Jeremiah 32
Contemporary English Version
Jeremiah Buys a Field
32 (A) The Lord spoke to me in the tenth year that Zedekiah[a] was king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year that Nebuchadnezzar[b] was king of Babylonia. 2 At that time, the Babylonian army had surrounded Jerusalem, and I was in the prison at the courtyard of the palace guards. 3 Zedekiah had ordered me to be held there because I told everyone that the Lord had said:
I am the Lord, and I am about to let the king of Babylonia conquer Jerusalem. 4 King Zedekiah will be captured and taken to King Nebuchadnezzar, who will speak with him face to face. 5 Then Zedekiah will be led away to Babylonia, where he will stay until I am finished with him. So, if you people of Judah fight against the Babylonians, you will lose. I, the Lord, have spoken.
6 Later, when I was in prison, the Lord said:
7 Jeremiah, your cousin Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, will visit you. He must sell his field near the town of Anathoth, and because you are his nearest relative, you have the right and the responsibility to buy it and keep it in the family.[c]
8 Hanamel came, just as the Lord had promised. And he said, “Please buy my field near Anathoth in the territory of the Benjamin tribe. You have the right to buy it, and if you do, it will stay in our family.”
The Lord had told me to buy it 9 from Hanamel, and so I did. The price was 17 pieces of silver, and I weighed out the full amount on a scale. 10-11 I had two copies of the bill of sale written out: an official copy containing the details of our agreement and another copy, without the details. Some witnesses and I signed the official copy, which was folded and tied, before being sealed shut with hot wax.[d] Then I gave Hanamel the silver. 12 And while he, the witnesses, and all the other Jews sitting in the courtyard were still watching, I gave both copies to Baruch son of Neriah.[e]
13-14 I told Baruch that the Lord had said:
Take both copies of this bill of sale, one sealed shut and the other open, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time. 15 I am the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, and I promise you that people will once again buy and sell houses, farms, and vineyards in this country.
Jeremiah Questions the Lord
16 Then I prayed:
17 Lord God, you stretched out your mighty arm and made the sky and the earth. You can do anything. 18 You show kindness for a thousand generations,[f] but you also punish people for the sins of their parents. You are the Lord All-Powerful. 19 With great wisdom you make plans, and with your great power you do all the mighty things you planned. Nothing we do is hidden from your eyes, and you reward or punish us as we deserve.
20 You are famous because you worked miracles in Egypt, and you are still working them in Israel and in the rest of the world as well. 21 You terrified the Egyptians with your miracles, and you reached out your mighty arm and rescued your people Israel from Egypt. 22 Then you gave Israel this land rich with milk and honey, just as you had promised our ancestors.
23 But when our ancestors took over the land, they did not obey you. And now you have punished Israel with disaster. 24 Jerusalem is under attack, and we suffer from hunger and disease. The Babylonians have already built dirt ramps up to the walls of our city, and you can see that Jerusalem will be captured just as you said.
25 So why did you tell me to get some witnesses and buy a field with my silver, when Jerusalem is about to be captured by the Babylonians?
The Lord Explains about the Field
26 The Lord explained:
27 Jeremiah, I am the Lord God. I rule the world, and I can do anything!
28 (B) It is true that I am going to let King Nebuchadnezzar[g] of Babylonia capture Jerusalem. 29 The Babylonian army is already attacking, and they will capture the city and set it on fire. The people of Jerusalem have made me angry by going up to the flat roofs of their houses and burning incense to Baal and offering wine sacrifices to other gods. Now these houses will be burned to the ground!
30-33 The kings and the officials, the priests and the prophets, and everyone else in Israel and Judah have turned from me and made me angry by worshiping idols. Again and again I have tried to teach my people to obey me, but they refuse to be corrected.
I am going to get rid of Jerusalem, because its people have done nothing but evil. 34 (C) They have set up repulsive idols in my temple, and now it isn't a fit place to worship me. 35 (D) And they led Judah into sin by building places to worship Baal in Hinnom Valley, where they also sacrificed their sons and daughters to the god Molech. I have never even imagined they would commit such disgusting sins.
36 Jeremiah, what you said is true. The people of Jerusalem are suffering from hunger and disease, and so the king of Babylonia will be able to capture Jerusalem.
37 I am angry with the people of Jerusalem, and I will scatter them in foreign countries. But someday I will bring them back here and let them live in safety. 38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39-41 I will make their thoughts and desires pure. Then they will realize that, for their own good and the good of their children, they must worship only me. They will even be afraid to turn away from me. I will make an agreement with them that will never end, and I won't ever stop doing good things for them. With all my heart I promise that they will be planted in this land once again. 42 Even though I have brought disaster on the people, I will someday do all these good things for them.
