Jeremiah 32:1-44 (New American Standard)

Jeremiah Imprisoned

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the ¹tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the ²court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah, 3 because Zedekiah king of Judah had ³shut him up, saying, "Why do you ⁴prophesy, saying, '⁵Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am about to ⁶give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take it; 4 and Zedekiah king of Judah will ⁷not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will ⁸speak with him ^aface to face and see him eye to eye ; 5 and he will ⁹take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him," declares the LORD. "If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will ¹⁰not succeed "'?" 6 And 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 ¹¹Anathoth, for you have the ¹²right of redemption to buy it."' 8 "Then Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the ¹³court of the guard according to the word of the LORD and said to me, 'Buy my field, please, that is at ¹⁴Anathoth, 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 ¹⁵word of the LORD. 9 "I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle's son, and I ¹⁶weighed out the silver for him, seventeen ¹⁷shekels of silver. 10 "I ^b18signed and ¹⁹sealed the deed, and ²⁰called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. 11 "Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the ²¹terms and conditions and the open copy; 12 and I gave the deed of purchase to ²²Baruch the son of ²³Neriah, 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, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard. 13 "And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying, 14 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may ^clast a long time." 15 'For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "²⁴Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land."'

Jeremiah Prays and God Explains

16 "After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, then I ²⁵prayed to the LORD, saying, 17 '²⁶Ah Lord ^dGOD ! Behold, You have ²⁷made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm ! ²⁸Nothing is too difficult for You, 18 who ²⁹shows lovingkindness to thousands, but ³⁰repays the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O ³¹great and ³²mighty God. The ³³LORD of hosts is His name ; 19 ³⁴great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose ³⁵eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, ³⁶giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds ; 20 who has ³⁷set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day both in Israel and among mankind ; and You have ³⁸made a name for Yourself, as at this day. 21 'You ³⁹brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders, and with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terror ; 22 and gave them this land, which You ⁴⁰swore to their forefathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 'They ⁴¹came in and took possession of it, but they ⁴²did not obey Your voice or ⁴³walk in Your law ; they have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do ; therefore You have made ⁴⁴all this calamity come upon them. 24 'Behold, the ⁴⁵siege ramps have reached the city to take it; and the city is ⁴⁶given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the ⁴⁷sword, the famine and the pestilence ; and what You have spoken has ⁴⁸come to pass ; and behold, You see it. 25 'You have said to me, O Lord ^eGOD, "Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses "-although the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.' " 26 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 27 "Behold, I am the LORD, the ⁴⁹God of all flesh ; is anything ⁵⁰too difficult for Me?" 28 Therefore thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am about to ⁵¹give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it. 29 "The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will enter and ⁵²set this city on fire and burn it, with the ⁵³houses where people have offered incense to Baal on their roofs and poured out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger. 30 "Indeed the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have been doing only ⁵⁴evil in My sight from their youth ; for the sons of Israel have been only ⁵⁵provoking Me to anger by the work of their hands," declares the LORD. 31 "Indeed this city has been to Me a ⁵⁶provocation of My anger and My wrath from the day that they built it, even to this day, so that it should be ⁵⁷removed from before My face, 32 because 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 ⁵⁸kings, their leaders, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 "They have turned their back to Me and not their face ; though I taught them, ^f59teaching again and again, they would not listen ^gand receive instruction. 34 "But they ⁶⁰put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 35 "They built the ⁶¹high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to ⁶²Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had it ^hentered My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. 36 "Now therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning this city of which you say, 'It is ⁶³given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine and by pestilence.' 37 "Behold, I will ⁶⁴gather 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 ⁶⁵make them dwell in safety. 38 "They shall be ⁶⁶My people, and I will be their God ; 39 and I will ⁶⁷give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always , for their own ⁶⁸good and for the good of their children after them. 40 "I will make an ⁶⁹everlasting covenant with them that I will ⁷⁰not turn away from them, to do them good ; and I will ⁷¹put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. 41 "I will ⁷²rejoice over them to do them good and will ⁱfaithfully ⁷³plant them in this land with ⁷⁴all My heart and with all My soul. 42 "For thus says the LORD, '⁷⁵Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to ⁷⁶bring on them all the good that I am promising them. 43 '⁷⁷Fields will be bought in this land of which you say, "⁷⁸It is a desolation, without man or beast ; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans." 44 'Men will buy fields for money, ^j79sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the ⁸⁰land of Benjamin, in the environs of 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 ^kNegev ; for I will ⁸¹restore their ^lfortunes,' declares the LORD."