Jeremiah 32
1 The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah — it [is] the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar,
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 And then the forces of the king of Babylon are laying siege against Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet hath been shut up in the court of the prison that [is] in the house of the king of Judah,
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 Where Zedekiah king of Judah hath shut him up, saying, 'Wherefore art thou prophesying, saying, Thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he hath captured it;
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 Zedekiah king of Judah doth not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but is certainly given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and his mouth hath spoken with his mouth, and his eyes see his eyes,
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 And [to] Babylon he leadeth Zedekiah, and there he is till My inspecting him, — an affirmation of Jehovah — because ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye do not prosper.'
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 And Jeremiah saith, 'A word of Jehovah hath been unto me saying,
Jeremiah answered, “The Lord gave me a message, saying:
7 Lo, Hanameel son of Shallum, thine uncle, is coming unto thee, saying, Buy for thee my field that [is] in Anathoth, for thine [is] the right of redemption — to buy.
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 Hanameel, my uncle's son, cometh in unto me, according to the word of Jehovah, unto the court of the prison, and saith unto me, 'Buy, I pray thee, my field that [is] in Anathoth, that [is] in the land of Benjamin, for thine [is] the right of possession, and thine of redemption — buy for thee.' And I know that it [is] the word of Jehovah,
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 And I buy the field, that [is] in Anathoth, from Hanameel, my uncle's son, and I weigh to him the money — seventeen shekels of silver.
So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out seventeen shekels of silver to pay him.
10 And I write in a book, and seal, and cause witnesses to testify, and weigh the silver in balances;
I signed the deed and sealed it, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver using the scales.
11 And I take the purchase-book, the sealed one, according to law and custom, and the open one.
Then I took the deed of sale, both the sealed original containing the terms and conditions, and the unsealed copy,
12 And I give the purchase-book unto Baruch son of Neriah, son of Maaseiah, before the eyes of Hanameel, my uncle's son, and before the eyes of the witnesses, those writing in the purchase-book, before the eyes of all the Jews who are sitting in the court of the prison.
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 And I charge Baruch before their eyes, saying,
I gave Baruch these instructions in front of them,
14 'Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, Take these books, this purchase-book, both the sealed one and the open one, and thou hast put them in an earthen vessel, that they may remain many days;
“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 For thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, Again are houses and fields and vineyards bought in this land.'
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 And I pray unto Jehovah — after my giving the purchase-book unto Baruch son of Neriah — saying,
After I had given the deed of sale to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord:
17 'Ah, Lord Jehovah, lo, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power, and by Thy stretched-out arm; there is nothing too wonderful for Thee:
“Ah, Lord God! You created the heavens and the earth by your great strength and power. Nothing is too hard for you!
18 Doing kindness to thousands, and recompensing iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their sons after them; God, the great, the mighty, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name,
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 Great in counsel, and mighty in act, in that Thine eyes are open on all the ways of the sons of Adam, to give to each according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:
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 In that thou hast done signs and wonders in the land of Egypt unto this day, and in Israel, and among men, and Thou dost make for Thee a name as [at] this day.
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 'And Thou bringest forth Thy people Israel from the land of Egypt, with signs and with wonders, and by a strong hand, and by a stretched-out arm, and by great fear,
You led your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and miracles, with your great power and strength that terrified people.
22 And thou givest to them this land that thou didst swear to their fathers to give to them, a land flowing with milk and honey,
You gave them this land that you had promised to give their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.
23 And they come in, and possess it, and they have not hearkened to Thy voice, and in Thy law have not walked, all that which Thou didst lay a charge on them to do they have not done, and Thou dost proclaim [to] them all this evil.
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 'Lo, the mounts — they have come in to the city to capture it, and the city hath been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it, because of the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence; and that which Thou hast spoken hath come to pass, and lo, Thou art seeing;
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 Yet Thou hast said unto me, O Lord Jehovah, Buy for thee the field with money, and cause witnesses to testify — and the city hath been given into the hand of the Chaldeans!'
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 And the word of Jehovah is unto Jeremiah, saying:
Then Lord gave Jeremiah this message:
27 'Lo, I [am] Jehovah, God of all flesh: For Me is anything too wonderful?
Look! I am the Lord, the God of everyone. Is anything too hard for me to do?
28 'Therefore, thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am giving this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he hath captured it;
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 And come in have the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city, and they have set this city on fire, and have burned it, and the houses on whose roofs they made perfume to Baal, and poured out libations to other gods, so as to provoke Me to anger.
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 For the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have been only doing evil in Mine eyes, from their youth; for the sons of Israel are only provoking Me with the work of their hands — an affirmation of Jehovah.
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 'For a cause of Mine anger, and a cause of My fury, hath this city been to Me, even from the day that they built it, and unto this day — to turn it aside from before My face,
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 Because of all the evil of the sons of Israel, and of the sons of Judah that they have done, so as to provoke Me — they, their kings, their heads, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
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 And they turn unto Me the neck, and not the face, and teaching them, rising early and teaching, and they are not hearkening to accept instruction.
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 'And they set their abominations in the house over which My name is called, so as to defile it;
They have put their disgusting idols in my Temple, making it unclean.
35 And they build the high places of Baal, that [are] in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come up on my heart to do this abomination, so as to cause Judah to sin.
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 'And now, therefore, thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, concerning this city, of which ye are saying, It hath been given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, and by famine, and by pestilence,
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 Lo, I am gathering them out of all the lands whither I have driven them in Mine anger, and in My fury, and in great wrath, and I have brought them back unto this place, and have caused them to dwell confidently;
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 and they have been to Me for a people, and I am to them for God;
They will be my people, and I will be their God.
39 and I have given to them one heart, and one way, to fear Me all the days, for good to them, and to their sons after them:
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 and I have made for them a covenant age-during, in that I turn not back from after them for My doing them good, and My fear I put in their heart, so as not to turn aside 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 and I have rejoiced over them to do them good, and have planted them in this land in truth, with all my heart, and with all My soul.
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 'For thus said Jehovah: As I brought in unto this people all this great evil, so I am bringing in on them all the good that I am speaking concerning them;
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 and bought hath been the field in this land of which ye are saying, A desolation it [is], without man and beast, it hath been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
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 Fields with money they buy, so as to write in a book, and to seal, and to cause witnesses to testify, in the land of Benjamin, and in suburbs of Jerusalem, and in cities of Judah, and in cities of the hill-country, and in cities of the low country, and in cities of the south, for I turn back their captivity — an affirmation of Jehovah.'
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.
