Jeremiah 29-32

Lexham English Bible

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles in Babylon

29 And these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the exiles,^[a] and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had deported from Jerusalem to Babylon, ² after the going out of Jeconiah the king, and the queen mother, and the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, and the artisans,^[b] and the smiths^[c] from Jerusalem, ³ by the hand of Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, the king of Judah, sent to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to Babylon, saying,^{[d] 4} “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles^[e] whom I have deported from Jerusalem to Babylon, ⁵ ‘Build houses and live in them,^[f] and plant gardens and eat their fruit. ⁶ Take wives and father sons and daughters, and take for your sons wives, and give your daughters to men that they may bear sons and daughters, and multiply there, and you must not be few. ⁷ And seek the prosperity of the city where I have deported you, and pray on behalf of it to Yahweh, for in its prosperity you will have prosperity.’

⁸ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst, and your diviners, deceive you, and you must not listen to your dreams that you are causing them to dream. ⁹ For they are prophesying falsely^[g] to you in my name; I have not sent them,’ declares^[h] Yahweh. ¹⁰ For thus says Yahweh, ‘As soon as the time has passed,^[i] seventy years^[j] for Babylon, I will attend to you, and I will fulfill my good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ¹¹ For I know the plans that I am planning concerning you,’ declares^[k] Yahweh, ‘plans for prosperity and not for harm, to give to you a future and a hope. ¹² Then when you call me, and you come and pray to me, then I will listen to you. ¹³ When you search for me, then you will find me, if you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ And I will let myself be found by you,’ declares^[l] Yahweh, ‘and I will restore your fortunes,^[m] and I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places to which I have driven you,’ declares^[n] Yahweh, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from which I deported you.’

¹⁵ Because you have said, ‘Yahweh has raised up prophets for us in Babylon’— ¹⁶ for thus says Yahweh concerning the king who sits on the throne of David and concerning all the people who live in this city, your fellow kinsmen who did not go with you into the exile— ¹⁷ thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Look, I am going to send among them the sword, the famine, and the plague, and I will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten because of their bad quality. ¹⁸ And I will pursue them with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague, and I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse, and a horror, and an object of hissing, and a disgrace among all the nations to which I have driven them, ¹⁹ because they did not listen to my words,’ declares^[o] Yahweh, ‘when I sent to them my servants the prophets, sending over and over again,^[p] and they would not listen,’ declares^[q] Yahweh.

²⁰ And you, hear the word of Yahweh, all you exiles^[r] whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. ²¹ Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you in my name a lie, ‘Look, I am going to give them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and he will strike them before your eyes. ²² And a curse will be taken up because of them by all the exiles^[s] of Judah who are in Babylon, saying,^[t] “May Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,” ²³ because they have done a disgraceful thing in Israel, and they have committed adultery with the wives of their neighbors, and they have spoken words^[u] in my name, lies^[v] that I have not commanded them, and I am he who knows, and I am a witness,’ declares^[w] Yahweh.”

Shemaiah’s Letter to Zephaniah the Priest

²⁴ And to Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall say, saying,^{[x] 25} “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying,^[y] ‘Because you yourself sent a letter^[z] in your name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,^{[aa] 26} “Yahweh made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, so that there are overseers in the house of Yahweh over any mad man who exhibits the behavior of a prophet, and you must put him into the stocks and into the neck iron, ²⁷ and so then why have you not rebuked Jeremiah the Anathothite who exhibits the behavior of a prophet for you? ²⁸ Because^[ab] he has sent to us in Babylon, saying,^[ac] ‘It will be a long time, build houses and live in them,^[ad] and plant gardens and eat their fruit.’”’” ²⁹ And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing^[ae] of Jeremiah the prophet.

Jeremiah’s Response to Shemaiah’s Letter

³⁰ And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,^{[af] 31} “Send to all the exiles,^[ag] saying,^[ah] ‘Thus says Yahweh concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah prophesied to you, though I have not sent him, and he has made you trust in a lie,” ³² therefore^[ai] thus says Yahweh, “Look, I am going to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his offspring. There will not be for him a man who lives in the midst of this people, and he will not see the good that I am going to do to my people,” declares^[aj] Yahweh, “For he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh.”’”

Israel and Judah Will Be Delivered from Their Distress

30 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,^{[ak] 2} “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, saying,^[al] ‘Write for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you in a scroll. ³ For look, days are coming,’ declares^[am] Yahweh, ‘when I will restore the fortunes^[an] of my people Israel and Judah,’ says Yahweh, ‘and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestors^[ao] and they will take possession of it.’”

