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. ² 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, ³ 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; ⁴ 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. ⁵ 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”’?”

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 ^(K)Anathoth, for you have the ^(L)right of redemption to buy it.”’ ⁸ 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.

⁹ “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.”’

The Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, ^(A)be strong in the Lord and in ^(B)the strength of His might. ^11 (C)Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the ^(D)schemes of the devil. ¹² For our ^(E)struggle is not against ^[a](F)flesh and blood, but ^(G)against the rulers, against the powers, against the ^(H)world forces of this ^(I)darkness, against the ^(J)spiritual forces of wickedness in ^(K)the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore, take up ^(L)the full armor of God, so that you will be able to ^(M)resist on ^(N)the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, ^(O)having belted your waist with truth, and having ^(P)put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having ^(Q)strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace; ^16 [b]in addition to all, taking up the ^(R)shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the ^(S)flaming arrows of ^(T)the evil one. ¹⁷ And take ^(U)the helmet of salvation and the ^(V)sword of the Spirit, which is ^(W)the word of God.

^18 [c]With every ^(X)prayer and request, ^[d](Y)pray at all times ^(Z)in the Spirit, and with this in view, ^[e](AA)be alert with all ^(AB)perseverance and every ^(AC)request for all the ^[f]saints, ¹⁹ and ^(AD)pray in my behalf, that speech may be given to me ^(AE)in the opening of my mouth, to make known with ^(AF)boldness ^(AG)the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ^(AH)ambassador ^(AI)in ^[g]chains; that ^[h]in proclaiming it I may speak ^(AJ)boldly, ^(AK)as I ought to speak.

^21 (AL)Now, so that you also may know about my circumstances as to ^[i]what I am doing, ^(AM)Tychicus, ^(AN)the beloved brother and faithful ^[j]servant in the Lord, will make everything known to you. ^22 [k](AO)I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know ^[l]about us, and that he may ^(AP)comfort your hearts.

^23 (AQ)Peace be to the brothers and sisters, and ^(AR)love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ ^[m]with incorruptible love.

¹⁵ For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “^(A)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 ^(B)prayed to the Lord, saying, ¹⁷ ‘^(C)Oh, Lord ^[a]God! Behold, You Yourself have ^(D)made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! ^(E)Nothing is too difficult for You, ¹⁸ who ^(F)shows mercy to thousands, but ^(G)repays the wrongdoing of fathers into the laps of their children after them, ^(H)great and ^(I)mighty God. The ^(J)Lord of armies is His name; ^19 (K)great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose ^(L)eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of mankind, ^(M)giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds; ²⁰ who has ^(N)accomplished signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day both in Israel and among mankind; and You have ^(O)made a name for Yourself, as at this day. ²¹ You ^(P)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 ^(Q)swore to their forefathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. ²³ They ^(R)came in and took possession of it, but they ^(S)did not obey Your voice or ^(T)walk in Your Law; they did not do ^[b]anything that You commanded them to do; therefore You have made ^(U)all this disaster happen to them. ²⁴ Behold, the ^(V)assault ramps have reached the city to take it; and the city has been ^(W)handed over to the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the ^(X)sword, the famine, and the plague; and what You have spoken has ^(Y)come to pass; and behold, You see it. ²⁵ Yet You have said to me, Lord ^[c]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 ^(Z)God of all flesh; is anything ^(AA)too difficult for Me?” ²⁸ Therefore this is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am going to ^(AB)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 ^(AC)set this city on fire and burn it, with the ^(AD)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 ^(AE)evil in My sight since their youth; for the sons of Israel have been only ^(AF)provoking Me to anger by the work of their hands,” declares the Lord. ³¹ “Indeed this city has been to Me a ^(AG)provocation of My anger and My wrath since the day that they built it, even to this day, so that it should be ^(AH)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 ^(AI)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, ^(AJ)teaching again and again, they would not listen to accept discipline. ³⁴ But they ^(AK)put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. ³⁵ They built the ^(AL)high places of Baal that are in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to make their sons and their daughters pass through the fire to ^(AM)Molech, which I had not commanded them, nor had it ^[d]entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to mislead Judah to sin.

Healing the Man Born Blind

9 As Jesus passed by, He saw a man who had been blind from birth. ² And His disciples asked Him, “^(A)Rabbi, who sinned, ^(B)this man or his ^(C)parents, that he would be born blind?” ³ Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was ^(D)so that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴ We must carry out the works of Him who sent Me ^(E)as long as it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am ^(F)the Light of the world.” ⁶ When He had said this, He ^(G)spit on the ground, and made mud from the saliva, and applied the mud to his eyes, ⁷ and said to him, “Go, wash in ^(H)the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he left and ^(I)washed, and ^(J)came back seeing. ⁸ So the neighbors, and those who previously saw ^[a]him as a beggar, were saying, “Is this not the one who used to ^(K)sit and beg?” ⁹ Others were saying, “This is he,” still others were saying, “No, but he is like him.” ^[b]The man himself kept saying, “I am the one.” ¹⁰ So they were saying to him, “How then were your eyes opened?” ¹¹ He answered, “The man who is called Jesus made mud, and spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to ^(L)Siloam and wash’; so I went away and washed, and I received sight.” ¹² And they said to him, “Where is He?” He *said, “I do not know.”

Controversy over the Man

¹³ They *brought ^[c]the man who was previously blind to the Pharisees. ^14 (M)Now it was a Sabbath on the day that Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ^15 (N)Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He applied mud to my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” ¹⁶ Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He ^(O)does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such ^[d](P)signs?” And ^(Q)there was dissension among them. ¹⁷ So they *said ^(R)again to the man who was blind, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “He is a ^(S)prophet.”

^18 (T)The Jews then did not believe it about him, that he had been blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight, ¹⁹ and they questioned them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?” ²⁰ His parents then answered and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹ but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.” ²² His parents said this because they ^(U)were afraid of the ^[e]Jews; for the Jews ^(V)had already reached the decision that if anyone confessed Him to be ^[f]Christ, ^(W)he was to be excommunicated from the synagogue. ²³ It was for this reason that his parents said, “^(X)He is of age; ask him.”

²⁴ So for a second time they summoned the man who had been blind, and said to him, “^(Y)Give glory to God; we know that ^(Z)this man is a sinner.” ²⁵ He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” ²⁶ So they said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” ²⁷ He answered them, “^(AA)I told you already and you did not ^(AB)listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?” ²⁸ They spoke abusively to him and said, “You are His disciple, but ^(AC)we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹ We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, ^(AD)we do not know where He is from.” ³⁰ The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is the amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes! ³¹ We know that ^(AE)God does not listen to sinners; but if someone is ^[g]God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him. ^32 [h]Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. ^33 (AF)If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.” ³⁴ They answered him, “^(AG)You were born entirely in sins, and yet you are teaching us?” So they ^[i](AH)put him out.

Jesus Affirms His Deity

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had ^[j](AI)put him out, and upon finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the ^(AJ)Son of Man?” ³⁶ He answered ^[k]by saying, “And ^(AK)who is He, ^[l]Sir, that I may believe in Him?” ³⁷ Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and ^(AL)He is the one who is talking with you.” ³⁸ And he said, “I believe, Lord.” And he ^(AM)worshiped Him. ³⁹ And Jesus said, “^(AN)For judgment I came into this world, so that ^(AO)those who do not see may see, and ^(AP)those who see may become blind.” ⁴⁰ Those who were with Him from the Pharisees heard these things and said to Him, “^(AQ)We are not blind too, are we?” ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “^(AR)If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now that you maintain, ‘^(AS)We see,’ your sin remains.