Jeremiah Buys a Field

32 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord ^(A)in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. ² For then the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up ^(B)in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah’s house. ³ For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you ^(C)prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(D)“Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; ⁴ and Zedekiah king of Judah ^(E)shall not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him ^[a]face to face, and see him ^(F)eye to eye; ⁵ then he shall ^(G)lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall be ^(H)until I visit him,” says the Lord; ^(I)“though you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed” ’?”

⁶ And Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁷ ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you, saying, “Buy my field which is in Anathoth, for the ^(J)right of redemption is yours to buy it.” ’ ⁸ Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the Lord, and said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. ⁹ So I bought the field from Hanamel, the son of my uncle who was in Anathoth, and ^(K)weighed out to him the money—seventeen shekels of silver. ¹⁰ And I signed the ^[b]deed and sealed it, took witnesses, and weighed the money on the scales. ¹¹ So I took the purchase deed, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open; ¹² and I gave the purchase deed to ^(L)Baruch the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my uncle’s son, and in the presence of the ^(M)witnesses who signed the purchase deed, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the prison.

¹³ “Then I charged ^(N)Baruch before them, saying, ¹⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Take these deeds, both this purchase deed which is sealed and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may last many days.” ¹⁵ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Houses and fields and vineyards shall be ^(O)possessed again in this land.” ’

The Whole Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ^11 (A)Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the ^[a]wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against ^(B)principalities, against powers, against ^(C)the rulers of ^[b]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ^13 (D)Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand ^(E)in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, ^(F)having girded your waist with truth, ^(G)having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ^15 (H)and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ above all, taking ^(I)the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷ And ^(J)take the helmet of salvation, and ^(K)the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ^18 (L)praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, ^(M)being watchful to this end with all perseverance and ^(N)supplication for all the saints— ¹⁹ and for me, that utterance may be given to me, ^(O)that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which ^(P)I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

A Gracious Greeting

²¹ But that you also may know my affairs and how I am doing, ^(Q)Tychicus, a beloved brother and ^(R)faithful minister in the Lord, will make all things known to you; ^22 (S)whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know our affairs, and that he may ^(T)comfort your hearts.

²³ Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.

¹⁵ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Houses and fields and vineyards shall be ^(A)possessed again in this land.” ’

Jeremiah Prays for Understanding

¹⁶ “Now when I had delivered the purchase deed to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: ¹⁷ ‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, ^(B)You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. ^(C)There is nothing too ^[a]hard for You. ¹⁸ You show ^(D)lovingkindness to thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them—the Great, ^(E)the Mighty God, whose name is ^(F)the Lord of hosts. ¹⁹ You are ^(G)great in counsel and mighty in ^[b]work, for Your ^(H)eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, ^(I)to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. ²⁰ You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, to this day, and in Israel and among other men; and You have made Yourself ^(J)a name, as it is this day. ²¹ You ^(K)have brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror; ²² You have given them this land, of which You swore to their fathers to give them—^(L)“a land flowing with milk and honey.” ²³ And they came in and took possession of it, but ^(M)they have not obeyed Your voice or walked in Your law. They have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do; therefore You have caused all this calamity to come upon them.

²⁴ ‘Look, the siege mounds! They have come to the city to take it; and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of ^(N)the sword and famine and pestilence. What You have spoken has happened; there You see it! ²⁵ And You have said to me, O Lord God, “Buy the field for money, and take witnesses”!—yet the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ ”

God’s Assurance of the People’s Return

²⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁷ “Behold, I am the Lord, the ^(O)God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? ²⁸ Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it. ²⁹ And the Chaldeans who fight against this city shall come and ^(P)set fire to this city and burn it, with the houses ^(Q)on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger; ³⁰ because the children of Israel and the children of Judah ^(R)have done only evil before Me from their youth. For the children of Israel have provoked Me only to anger with the work of their hands,’ says the Lord. ³¹ ‘For this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My fury from the day that they built it, even to this day; ^(S)so I will remove it from before My face ³² because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger—^(T)they, their kings, their princes, their priests, ^(U)their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³³ And they have turned to Me the ^(V)back, and not the face; though I taught them, ^(W)rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction. ³⁴ But they ^(X)set their abominations in ^[c]the house which is called by My name, to defile it. ³⁵ And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to ^(Y)cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to ^(Z)Molech, ^(AA)which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.’

A Man Born Blind Receives Sight

9 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. ² And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, ^(A)who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

³ Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, ^(B)but that the works of God should be revealed in him. ^4 (C)I^[a] must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is ^(D)day; the night is coming when no one can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, ^(E)I am the light of the world.”

⁶ When He had said these things, ^(F)He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. ⁷ And He said to him, “Go, wash ^(G)in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So ^(H)he went and washed, and came back seeing.

⁸ Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was ^[b]blind said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?”

⁹ Some said, “This is he.” Others said, ^[c]“He is like him.”

He said, “I am he.”

¹⁰ Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”

¹¹ He answered and said, ^(I)“A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to ^[d]the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.”

¹² Then they said to him, “Where is He?”

He said, “I do not know.”

The Pharisees Excommunicate the Healed Man

¹³ They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. ¹⁴ Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. ¹⁵ Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”

¹⁶ Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not ^[e]keep the Sabbath.”

Others said, ^(J)“How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And ^(K)there was a division among them.

¹⁷ They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?”

He said, ^(L)“He is a prophet.”

¹⁸ But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. ¹⁹ And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

²⁰ His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹ but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.” ²² His parents said these things because ^(M)they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he ^(N)would be put out of the synagogue. ²³ Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

²⁴ So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, ^(O)“Give God the glory! ^(P)We know that this Man is a sinner.”

²⁵ He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”

²⁶ Then they said to him again, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?”

²⁷ He answered them, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”

²⁸ Then they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples. ²⁹ We know that God ^(Q)spoke to ^(R)Moses; as for this fellow, ^(S)we do not know where He is from.”

³⁰ The man answered and said to them, ^(T)“Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! ³¹ Now we know that ^(U)God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. ³² Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. ^33 (V)If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

³⁴ They answered and said to him, ^(W)“You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” And they ^[f]cast him out.

True Vision and True Blindness

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had ^(X)found him, He said to him, “Do you ^(Y)believe in ^(Z)the Son of ^[g]God?”

³⁶ He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”

³⁷ And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and ^(AA)it is He who is talking with you.”

³⁸ Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he ^(AB)worshiped Him.

³⁹ And Jesus said, ^(AC)“For judgment I have come into this world, ^(AD)that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”

⁴⁰ Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, ^(AE)and said to Him, “Are we blind also?”

⁴¹ Jesus said to them, ^(AF)“If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.