Jeremiah 32:16-35

Jeremiah Prays for Understanding

16 "After I had given the deed of purchase to ¹Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD, saying:

17 'Ah, Lord GOD! It is ²you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by ³your outstretched arm! ⁴Nothing is too hard for you.

18 ⁵You show steadfast love to thousands, ⁶but you repay the guilt of fathers ⁷to their children after them, O great and ⁸mighty God, whose name is the ⁹LORD of hosts,

19 ¹⁰great in counsel and ¹¹mighty in deed, ¹²whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, ¹³rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.

20 You have shown ¹⁴signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, ¹⁵and have made a name for yourself, as at this day.

21 ¹⁶You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and ¹⁷outstretched arm, ¹⁸and with great terror.

22 And you gave them this land, ¹⁹which you swore to their fathers to give them, ²⁰a land flowing with milk and honey.

23 And they entered and took possession of it. ²¹But they did not obey your voice or walk in your law. They did nothing of all you commanded them to do. Therefore you have made all this disaster come upon them.

24 Behold, ²²the siege mounds have come up to the city to take it, and ²³because of sword and famine and pestilence ²⁴the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you spoke has come to pass, and behold, you see it.

25 Yet you, O Lord GOD, have said to me, ²⁵"Buy the field for money ²⁶and get witnesses"--though ²⁷the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.'"

26 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

27 "Behold, I am the LORD, ²⁸the God of all flesh. ²⁹Is anything too hard for me?

28 Therefore, thus says the LORD: ³⁰Behold, I am giving this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall capture it.

29 The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city ³¹shall come and set this city on fire and burn it, ³²with the houses on whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal ³³and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods, ³⁴to provoke me to anger.

30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight ³⁵from their youth. The children of Israel have done nothing but ³⁶provoke me to anger ³⁷by the work of their hands, declares the LORD.

31 This city has aroused my anger and wrath, from the day it was built to this day, ³⁸so that I will remove it from my sight

32 because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger--³⁹their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

33 ⁴⁰They have turned to me their back and not their face. And though I have taught them ⁴¹persistently, they have not listened ⁴²to receive instruction.

34 They set up ⁴³their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it.

35 They built the high places of Baal ⁴⁴in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, ⁴⁵to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, ⁴⁶though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do ⁴⁷this abomination, ⁴⁸to cause Judah to sin.

Jeremiah 32:16-35 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 32

This chapter contains an account of Jeremiah's imprisonment, and the cause of it; of his buying a field of his uncle's son, and the design of it; of his prayer to God, and of the answer returned to him. The time of his imprisonment, the place where, and the reasons of it, are observed in Jer 32:1-5; that his uncle's son would come and offer the sale of a field to him was told him by the Lord, which he did accordingly, Jer 32:6,7; of whom he bought the field, paid the money, had the purchase confirmed in a legal way, before witnesses, Jer 32:8-12; and the writings of it he committed to Baruch, to put in an earthen vessel, where they were to continue some time as a pledge of houses, fields, and vineyards, being possessed again after the captivity, Jer 32:13-15; then follows a prayer of his to the Lord, in which he addresses him as the Maker of all things; as the Lord God omnipotent; as a God of great grace and mercy, as well as strict justice; as a God of wisdom, counsel, and might, and an omniscient and righteous Being, Jer 32:16-19; and recounts the wonderful things he had done for the people of Israel, Jer 32:20-22; and observes the ingratitude and disobedience of that people, which were the cause of the present siege of the city, which should surely be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans, Jer 32:23-25; to which prayer an answer is returned, Jer 32:26; in which the Lord describes himself as the God of all flesh, and as able to do what he pleases, Jer 32:27; and confirms the delivery of the city of Jerusalem unto the Chaldeans, Jer 32:28,29; and assigns the causes of it, the backslidings, disobedience, and dreadful idolatry of the people, Jer 32:30-35; and, notwithstanding, promises a restoration of them to their own land again, Jer 32:36,37; when an opportunity is taken to insert the covenant of grace, and the special articles and peculiar promises of it, for the comfort of the spiritual Israel of God, whether Jews or Gentiles, Jer 32:38-40; and the chapter is concluded with a fresh assurance of the return of the captivity, and of the punctual performance of the promise of it; when fields should be bought in every part of the land, in like manner as Jeremiah had bought his, Jer 32:41-44.

Cross References

• 1. See ver. 12
• 2. Isaiah 37:16
• 3. See Jeremiah 21:5
• 4. ver. 27; See Genesis 18:14
• 5. Exodus 20:6; Exodus 34:7; Deuteronomy 5:9, 10
• 6. Exodus 20:6; Exodus 34:7; Deuteronomy 5:9, 10
• 7. [Psalms 79:12; Isaiah 65:6-7]
• 8. Isaiah 9:6
• 9. See Jeremiah 10:16
• 10. Isaiah 28:29
• 11. [Psalms 66:3, 5]
• 12. See Jeremiah 16:17
• 13. See Jeremiah 17:10
• 14. Psalms 135:9
• 15. 2 Samuel 7:23; See Nehemiah 9:10
• 16. Exodus 6:6; Deuteronomy 4:34; 1 Chronicles 17:21
• 17. See Jeremiah 21:5
• 18. Exodus 6:6; Deuteronomy 4:34; 1 Chronicles 17:21
• 19. Deuteronomy 26:15; See Exodus 3:8
• 20. Deuteronomy 26:15; See Exodus 3:8
• 21. Nehemiah 9:26, 27; See Jeremiah 11:8; Daniel 9:10-14
• 22. Jeremiah 33:4; See Jeremiah 6:6
• 23. ver. 36; See Jeremiah 14:12
• 24. See ver. 3
• 25. ver. 7
• 26. ver. 10
• 27. [See ver. 24 above]
• 28. Numbers 16:22
• 29. See Genesis 18:14
• 30. ver. 3
• 31. See Jeremiah 21:10
• 32. See Jeremiah 19:13
• 33. See Jeremiah 19:13
• 34. See Jeremiah 7:18
• 35. Jeremiah 3:25
• 36. [See ver. 29 above]
• 37. Jeremiah 25:6, 7
• 38. 2 Kings 23:27; 2 Kings 24:3
• 39. Jeremiah 2:26
• 40. Jeremiah 2:27; [Ezekiel 8:16]; See Jeremiah 7:24
• 41. See Jeremiah 25:3
• 42. See Jeremiah 5:3
• 43. See Jeremiah 7:30; Jeremiah 23:11
• 44. Jeremiah 7:31; See Joshua 18:16
• 45. Leviticus 18:21
• 46. Jeremiah 7:31
• 47. [See ver. 34 above]
• 48. [1 Kings 16:19]