New Living Translation NLT
The Message Bible MSG
1 The following message came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah. This was also the eighteenth year of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar.
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The Message Jeremiah received from God in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah. It was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.
2 Jerusalem was then under siege from the Babylonian army, and Jeremiah was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace.
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At that time the army of the king of Babylon was holding Jerusalem under siege. Jeremiah was shut up in jail in the royal palace.
3 King Zedekiah had put him there, asking why he kept giving this prophecy: “This is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will take it.
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Zedekiah, king of Judah, had locked him up, complaining, "How dare you preach, saying, 'God says, I'm warning you: I will hand this city over to the king of Babylon and he will take it over.
4 King Zedekiah will be captured by the Babylonians and taken to meet the king of Babylon face to face.
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Zedekiah king of Judah will be handed over to the Chaldeans right along with the city. He will be handed over to the king of Babylon and forced to face the music.
5 He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and I will deal with him there,’ says the LORD . ‘If you fight against the Babylonians, you will never succeed.’”
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He'll be hauled off to Babylon where he'll stay until I deal with him. God's Decree. Fight against the Babylonians all you want - it won't get you anywhere.'"
6 At that time the LORD sent me a message. He said,
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Jeremiah said, "God's Message came to me like this:
7 “Your cousin Hanamel son of Shallum will come and say to you, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth. By law you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone else.’”
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Prepare yourself! Hanamel, your uncle Shallum's son, is on his way to see you. He is going to say, 'Buy my field in Anathoth. You have the legal right to buy it.'
8 Then, just as the LORD had said he would, my cousin Hanamel came and visited me in the prison. He said, “Please buy my field at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. By law you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone else, so buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that the message I had heard was from the LORD .
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"And sure enough, just as God had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me while I was in jail and said, 'Buy my field in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin, for you have the legal right to keep it in the family. Buy it. Take it over.' "That did it. I knew it was God's Message.
9 So I bought the field at Anathoth, paying Hanamel seventeen pieces of silver for it.
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"So I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I paid him seventeen silver shekels.
10 I signed and sealed the deed of purchase before witnesses, weighed out the silver, and paid him.
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I followed all the proper procedures: In the presence of witnesses I wrote out the bill of sale, sealed it, and weighed out the money on the scales.
11 Then I took the sealed deed and an unsealed copy of the deed, which contained the terms and conditions of the purchase,
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Then I took the deed of purchase - the sealed copy that contained the contract and its conditions and also the open copy -
12 and I handed them to Baruch son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. I did all this in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the deed, and all the men of Judah who were there in the courtyard of the guardhouse.
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and gave them to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah. All this took place in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and the witnesses who had signed the deed, as the Jews who were at the jail that day looked on.
13 Then I said to Baruch as they all listened,
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"Then, in front of all of them, I told Baruch,
14 “This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Take both this sealed deed and the unsealed copy, and put them into a pottery jar to preserve them for a long time.’
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'These are orders from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel: Take these documents - both the sealed and the open deeds - and put them for safekeeping in a pottery jar.
15 For this is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Someday people will again own property here in this land and will buy and sell houses and vineyards and fields.’”
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For God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, says, "Life is going to return to normal. Homes and fields and vineyards are again going to be bought in this country."'
16 Then after I had given the papers to Baruch, I prayed to the LORD :
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"And then, having handed over the legal documents to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to God,
17 “O Sovereign LORD ! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!
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'Dear God, my Master, you created earth and sky by your great power - by merely stretching out your arm! There is nothing you can't do.
18 You show unfailing love to thousands, but you also bring the consequences of one generation’s sin upon the next. You are the great and powerful God, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
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You're loyal in your steadfast love to thousands upon thousands - but you also make children live with the fallout from their parents' sins. Great and powerful God, named God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
19 You have all wisdom and do great and mighty miracles. You see the conduct of all people, and you give them what they deserve.
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determined in purpose and relentless in following through, you see everything that men and women do and respond appropriately to the way they live, to the things they do.
20 You performed miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt—things still remembered to this day! And you have continued to do great miracles in Israel and all around the world. You have made your name famous to this day.
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"'You performed signs and wonders in the country of Egypt and continue to do so right into the present, right here in Israel and everywhere else, too. You've made a reputation for yourself that doesn't diminish.
21 “You brought Israel out of Egypt with mighty signs and wonders, with a strong hand and powerful arm, and with overwhelming terror.
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You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders - a powerful deliverance! - by merely stretching out your arm.
22 You gave the people of Israel this land that you had promised their ancestors long before—a land flowing with milk and honey.
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You gave them this land and solemnly promised to their ancestors a bountiful and fertile land.
23 Our ancestors came and conquered it and lived in it, but they refused to obey you or follow your word. They have not done anything you commanded. That is why you have sent this terrible disaster upon them.
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But when they entered the land and took it over, they didn't listen to you. They didn't do what you commanded. They wouldn't listen to a thing you told them. And so you brought this disaster on them.
24 “See how the siege ramps have been built against the city walls! Through war, famine, and disease, the city will be handed over to the Babylonians, who will conquer it. Everything has happened just as you said.
