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
Christian Standard Bible
Jeremiah’s Land Purchase
32 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of King Zedekiah(A) of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.(B) 2 At that time, the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem,(C) and the prophet Jeremiah was imprisoned in the guard’s courtyard(D) in the palace of the king of Judah. 3 King Zedekiah of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why are you prophesying as you do? You say, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am about to hand this city over to Babylon’s king, and he will capture it. 4 King Zedekiah of Judah will not escape from the Chaldeans; indeed, he will certainly be handed over to Babylon’s king. They will speak face to face[a] and meet eye to eye.(E) 5 He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will stay until I attend to him—this is the Lord’s declaration. For you will fight the Chaldeans, but you will not succeed.’”(F)
6 Jeremiah replied, “The word of the Lord came to me: 7 Watch! Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, is coming to you to say, ‘Buy my field in Anathoth(G) for yourself, for you own the right of redemption(H) to buy it.’
8 “Then, as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to the guard’s courtyard and urged me, ‘Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for you own the right of inheritance and redemption. Buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. 9 So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and I weighed out the silver to him(I)—seventeen shekels[b] of silver. 10 I recorded it on a scroll,(J) sealed it, called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. 11 I took the purchase agreement—the sealed copy with its terms and conditions and the open copy— 12 and gave the purchase agreement to Baruch(K) son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah. I did this in the sight of my cousin[c] Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the purchase agreement, and all the Judeans sitting in the guard’s courtyard.
13 “I charged Baruch in their sight, 14 ‘This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Take these scrolls—this purchase agreement with the sealed copy and this open copy—and put them in an earthen storage jar so they will last a long time. 15 For this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’(L)
16 “After I had given the purchase agreement to Baruch, son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord:(M) 17 Oh, Lord God! You yourself made the heavens and earth(N) by your great power(O) and with your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you!(P) 18 You show faithful love to thousands but lay the fathers’ iniquity on their sons’ laps after them,(Q) great and mighty God(R) whose name is the Lord of Armies, 19 the one great in counsel and powerful in action. Your eyes are on all the ways of the children of men[d] in order to reward each person according to his ways and as the result of his actions.(S) 20 You performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt(T) and still do today, both in Israel and among all mankind. You made a name(U) for yourself, as is the case today. 21 You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror.(V) 22 You gave them this land you swore to give to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.(W) 23 They entered and possessed it, but they did not obey you or live according to your instructions.(X) They failed to perform all you commanded them to do,(Y) and so you have brought all this disaster on them. 24 Look! Siege ramps(Z) have come against the city to capture it, and the city, as a result of the sword, famine, and plague, has been handed over to the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you have spoken has happened. Look, you can see it! 25 Yet you, Lord God, have said to me, ‘Purchase the field and call in witnesses’—even though the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans!”
26 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 27 “Look, I am the Lord, the God over every creature.(AA) Is anything too difficult for me?(AB) 28 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am about to hand this city over to the Chaldeans,(AC) to Babylon’s king Nebuchadnezzar, and he will capture it. 29 The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come and set this city on fire. They will burn it, including the houses where incense has been burned to Baal on their rooftops and where drink offerings have been poured out to other gods to anger me.(AD) 30 From their youth, the Israelites and Judeans have done nothing but what is evil in my sight! They have done nothing but anger me by the work of their hands”(AE)—this is the Lord’s declaration— 31 “for this city has caused my wrath and fury from the day it was built until now. I will therefore remove it from my presence(AF) 32 because of all the evil the Israelites and Judeans have done to anger me—they, their kings,(AG) their officials, their priests, and their prophets, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem. 33 They have turned their backs to me and not their faces.(AH) Though I taught them time and time again,[e](AI) they do not listen and receive discipline. 34 They have placed their abhorrent things(AJ) in the house that bears my name and have defiled it. 35 They have built the high places of Baal in Ben Hinnom Valley to sacrifice their sons and daughters in the fire[f] to Molech(AK)—something I had not commanded them. I had never entertained the thought[g] that they do this detestable act causing Judah to sin!
36 “Now therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to this city about which you said, ‘It has been handed over to Babylon’s king through sword, famine, and plague’: 37 I will certainly gather them from all the lands where I have banished them in my anger, fury, and intense wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them live in safety.(AL) 38 They will be my people, and I will be their God.(AM) 39 I will give them integrity of heart(AN) and action[h] so that they will fear me always, for their good and for the good of their descendants after them.
40 “I will make a permanent covenant with them:(AO) I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put fear of me in their hearts so they will never again turn away from me.(AP) 41 I will take delight in them to do what is good for them, and with all my heart and mind I will faithfully plant them in this land.(AQ)
42 “For this is what the Lord says: Just as I have brought all this terrible disaster on these people,(AR) so am I about to bring on them all the good I am promising them. 43 Fields will be bought in this land about which you are saying,(AS) ‘It’s a desolation(AT) without people or animals; it has been handed over to the Chaldeans!’ 44 Fields will be purchased, the transaction written on a scroll and sealed,(AU) and witnesses will be called on in the land of Benjamin,(AV) in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in Judah’s cities—the cities of the hill country, the cities of the Judean foothills, and the cities of the Negev—because I will restore their fortunes.”[i]
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Footnotes
- 32:4 Lit His mouth will speak with his mouth
- 32:9 About seven ounces
- 32:12 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr; other Hb mss read uncle
- 32:19 Or Adam
- 32:33 Lit them, rising up early and teaching
- 32:35 Lit to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire
- 32:35 Lit them, and it did not arise on my heart
- 32:39 Lit give them one heart and one way
- 32:44 Or will end their captivity
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