Jeremiah 32:1-25

New American Standard Bible 1995

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 shut up in the ^(B)court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah, ³ because Zedekiah king of Judah had ^(C)shut him up, saying, “Why do you ^(D)prophesy, saying, ‘^(E)Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to ^(F)give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take it; ⁴ and Zedekiah king of Judah will ^(G)not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will ^(H)speak with him ^[a]face to face and see him eye to eye; ⁵ and 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 Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the ^(M)court of the guard according to 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 “I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I ^(P)weighed out the silver for him, seventeen ^(Q)shekels of silver. ¹⁰ 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, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard. ¹³ And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying, ¹⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may ^[c]last a long time.” ¹⁵ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “^(X)Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”’

Jeremiah Prays and God Explains

¹⁶ “After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, then I ^(Y)prayed to the Lord, saying, ¹⁷ ‘^(Z)Ah Lord ^[d]God! Behold, You 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 lovingkindness to thousands, but ^(AD)repays the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O ^(AE)great and ^(AF)mighty God. The ^(AG)Lord of hosts 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 men, ^(AJ)giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds; ²⁰ who has ^(AK)set 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 with an outstretched arm and with great terror; ²² and 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 have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do; therefore You have made ^(AR)all this calamity come upon them. ²⁴ Behold, the ^(AS)siege ramps have reached the city to take it; and the city is ^(AT)given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the ^(AU)sword, the famine and the pestilence; and what You have spoken has ^(AV)come to pass; and behold, You see it. ²⁵ You have said to me, O Lord ^[e]God, “Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses”—although the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’”