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"'Oh, look at the siege ramps already set in place to take the city. Killing and starvation and disease are on our doorstep. The Babylonians are attacking! The Word you spoke is coming to pass - it's daily news!
25 And yet, O Sovereign LORD, you have told me to buy the field—paying good money for it before these witnesses—even though the city will soon be handed over to the Babylonians.”
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And yet you, God, the Master, even though it is certain that the city will be turned over to the Babylonians, also told me, Buy the field. Pay for it in cash. And make sure there are witnesses.'"
26 Then this message came to Jeremiah from the LORD :
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Then God's Message came again to Jeremiah:
27 “I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?
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"Stay alert! I am God, the God of everything living. Is there anything I can't do?
28 Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I will hand this city over to the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he will capture it.
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So listen to God's Message: No doubt about it, I'm handing this city over to the Babylonians and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He'll take it.
29 The Babylonians outside the walls will come in and set fire to the city. They will burn down all these houses where the people provoked my anger by burning incense to Baal on the rooftops and by pouring out liquid offerings to other gods.
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The attacking Chaldeans will break through and burn the city down: All those houses whose roofs were used as altars for offerings to Baal and the worship of who knows how many other gods provoked me.
30 Israel and Judah have done nothing but wrong since their earliest days. They have infuriated me with all their evil deeds,” says the LORD .
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It isn't as if this were the first time they had provoked me. The people of Israel and Judah have been doing this for a long time - doing what I hate, making me angry by the way they live." God's Decree.
31 “From the time this city was built until now, it has done nothing but anger me, so I am determined to get rid of it.
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"This city has made me angry from the day they built it, and now I've had my fill. I'm destroying it. I can't stand to look any longer
32 “The sins of Israel and Judah—the sins of the people of Jerusalem, the kings, the officials, the priests, and the prophets—have stirred up my anger.
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at the wicked lives of the people of Israel and Judah, deliberately making me angry, the whole lot of them - kings and leaders and priests and preachers, in the country and in the city.
33 My people have turned their backs on me and have refused to return. Even though I diligently taught them, they would not receive instruction or obey.
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They've turned their backs on me - won't even look me in the face! - even though I took great pains to teach them how to live. They refused to listen, refused to be taught.
34 They have set up their abominable idols right in my own Temple, defiling it.
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Why, they even set up obscene god and goddess statues in the Temple built in my honor - an outrageous desecration!
35 They have built pagan shrines to Baal in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and there they sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing. What an incredible evil, causing Judah to sin so greatly!
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And then they went out and built shrines to the god Baal in the valley of Hinnom, where they burned their children in sacrifice to the god Molech - I can hardly conceive of such evil! - turning the whole country into one huge act of sin.
36 “Now I want to say something more about this city. You have been saying, ‘It will fall to the king of Babylon through war, famine, and disease.’ But this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:
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"But there is also this Message from me, the God of Israel, to this city of which you have said, 'In killing and starvation and disease this city will be delivered up to the king of Babylon':
37 I will certainly bring my people back again from all the countries where I will scatter them in my fury. I will bring them back to this very city and let them live in peace and safety.
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"'Watch for this! I will collect them from all the countries to which I will have driven them in my anger and rage and indignation. Yes, I'll bring them all back to this place and let them live here in peace.
38 They will be my people, and I will be their God.
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They will be my people, I will be their God.
39 And I will give them one heart and one purpose: to worship me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants.
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I'll make them of one mind and heart, always honoring me, so that they can live good and whole lives, they and their children after them.
40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me.
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What's more, I'll make a covenant with them that will last forever, a covenant to stick with them no matter what, and work for their good. I'll fill their hearts with a deep respect for me so they'll not even think of turning away from me.
41 I will find joy doing good for them and will faithfully and wholeheartedly replant them in this land.
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"'Oh how I'll rejoice in them! Oh how I'll delight in doing good things for them! Heart and soul, I'll plant them in this country and keep them here!'
42 “This is what the LORD says: Just as I have brought all these calamities on them, so I will do all the good I have promised them.
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"Yes, this is God's Message: 'I will certainly bring this huge catastrophe on this people, but I will also usher in a wonderful life of prosperity. I promise.
43 Fields will again be bought and sold in this land about which you now say, ‘It has been ravaged by the Babylonians, a desolate land where people and animals have all disappeared.’
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Fields are going to be bought here again, yes, in this very country that you assume is going to end up desolate - gone to the dogs, unlivable, wrecked by the Babylonians.
44 Yes, fields will once again be bought and sold—deeds signed and sealed and witnessed—in the land of Benjamin and here in Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the hill country, in the foothills of Judah and in the Negev, too. For someday I will restore prosperity to them. I, the LORD, have spoken!”
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Yes, people will buy farms again, and legally, with deeds of purchase, sealed documents, proper witnesses - and right here in the territory of Benjamin, and in the area around Jerusalem, around the villages of Judah and the hill country, the Shephelah and the Negev. I will restore everything that was lost.' God's Decree."
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.