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 Nebuchadnezzar.
2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the guard courtyard, which was in the house of the king of Judah.
3 Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him and said, “Why do you prophesy like this: ‘This is what the LORD says: “Look, I am handing this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.
4 Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans. He will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon. He will speak with him face to face, and Zedekiah’s eyes will see the king’s eyes.
5 He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he will remain until the day I attend to him, declares the LORD. When you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed.”’”
6 Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me:
7 ‘Look, Hanamel son of Shallum, your uncle, is coming to you and will say, “Buy for yourself my field at Anathoth, because you have the right of redemption to buy it.”’
8 Then Hanamel, my uncle’s son, came to me in the guard courtyard, just as the LORD had said, and told me, ‘Please buy my field at Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin, because you have the right of inheritance and the right of redemption. Buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew this was the word of the LORD.
9 So I bought the field at Anathoth from Hanamel, my uncle’s son, and weighed out the silver for him: seventeen shekels of silver.
10 I wrote it in a document, sealed it, called witnesses, and weighed the silver on the scales.
11 Then I took the deed of purchase—the sealed copy, with its terms and regulations, and the open copy.
12 I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel, my uncle’s son, and in the sight of the witnesses who had signed the deed of purchase, and in the sight of all the Judeans sitting in the guard courtyard.
13 In their presence I gave Baruch this order:
14 ‘This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Take these documents—the deed of purchase, both the sealed copy and this open copy—and put them in a clay jar, so they will last for many days.
15 For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”’
16 After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD:
17 ‘Ah, Lord GOD! Look, you made the heavens and the earth by your great power and your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you.
18 You show steadfast love to thousands, and you repay the guilt of the fathers into the laps of their children after them. Great and mighty God, whose name is the LORD of Hosts!
19 You are great in counsel and mighty in deed. Your eyes are open to all the ways of human beings, to repay each person according to their ways and the fruit of their deeds.
20 You performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and you have continued to this day in Israel and among humankind. You made a name for yourself, as is clear today.
21 You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and great terror.
22 You gave them this land, which you swore to their ancestors you would give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.’”
23 ‘They came in and took possession of it, but they did not listen to your voice or walk in your law. They did none of what you commanded them to do. So you brought all this disaster upon them.
24 Look, the siege ramps have reached the city to capture it, and the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans who are fighting against it, because of the sword, famine, and plague. What you said has happened, and you see it.
25 Yet you, Lord GOD, said to me, “Buy the field for yourself with silver and call witnesses,” even though the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans.’”
26 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
27 “Look, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for me?”
28 Therefore, this is what the LORD says: “I am handing this city over to the Chaldeans and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will capture it.
29 The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come and set it on fire. They will burn the city and the houses where people burned incense on the rooftops to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods, provoking me.
30 For the people of Israel and Judah have done only what is evil in my sight since their youth. The people of Israel have done nothing but provoke me with the work of their hands, declares the LORD.
31 This city has provoked my anger and fury from the day it was built until today, so that I must remove it from my presence.
32 This is because of all the evil the people of Israel and Judah have done to provoke me: they, their kings, their officials, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the people living in Jerusalem.
33 They turned their backs to me and not their faces. Though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or accept correction.”
34 “They placed their detestable things in the house that bears my name, defiling it.
35 They built the shrines of Baal in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through fire to Molech. I did not command them to do this, nor did it ever enter my heart to do such an abomination and make Judah sin.”
36 “Now therefore, this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about this city, of which you say, ‘It has been handed over to the king of Babylon by the sword, famine, and plague’:
37 ‘Look, I will gather them from all the lands where I drove them in my anger, fury, and great wrath. I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety.
38 They will be my people, and I will be their God.
39 I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will fear me always, for their good and for the good of their children after them.
40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing them good. I will put the fear of me in their hearts, so they will never turn away from me.
41 I will take joy in doing them good, and I will truly plant them in this land, with all my heart and all my soul.’”
42 For this is what the LORD says: “Just as I brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good I am promising them.
43 Fields will again be bought in this land, of which you say, ‘It is desolate, without people or animals; it has been handed over to the Chaldeans.’
44 Fields will be bought with silver, deeds will be written and sealed, and witnesses will be called—in the land of Benjamin, in the areas around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah, in the towns of the hill country, in the towns of the foothills, and in the towns of the Negev. For I will restore their fortunes, declares the LORD.”
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