Jeremiah Buys a Field During the Siege

32 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. ² At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah,^{(A) 3} where King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him. Zedekiah had said, “Why do you prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord: I am going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;^{(B) 4} King Zedekiah of Judah shall not escape out of the hands of the Chaldeans but shall surely be given into the hands of the king of Babylon and shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye,^{(C) 5} and he shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I attend to him, says the Lord; though you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed?”^(D)

⁶ Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: ⁷ Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.’ ”^{(E) 8} Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.

⁹ And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out the silver to him, seventeen shekels of silver.^{(F) 10} I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the silver on scales.^{(G) 11} Then I took the sealed deed of purchase containing the terms and conditions and the open copy,^{(H) 12} and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin^[a] Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard.^{(I) 13} In their presence I charged Baruch, saying, ¹⁴ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, in order that they may last for a long time. ¹⁵ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.”^(J)

The Whole Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power; ¹¹ put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, ¹² for our^[a] struggle is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present^[b] darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.^{[c](A) 13} Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on the evil day and, having prevailed against everything, to stand firm.^{(B) 14} Stand, therefore, and belt your waist with truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness^{(C) 15} and lace up your sandals in preparation for the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ With all of these,^[d] take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.^{(D) 17} Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.^{(E) 18} Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.^{(F) 19} Pray also for me, so that when I speak a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,^{[e](G) 20} for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.^(H)

Personal Matters and Benediction

²¹ So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus will tell you everything. He is a dear brother and a faithful minister in the Lord.^{(I) 22} I am sending him to you for this very purpose, to let you know how we are and to encourage your hearts.

²³ Peace be to the brothers and sisters and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.^{(J) 24} Grace be with all who have an undying love for^[f] our Lord Jesus Christ.^[g]

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

Jeremiah Prays for Understanding

¹⁶ After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: ¹⁷ “Ah Lord God! It is you who made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.^{(B) 18} You show steadfast love to the thousandth generation^[a] but repay the guilt of parents into the laps of their children after them, O great and mighty God whose name is the Lord of hosts,^{(C) 19} great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of mortals, rewarding all according to their ways and according to the fruit of their doings.^{(D) 20} You showed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt and to this day in Israel and among all humankind and have made yourself a name that continues to this very day.^{(E) 21} You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and outstretched arm, and with great terror,^{(F) 22} and you gave them this land, which you swore to their ancestors to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey,^{(G) 23} and they entered and took possession of it. But they did not obey your voice or follow your laws; of all you commanded them to do, they did nothing. Therefore you have made all these disasters come upon them.^{(H) 24} See, the siege ramps have been cast up against the city to take it, and the city, faced with sword, famine, and pestilence, has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you spoke has happened, as you yourself can see.^{(I) 25} Yet you, O Lord God, have said to me, ‘Buy the field for silver and get witnesses,’ though the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans.”

God’s Assurance of the People’s Return

²⁶ The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ²⁷ See, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too hard for me?^{(J) 28} Therefore, thus says the Lord: I am going to give this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and into the hand of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, and he shall take it.^{(K) 29} The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city shall come, set this city on fire, and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal and libations have been poured out to other gods, to provoke me to anger.^{(L) 30} For the people of Israel and the people of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth; the people of Israel have done nothing but provoke me to anger by the work of their hands, says the Lord.^{(M) 31} This city has aroused my anger and wrath, from the day it was built until this day, so that I will remove it from my sight^{(N) 32} because of all the evil of the people of Israel and the people of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger—they, their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets, the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.^{(O) 33} They have turned their backs to me, not their faces; though I have taught them persistently, they would not listen and accept correction.^{(P) 34} They set up their abominations in the house that bears my name and defiled it.^{(Q) 35} They built the high places of Baal in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter my mind that they should do this abomination, causing Judah to sin.^(R)

A Man Born Blind Receives Sight

9 As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³ Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.^{(A) 4} We^[a] must work the works of him who sent me^[b] while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.^{(B) 5} As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”^{(C) 6} When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes,^{(D) 7} saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.^{(E) 8} The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹ Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am he.” ¹⁰ But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” ¹¹ He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” ¹² They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

¹³ They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. ¹⁴ Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.^{(F) 15} Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” ¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided.^{(G) 17} So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”^(H)

¹⁸ The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight ¹⁹ and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” ²⁰ His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind, ²¹ but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” ²² His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus^[c] to be the Messiah^[d] would be put out of the synagogue.^{(I) 23} Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

²⁴ So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”^{(J) 25} He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” ²⁶ They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” ²⁷ He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” ²⁸ Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.^{(K) 29} We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”^{(L) 30} The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. ³¹ We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will.^{(M) 32} Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. ³³ If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” ³⁴ They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.

Spiritual Blindness

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”^{[e](N) 36} He answered, “And who is he, sir?^[f] Tell me, so that I may believe in him.”^{(O) 37} Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.”^{(P) 38} He said, “Lord,^[g] I believe.” And he worshiped him. ³⁹ Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see may see and those who do see may become blind.”^{(Q) 40} Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?”^{(R) 41} Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.^(S)