Jeremiah Imprisoned

32 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the (A)tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the (B)courtyard of the guard, which was at the house of the king of Judah, because Zedekiah king of Judah had (C)imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you (D)prophesy, saying, ‘(E)This is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am going to (F)hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will take it; and Zedekiah king of Judah will (G)not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will (H)speak with him [a]face to face and see him eye to eye. Then he will (I)take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,” declares the Lord. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will (J)not succeed”’?”

And Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy for yourself my field which is at (K)Anathoth, for you have the (L)right of redemption to buy it.”’ Then my uncle’s son Hanamel came to me in the (M)courtyard of the guard in accordance with the word of the Lord and said to me, ‘Buy my field, please, that is at (N)Anathoth, 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 (O)word of the Lord.

“So I bought the field which was in Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I (P)weighed out the silver for him, seventeen (Q)shekels of silver. 10 And I [b](R)signed and (S)sealed the deed, and (T)called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. 11 Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the (U)terms and conditions and the open copy; 12 and I gave the deed of purchase to (V)Baruch the son of (W)Neriah, 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. 13 And 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 [c]last a long time.” 15 For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “(X)Houses 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 (Y)prayed to the Lord, saying, 17 (Z)Oh, Lord [d]God! Behold, You Yourself have (AA)made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! (AB)Nothing is too difficult for You, 18 who (AC)shows mercy to thousands, but (AD)repays the wrongdoing of fathers into the laps of their children after them, (AE)great and (AF)mighty God. The (AG)Lord of armies is His name; 19 (AH)great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose (AI)eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of mankind, (AJ)giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds; 20 who has (AK)accomplished signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day both in Israel and among mankind; and You have (AL)made a name for Yourself, as at this day. 21 You (AM)brought 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; 22 and You gave them this land, which You (AN)swore to their forefathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 They (AO)came in and took possession of it, but they (AP)did not obey Your voice or (AQ)walk in Your Law; they did not do [e]anything that You commanded them to do; therefore You have made (AR)all this disaster happen to them. 24 Behold, the (AS)assault ramps have reached the city to take it; and the city has been (AT)handed over to the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the (AU)sword, the famine, and the plague; and what You have spoken has (AV)come to pass; and behold, You see it. 25 Yet You have said to me, Lord [f]God, “Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses”—although the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans.’”

26 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 27 “Behold, I am the Lord, the (AW)God of all flesh; is anything (AX)too difficult for Me?” 28 Therefore this is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am going to (AY)hand this city over to the Chaldeans and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it. 29 And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will enter and (AZ)set this city on fire and burn it, with the (BA)houses where people have offered incense to Baal on their roofs and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger. 30 For the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have been doing only (BB)evil in My sight since their youth; for the sons of Israel have been only (BC)provoking Me to anger by the work of their hands,” declares the Lord. 31 “Indeed this city has been to Me a (BD)provocation of My anger and My wrath since the day that they built it, even to this day, so that it should be (BE)removed from My sight, 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 (BF)kings, 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, (BG)teaching again and again, they would not listen to accept discipline. 34 But they (BH)put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 35 They built the (BI)high places of Baal that are in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to make their sons and their daughters pass through the fire to (BJ)Molech, which I had not commanded them, nor had it [g]entered 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 (BK)handed over to the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by plague’: 37 Behold, I am going to (BL)gather 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 (BM)have them live in safety. 38 They shall be (BN)My people, and I will be their God; 39 and I will (BO)give them one heart and one way, so that they will fear Me always, for their own (BP)good and for the good of their children after them. 40 I will make an (BQ)everlasting covenant with them that I will (BR)not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will (BS)put the fear of Me in their hearts, so that they will not turn away from Me. 41 I will (BT)rejoice over them to do them good and will [h]faithfully (BU)plant them in this land with (BV)all My heart and all My soul. 42 For this is what the Lord says: ‘(BW)Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to (BX)bring on them all the good that I am promising them. 43 And (BY)fields will be purchased in this land of which you say, “(BZ)It is a desolation, without man or animal; it has been handed over to the Chaldeans.” 44 People will buy fields for money, [i](CA)sign and seal [j]deeds, and call in witnesses in the (CB)land 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 [k]Negev; for I will (CC)restore their fortunes,’ declares the Lord.”

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 32:4 Lit mouth with mouth
  2. Jeremiah 32:10 Lit wrote...on and
  3. Jeremiah 32:14 Lit stand many days
  4. Jeremiah 32:17 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
  5. Jeremiah 32:23 Or all that
  6. Jeremiah 32:25 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
  7. Jeremiah 32:35 Lit come up on My heart
  8. Jeremiah 32:41 Or truly
  9. Jeremiah 32:44 Lit write on...and
  10. Jeremiah 32:44 Lit the document
  11. Jeremiah 32:44 I.e., South country

Jeremiah’s Land Purchase

32 The following message came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of the reign of Zedekiah,[a] king of Judah. This was also the eighteenth year of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar.[b] Jerusalem was then under siege from the Babylonian army, and Jeremiah was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace. 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. King Zedekiah will be captured by the Babylonians[c] and taken to meet the king of Babylon face to face. 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.’”

At that time the Lord sent me a message. He said, “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.’”

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.

So I bought the field at Anathoth, paying Hanamel seventeen pieces[d] of silver for it. 10 I signed and sealed the deed of purchase before witnesses, weighed out the silver, and paid him. 11 Then I took the sealed deed and an unsealed copy of the deed, which contained the terms and conditions of the purchase, 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.

13 Then I said to Baruch as they all listened, 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.’ 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.’”

Jeremiah’s Prayer

16 Then after I had given the papers to Baruch, I prayed to the Lord:

17 “O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you! 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. 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. 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.

21 “You brought Israel out of Egypt with mighty signs and wonders, with a strong hand and powerful arm, and with overwhelming terror. 22 You gave the people of Israel this land that you had promised their ancestors long before—a land flowing with milk and honey. 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.

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. 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.”

A Prediction of Jerusalem’s Fall

26 Then this message came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 27 “I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me? 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. 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. 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. 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.

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. 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. 34 They have set up their abominable idols right in my own Temple, defiling it. 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!

A Promise of Restoration

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: 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. 38 They will be my people, and 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. 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. 41 I will find joy doing good for them and will faithfully and wholeheartedly replant them in this land.

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. 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.’ 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[e] and in the Negev, too. For someday I will restore prosperity to them. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Footnotes

  1. 32:1a The tenth year of Zedekiah’s reign and the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign was 587 B.c.
  2. 32:1b Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar; also in 32:28.
  3. 32:4 Or Chaldeans; also in 32:5, 24, 25, 28, 29, 43.
  4. 32:9 Hebrew 17 shekels, about 7 ounces or 194 grams in weight.
  5. 32:44 Hebrew the Shephelah.