⁴ Now these are the words that Yahweh spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah. ⁵ “For thus says Yahweh:

¹² For thus says Yahweh,

¹⁸ Thus says Yahweh:

31 “At that time,” declares^[bb] Yahweh,

² Thus says Yahweh:

⁷ For thus says Yahweh,

¹⁶ Thus says Yahweh:

²³ Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “They will again say these words^[bp] in the land of Judah and in its towns at my restoring their fortunes,^[bq]

The New Covenant

²⁷ “Look, the days are coming,” declares^[bs] Yahweh, “and I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humankind, and with the seed of animals.^{[bt] 28} And then^[bu] as I have watched over them to pull up, and to tear down, and to annihilate, and to destroy, and to do evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares^[bv] Yahweh. ²⁹ “In those days they will say no longer, ‘Parents^[bw] have eaten unripe fruit, and the teeth of the children are set on edge^[bx].’ ³⁰ But^[by] each will die because of his iniquity, everyone^[bz] who eats the unripe fruit, their teeth will be set on edge.^[ca]

³¹ Look, the days are coming,” declares^[cb] Yahweh, “and I will make^[cc] a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, ³² not like the covenant that I made^[cd] with their ancestors^[ce] on the day of my grasping them^[cf] by their hand, bringing them out from the land of Egypt, my covenant that they themselves broke, though I myself was a master over them,” declares^[cg] Yahweh. ³³ “But this is the covenant that I will make^[ch] with the house of Israel after those days,” declares^[ci] Yahweh: “I will put my law in their inward parts and on their hearts^[cj] I will write it, and I will be to them God, and they themselves will be to me people. ³⁴ And they will no longer teach each one his neighbor, or each one his brother, saying,^[ck] ‘Know Yahweh,’ for all of them will know me, from their smallest^[cl] and up to their greatest,”^[cm] declares^[cn] Yahweh, “for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will no longer remember.”

³⁵ Thus says Yahweh, who gives the sun for light by day, the regulations of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar—Yahweh of hosts is his name. ³⁶ “If these rules would cease from before me,”^[co] declares^[cp] Yahweh, “also the offspring of Israel would cease from being a nation before me^[cq] forever.”^{[cr] 37} Thus says Yahweh, “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, also I will reject all the offspring of Israel because of all that they have done,” declares^[cs] Yahweh. ³⁸ “Look, days are coming,” declares^[ct] Yahweh, “and the city will be rebuilt for Yahweh, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. ³⁹ And the measuring line^[cu] will still go out immediately in front of it to the hill of Gareb, and it will turn to Goah. ⁴⁰ And the whole of the valley of the corpses, and the ashes, and all the cultivated fields up to the wadi of Kidron, up to the corner of the Gate of the Horses toward the east will be holy to Yahweh. It will not be uprooted, and it will not be overthrown again forever.”^[cv]

Jeremiah Buys a Field

32 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the tenth year of Zedekiah the king of Judah, that was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. ² Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was laying siege to Jerusalem and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah, ³ where Zedekiah, the king of Judah, had confined him, saying,^[cw] “Why are you prophesying, saying,^[cx] ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Look, I am going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it, ⁴ and Zedekiah, the king of Judah, will not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but surely he will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will speak face to face with him^[cy] and he will see him eye to eye,^{[cz] 5} and to Babylon he will bring Zedekiah, and there he will be until my attending to him,” declares^[da] Yahweh. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not be successful”’?”

⁶ And Jeremiah said, “The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,^{[db] 7} ‘Look, Hanamel, the son of Shallum, your uncle, is going to come to you, saying,^[dc] “Buy for yourself my field that is at Anathoth, for you have^[dd] the right of redemption to buy it.”’^{[de] 8} Then Hanamel, the son of my uncle, came to me, to the courtyard of the guard according to^[df] the word of Yahweh, and he said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is at Anathoth, that is in the land of Benjamin, for to you is the claim of possession, and to you the redemption; buy it^[dg] for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of Yahweh.