43 Jeremiah, when you bought the field, you showed that fields will someday be bought and sold again. You say that this land has been conquered by the Babylonians and has become a desert, emptied of people and animals. 44 But someday, people will again spend their silver to buy fields everywhere—in the territory of Benjamin, the region around Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, and in the hill country, the foothills to the west, and the Southern Desert. Buyers and sellers and witnesses will sign and seal the bills of sale for the fields. It will happen, because I will give this land back to my people. I, the Lord, have spoken.
Footnotes
- 32.1 Zedekiah: See the note at 1.3.
- 32.1 Nebuchadnezzar: See the note at 21.2.
- 32.7 you have the right … in the family: See Leviticus 25.25-32.
- 32.10,11 signed the official copy, which was folded and tied, before being sealed shut with hot wax: The signing was actually done by pressing a carved clay stamp (called a “seal”) into the hot wax, leaving the design in the wax.
- 32.12 Baruch son of Neriah: Hebrew “Baruch son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah.”
- 32.18 for a thousand generations: Or “to thousands of people.”
- 32.28 Nebuchadnezzar: See the note at 21.2.
Jeremiah 32
English Standard Version
Jeremiah Buys a Field During the Siege
32 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord (A)in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, (B)which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet (C)was shut up in (D)the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah. 3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: (E)Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it; 4 (F)Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, (G)but shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye. 5 And (H)he shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I visit him, declares the Lord. (I)Though you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed’?”
6 Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: 7 Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, (J)‘Buy my field that is at (K)Anathoth, (L)for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.’ 8 Then Hanamel my cousin came to me in (M)the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, ‘Buy my field that is at (N)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 (O)Anathoth from Hanamel my cousin, and (P)weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 (Q)I signed the deed, (R)sealed it, (S)got witnesses, and (T)weighed the money on scales. 11 Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions and the open copy. 12 And I gave the deed of purchase to (U)Baruch the son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my cousin, in the presence of (V)the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in (W)the court of the guard. 13 I charged (X)Baruch in their presence, 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 vessel, that they may last for a long time. 15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and (Y)fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.’
Jeremiah Prays for Understanding
16 “After I had given the deed of purchase to (Z)Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: 17 ‘Ah, Lord God! It is (AA)you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by (AB)your outstretched arm! (AC)Nothing is too hard for you. 18 (AD)You show steadfast love to thousands, (AE)but you repay the guilt of fathers (AF)to their children after them, O great and (AG)mighty God, whose name is the (AH)Lord of hosts, 19 (AI)great in counsel and (AJ)mighty in deed, (AK)whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, (AL)rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds. 20 You have shown (AM)signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, (AN)and have made a name for yourself, as at this day. 21 (AO)You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and (AP)outstretched arm, (AQ)and with great terror. 22 And you gave them this land, (AR)which you swore to their fathers to give them, (AS)a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 And they entered and took possession of it. (AT)But they did not obey your voice or walk in your law. They did nothing of all you commanded them to do. Therefore you have made all this disaster come upon them. 24 Behold, (AU)the siege mounds have come up to the city to take it, and (AV)because of sword and famine and pestilence (AW)the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you spoke has come to pass, and behold, you see it. 25 Yet you, O Lord God, have said to me, (AX)“Buy the field for money (AY)and get witnesses”—though (AZ)the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.’”
26 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 27 “Behold, I am the Lord, (BA)the God of all flesh. (BB)Is anything too hard for me? 28 Therefore, thus says the Lord: (BC)Behold, I am giving this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall capture it. 29 The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city (BD)shall come and set this city on fire and burn it, (BE)with the houses on whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal (BF)and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods, (BG)to provoke me to anger. 30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight (BH)from their youth. The children of Israel have done nothing but (BI)provoke me to anger (BJ)by the work of their hands, declares the Lord. 31 This city has aroused my anger and wrath, from the day it was built to this day, (BK)so that I will remove it from my sight 32 because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger—(BL)their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 (BM)They have turned to me their back and not their face. And though I have taught them (BN)persistently, they have not listened (BO)to receive instruction. 34 They set up (BP)their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. 35 They built the high places of Baal (BQ)in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, (BR)to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, (BS)though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do (BT)this abomination, (BU)to cause Judah to sin.
They Shall Be My People; I Will Be Their God
36 “Now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, (BV)‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence’: 37 (BW)Behold, I will gather them from all the countries (BX)to which I drove them in (BY)my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, (BZ)and I will make them dwell in safety. 38 (CA)And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39 (CB)I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, (CC)for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 (CD)I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. (CE)And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. 41 (CF)I will rejoice in doing them good, (CG)and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.
42 “For thus says the Lord: (CH)Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them. 43 (CI)Fields shall be bought in this land (CJ)of which you are saying, ‘It is a desolation, without man or beast; (CK)it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ 44 Fields shall be bought for money, and (CL)deeds shall be signed and (CM)sealed and (CN)witnessed, (CO)in the land of Benjamin, (CP)in the places about Jerusalem, (CQ)and in the cities of Judah, (CR)in the cities of the hill country, (CS)in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb; for (CT)I will restore their fortunes, declares the Lord.”
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
