promised to give to our ancestors, a land that is very fertile [IDM].

23 And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them:

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.

24 Behold the mounts, they are come to the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that 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].

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.

25 And thou hast said to me, O LORD GOD, Buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

[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]!”

26 Then came the word of the LORD to Jeremiah, saying,

[Then] Yahweh gave me this message:

27 Behold, I [am] the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

“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].

28 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:

So, this is what I say: [It is true that] I will enable the Babylonian army and King Nebuchadnezzar to capture this city.

29 And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal, and poured out drink-offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.

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.

30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done evil only before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD.

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.

31 For this city hath been to me [as] a provocation of my anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even to this day; that I should remove it from before my face,

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.

32 Because of all the evil 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.

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.

33 And they have turned to me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising early and teaching [them], yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.

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.

34 But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.

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).

35 And they 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 Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

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.”

36 And now therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city, of which ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence;

“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:

37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in my anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again to this place, and I will cause them to dwell in safety.

‘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.

38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:

They will be my people, and I will be their God.

39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:

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.

40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

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.

41 Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.

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.’

42 For thus saith the LORD; As I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.

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.

43 And fields shall be bought in this land, of which ye say, [It is] desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

[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.”

44 Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, 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 mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD.

[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.’”