⁹ And I bought the field from Hanamel, the son of my uncle, that was at Anathoth. And I weighed out to him the money, seventeen silver shekels. ¹⁰ And I signed on the letter^[dh] and sealed it,^[di] and I called witnesses as witness, and I weighed out the money on a set of scales. ¹¹ Then I took the deed^[dj] of the purchase, the sealed copy containing the commandments^[dk] and the rules, together with the one that was open. ¹² And I gave the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of^[dl] Hanamel, the son of my uncle, and in the presence of^[dm] the witnesses who signed the deed of the purchase, in the presence of^[dn] the Judeans^[do] who were sitting in the courtyard of the guard. ¹³ And I commanded Baruch in their presence,^[dp] saying,^{[dq] 14} ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds,^[dr] this deed of the purchase, the sealed one, and this opened deed, and you must put them in an earthenware jar^[ds] so that they may be kept preserved many days.” ¹⁵ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: “Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”’

¹⁶ And I prayed to Yahweh—after giving my deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah—saying,^{[dt] 17} ‘Ah Lord Yahweh! Look, you made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. Nothing^[du] is too difficult for you, ¹⁸ showing loyal love to the thousands, and repaying the guilt of parents^[dv] into the laps^[dw] of their children after them. Powerful, great, mighty, his name is Yahweh of hosts, ¹⁹ great in counsel and great in deed, whose eyes are opened to all the ways of the children of humankind, to give to each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds, ²⁰ who accomplished signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, up to this day, and in Israel, and among humankind, and you have made for yourself a name, as it is this day.

²¹ And you brought out your people Israel from the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with an arm stretched out, and with great terror. ²² And you gave to them this land, which you swore to their ancestors^[dx] to give to them, a land flowing with milk and honey. ²³ And they entered and took possession of it, but they did not listen to your voice, and they did not follow your law. They did nothing of all that you commanded to them to do, and you caused to happen to them all this disaster. ²⁴ Look, the siege ramps have come up to the city to capture it, and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it, because of the sword, the famine, and the plague, and what you spoke happened, and look, you are seeing it.^{[dy] 25} Yet you have said to me, Lord Yahweh, “Buy for yourself the field with the money, and call witnesses as witness,” though the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’”

²⁶ And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,^{[dz] 27} “Look, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh; is anything^[ea] too difficult for me?” ²⁸ Therefore^[eb] thus says Yahweh: “Look, I am going to give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. ²⁹ And the Chaldeans, who are fighting against this city, will come and set this city on fire, and they will burn it, and the houses where they have made smoke offerings on their roofs to Baal, and where they have devoted libations to other gods, in order to provoke me to anger. ³⁰ For the people^[ec] of Israel and the people^[ed] of Judah were doing only evil in my eyes from their youth, for the people^[ee] of Israel were only provoking me to anger by the work of their hands,” declares^[ef] Yahweh.

³¹ “For this city has been for me a cause of my anger and of my wrath from the day that they built it even until this day, so I will remove it from my sight,^{[eg] 32} because of all the evil of the people^[eh] of Israel and the people^[ei] of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger—they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, and the men^[ej] of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³³ And they have turned to me their backs^[ek] and not their faces, though I have taught them over and over again,^[el] but they were not listening to accept discipline. ³⁴ And they set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. ³⁵ And they built the high places of Baal that are in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to present as offerings their sons and their daughters to Molech, which I had not commanded them, and it had not come to my mind^[em] to do this detestable thing in order to cause Judah to sin.”

³⁶ “So now therefore,^[en] thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning this city, of which you are saying, ‘It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague’: ³⁷ Look, I am going to gather them from all the lands to which I driven them in my anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath, and I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell in safety.^{[eo] 38} And they will be for me a people, and I will be for them God. ³⁹ And I will give to them one heart and one way, to revere me forever,^[ep] for good to them, and to their children after them. ⁴⁰ And I will make^[eq] with them an everlasting covenant^[er] that I will not turn away from them, my doing good to them, and my reverence I will put in their hearts^[es] so that they will not turn aside from me. ⁴¹ And I will rejoice over them to do good to them, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness with all my heart, and with all my inner self.”^[et]

⁴² “For thus says Yahweh, ‘Just as I have brought to this people all this great disaster, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise to them. ⁴³ And the fields^[eu] will be bought in this land of which you are saying, “It is a desolation, without humankind or animals.^[ev] It has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.” ⁴⁴ They will buy fields with money, and they will sign the deeds,^[ew] and they will seal them,^[ex] and they will call witnesses as witness in the land of Benjamin, and in the surroundings of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill country, and in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negev, for I will restore their fortunes,’^[ey] declares^[ez] Yahweh.”