Jeremiah 32

Jeremiah Imprisoned

1The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the 1tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the 2courtyard of the guard, which was at the house of the king of Judah, 3because Zedekiah king of Judah had 3imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you 4prophesy, saying, ‘5This is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am going to 6hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will take it; 4and Zedekiah king of Judah will 7not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will 8speak with him 9face to face and see him eye to eye. 5Then he will 10take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,” declares the Lord. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will 11not succeed”’?”

6And Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 7‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy for yourself my field which is at 12Anathoth, for you have the 13right of redemption to buy it.”’ 8Then my uncle’s son Hanamel came to me in the 14courtyard of the guard in accordance with the word of the Lord and said to me, ‘Buy my field, please, that is at 15Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the right of possession and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the 16word of the Lord.

9“So I bought the field which was in Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I 17weighed out the silver for him, seventeen 18shekels of silver. 10And I 1920signed and 21sealed the deed, and 22called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. 11Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the 23terms and conditions and the open copy; 12and I gave the deed of purchase to 24Baruch the son of 25Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, in the sight of all the Jews who were sitting in the courtyard of the guard. 13And I commanded Baruch in their sight, saying, 14‘This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, so that they may 26last a long time.” 15For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “27Houses and fields and vineyards will again be purchased in this land.”’

Jeremiah Prays and God Explains

16“After giving the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I 28prayed to the Lord, saying, 17‘29Oh, Lord 30God! Behold, You Yourself have 31made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! 32Nothing is too difficult for You, 18who 33shows mercy to thousands, but 34repays the wrongdoing of fathers into the laps of their children after them, 35great and 36mighty God. The 37Lord of armies is His name; 1938great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose 39eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of mankind, 40giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds; 20who has 41accomplished signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day both in Israel and among mankind; and You have 42made a name for Yourself, as at this day. 21You 43brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders, and with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror; 22and You gave them this land, which You 44swore to their forefathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23They 45came in and took possession of it, but they 46did not obey Your voice or 47walk in Your Law; they did not do 48anything that You commanded them to do; therefore You have made 49all this disaster happen to them. 24Behold, the 50assault ramps have reached the city to take it; and the city has been 51handed over to the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the 52sword, the famine, and the plague; and what You have spoken has 53come to pass; and behold, You see it. 25Yet You have said to me, Lord 54God, “Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses”--although the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans.’”

26Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 27“Behold, I am the Lord, the 55God of all flesh; is anything 56too difficult for Me?” 28Therefore this is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am going to 57hand this city over to the Chaldeans and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it. 29And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will enter and 58set this city on fire and burn it, with the 59houses where people have offered incense to Baal on their roofs and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger. 30For the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have been doing only 60evil in My sight since their youth; for the sons of Israel have been only 61provoking Me to anger by the work of their hands,” declares the Lord. 31“Indeed this city has been to Me a 62provocation of My anger and My wrath since the day that they built it, even to this day, so that it should be 63removed from My sight, 32because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah which they have done to provoke Me to anger--they, their 64kings, their leaders, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33They have turned their back to Me and not their face; though I taught them, 65teaching again and again, they would not listen to accept discipline. 34But they 66put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 35They built the 67high places of Baal that are in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to make their sons and their daughters pass through the fire to 68Molech, which I had not commanded them, nor had it 69entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to mislead Judah to sin.

36“Now therefore the Lord God of Israel says the following concerning this city of which you say, ‘It has been 70handed over to the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by plague’: 37Behold, I am going to 71gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and 72have them live in safety. 38They shall be 73My people, and I will be their God; 39and I will 74give them one heart and one way, so that they will fear Me always, for their own 75good and for the good of their children after them. 40I will make an 76everlasting covenant with them that I will 77not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will 78put the fear of Me in their hearts, so that they will not turn away from Me. 41I will 79rejoice over them to do them good and will 80faithfully 81plant them in this land with 82all My heart and all My soul. 42For this is what the Lord says: ‘83Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to 84bring on them all the good that I am promising them. 43And 85fields will be purchased in this land of which you say, “86It is a desolation, without man or animal; it has been handed over to the Chaldeans.” 44People will buy fields for money, 8788sign and seal 89deeds, and call in witnesses in the 90land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the 91Negev; for I will 92restore their fortunes,’ declares the Lord.”