Old Testament · Prophets

Jeremiah chapter 32

This is the that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah — which was the eighteenth year of .At that time, the army of the king of Babylon was Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was locked up in the inside the palace of the king of Judah.Zedekiah king of Judah had locked him up, demanding, “Why do you keep like this? You keep saying, ‘This is what Yahweh says: I’m about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.And Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape the Babylonians. He will definitely be handed over to the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes.He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and Zedekiah will stay there ,’ declares Yahweh. ‘If you fight the Babylonians, you will not win.’”Jeremiah said, “Yahweh’s message came to me:“‘Your cousin Hanamel, son of Shallum, is coming to see you. He’s going to say: Buy my field in , because you have the to buy it.’”And just as Yahweh had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, “Please buy my field in Anathoth, in the , because the right of inheritance and family redemption belongs to you. Buy it for yourself.” That’s when I knew — this was from Yahweh.So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and for him — .I signed the , it, had witnesses sign it, and weighed out the silver on the scales.Then I took the deed of purchase — both the with the terms and conditions, and the open copy —and I gave the deed of purchase to son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah. I did this in front of my cousin Hanamel, in front of the witnesses who had signed the deed, and in front of all the people of Judah who were sitting in the courtyard of the guard.Then, with everyone watching, I gave Baruch these instructions:“This is what Yahweh, the , the God of Israel, says: Take these deeds — both the sealed deed of purchase and the open copy — and put them in a so they will last a long time.Because this is what Yahweh, the Commander of angel armies, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields, and vineyards will be bought and sold in this land again.”After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I to Yahweh:“Oh, ! You made the heavens and the earth by your great power and your . Nothing is too difficult for you.You show to thousands, but you also let the fall on their children after them. Great and mighty God — Yahweh, the Commander of angel armies, is your name.You are great in and mighty in action. Your eyes see everything people do, and you give each person what their behavior and choices deserve.You performed in Egypt and have continued doing them to this day, both in Israel and among all people — and you’ve that endures to this day.You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a and an outstretched arm, and with events so they shook everyone who witnessed them.You gave them this land that you had — a .They came in and took possession of it, but they did not listen to your voice or follow your . They didn’t do anything you commanded them to do. So you brought all this disaster on them.“Look — the are built right up against the city walls to capture it. The city is being handed over to the Babylonians who are attacking it, because of the . What you said would happen has happened — you can see it yourself.And yet you, my master Yahweh, told me, ‘Buy the field with silver and have witnesses sign the deed’ — even though the city is being handed over to the Babylonians!”Then Yahweh’s message came to Jeremiah:“I am Yahweh, the . So this is what Yahweh says: I am about to hand this city over to the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will capture it.The Babylonians who are attacking this city will break in and set it on fire. They’ll burn it down — including the houses where people burned incense to on the rooftops and poured out to other gods, just to .The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but what I consider wrong onward. The people of Israel have done nothing but provoke me with the work of their hands,” declares Yahweh.“This city has stirred up my from the day it was built until now, so I will remove it from my sight.This is because of all the wrong that the people of Israel and Judah have done to provoke me — their kings, officials, priests, prophets, the people of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem.They . Even though I , they refused to listen or accept correction.They set up their in and made it unclean.They built worship sites for Baal in the to sacrifice their sons and daughters to — something I never commanded, something that — and by doing this they led Judah into .“Now then, this is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says about this city that you’re all calling ‘handed over to the king of Babylon by sword, famine, and disease’:Watch — I will them from every country where I scattered them in my anger, fury, and burning rage. I will bring them back to this place and let them live here in ..I will give them and , so that they will for all time — for their own good and for the good of their children after them.I will make an to them: I will never stop doing good to them. And I will put for me in their hearts so that they will never turn away from me.I will , and I will plant them firmly in this land — .“Because this is what Yahweh says: Just as I brought all this enormous disaster on these people, so I am going to bring on them all the good things I am promising them.Fields will be bought and sold again in this land that you are calling ‘a — empty of people and animals, handed over to the Babylonians.’People will buy fields with silver, sign and seal deeds, and have witnesses — in the territory of Benjamin, in the areas around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah, in the towns, in the towns, and in the towns. Because I will ,” declares Yahweh.