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Jeremiah buys a field

32 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah when King Zedekiah had ruled Judah for ten years. At that time, King Nebuchadnezzar had ruled in Babylon for 18 years. ² Nebuchadnezzar's army had made their camp all around Jerusalem. Jeremiah was a prisoner in the city. Guards kept him in a yard of the palace of the king of Judah.^[a]

³ King Zedekiah had put Jeremiah in prison there. He did not like the messages from God that Jeremiah was speaking. He said to Jeremiah, ‘You should stop saying these things! Do not continue to say, “The Lord will put this city under the power of the king of Babylon. The king of Babylon will take the city for himself. ⁴ Zedekiah, king of Judah, will not escape from Babylon's army. They will take him to the king of Babylon. Zedekiah will have to stand in front of the king of Babylon and answer his questions. ⁵ They will take Zedekiah away to Babylon as their prisoner. He will stay there until the Lord has punished him completely. If you continue to fight against Babylon's army, you will never win.” ’ That was the Lord's message that Jeremiah had told Zedekiah.

⁶ While Jeremiah was in prison, the Lord said to him, ⁷ ‘Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, will come to visit you. He will say to you, “I want you to buy my field in Anathoth. The law says that I should offer it to you first, because you are my relative.” ’

⁸ This happened as the Lord had said it would happen. My cousin Hanamel came to visit me in the prison. He said, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin's tribe. I offer it to you first, as my relative. So you can buy it for yourself.’

When this happened, I realized I had really heard the Lord's message. ⁹ So I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed 17 shekels of silver to pay him for it. ¹⁰ I wrote my name on a piece of paper to show that I had bought the land. Some men watched as I did this, to agree to the sale. I closed the paper with a seal.^[b] Then I gave Hanamel the silver that I had weighed. ¹¹ I took the paper with the seal, and also a copy of it that had no seal. The agreement about the sale of land was written on those pieces of paper. ¹² I gave both pieces of paper to Baruch, the son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. Hanamel watched me as I did this, as well as the men who had written their names on the paper. The people of Judah who were there in the guards' yard also watched me.

¹³ While all those people listened, I said to Baruch, ¹⁴ ‘The Lord Almighty, Israel's God says, “Take these two pieces of paper that have the agreement about the sale of land. Take the piece that has a seal on it and the piece without a seal. Put them both in a clay jar to keep them safe for a long time.” ¹⁵ The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says, “A time will come when people in this land again buy houses, fields and vineyards.” ’

Jeremiah prays about the land that he has bought

¹⁶ After I had given Baruch the pieces of paper about the sale of land, I prayed to the Lord.

¹⁷ I said, ‘Lord God, you used your great power and strength to make the earth and the sky. Nothing is too difficult for you to do. ¹⁸ You show your faithful love to thousands of people. But you also punish people for the sins that their ancestors did in past times. You are the great and powerful God, the Lord Almighty.

¹⁹ You have wise thoughts and you do great things. You see everything that people do. You see how they live. You give everyone what they deserve. ²⁰ You did powerful miracles in Egypt, and we still remember them today. In this way you continue to be famous in Israel and everywhere in the world. ²¹ You used your great power and strength to bring your people out of Egypt. You did miracles that showed your power. It caused the Egyptians to be very afraid. ²² You gave this land to the Israelites, as you had promised to their ancestors. It was a land where there was plenty of food and drink, enough for everyone. ²³ Your people moved in to the land and they made it their home. But they did not obey you. They did not live in the way that your law taught them. They did not do the things that you commanded them to do. Because of that, you caused them to have all this terrible trouble.

²⁴ Babylon's army have already put heaps of earth around the city's walls. They are ready to attack us. War, famine and disease will soon kill us. Babylon's soldiers will come into the city and take it for themselves. Lord, you warned us that this would happen. Now you can see that it is already happening. ²⁵ I know that Babylon's army will soon get power over the city. But you still told me to use my silver to buy that field. And people watched me write my name on the paper.’

The Lord replies to Jeremiah

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Jeremiah, ²⁷ ‘I am the Lord, the God who rules all people. Nothing is too difficult for me to do. ²⁸ So I, the Lord, tell you this: I will certainly give this city to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his army. They will get power over it. ²⁹ The soldiers from Babylon who are attacking the city will come in. They will destroy it with fire. They will burn down the houses of the people. These people have made me angry. They went up on the roofs of their houses and they burned incense to worship Baal. They also poured out drink offerings to other false gods.

³⁰ The people of Israel and Judah have continued to do things that I see are evil. They have done those things since they were a young nation. They have always done things that make me angry. That is what the Lord says.

³¹ The people of this city have made me very angry from the time when they built it, even until now. Because of that, I have decided to destroy it completely. ³² The people of Israel and Judah have made me angry because of all the wicked things that they have done. Their kings, officers, priests and prophets have all done wicked things. I will destroy this city because of the wicked things that the people of Jerusalem and all of Judah have done. ³³ They should have come to me for help, but instead they turned away from me. Many times I taught them what was right. But they would not listen to me when I warned them. ³⁴ They put their disgusting idols in the temple. I chose that place to be my special home, but they have made it unclean. ³⁵ They have built altars in Ben-Hinnom valley to worship Baal. On those altars, they light fires to burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices to Molech. I never commanded them to do that. I never even thought about it. It has caused Judah's people to be guilty of sin.

³⁶ You are right to say, “War, famine and disease will cause the king of Babylon to get power over this city.” But I, the Lord, Israel's God, tell you this: ³⁷ I will certainly bring my people back from the foreign countries where I will send them. I will send them away as prisoners because they have made me very angry. But I will bring them back to this place so that they can live here safely. ³⁸ They will be my people and I will be their God. ³⁹ I will make them all want to do one thing. They will want to live in a way that always pleases me. They will do that so that they enjoy good lives and their children also enjoy good lives after them. ⁴⁰ I will make a covenant with them that will continue for ever. I will promise always to do good things for them. They will want to respect me and obey me so that they never turn away from me again. That is what I will do for them. ⁴¹ I will be happy to help them with good things. I promise them faithfully that I will put them in this land again. They will grow like strong plants.’

⁴² The Lord says this: ‘It is true that I have brought terrible trouble to this people. But in the same way, I will give them all the good things that I have promised. ⁴³ At this time, you are saying, “Babylon's army will take power over our land. It will become like a desert. No people or animals will live in it.” But I tell you that one day people will again buy and sell fields in this land. ⁴⁴ They will pay silver to buy fields. There will be pieces of paper that show the agreement for the sale. There will be seals on those papers. People will watch and agree that the sale has happened. People will buy fields in the land that belongs to Benjamin's tribe and in the villages round Jerusalem. They will buy land in the towns of Judah, in the hill country, in the low hills in the west and in the Negev region in the south. At that time, I will bring my people back to live safely in their land. I, the Lord, promise that this will happen!’

God's promises to his people

33 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah a second time while he was in prison in the yard of the palace. ² He said, ‘I am the Lord who made the earth. I gave a shape to it and I put it in its place. The Lord is my name. I say this to you: ³ “Call out to me and I will answer you. I will tell you about great things. They are secret things that you do not yet know.” ⁴ The Lord, Israel's God, has a message about the houses in this city and about the royal palaces of Judah's kings. The people have knocked down the city's buildings. They have used the stones to make the city's walls stronger, ⁵ to fight against Babylon's army. The Lord says, “The city's houses will be full of dead bodies. I am very angry with the people in the city and I will kill them. I will refuse to help this city because of the wicked things that its people have done.

⁶ But listen to me! I will bring health again to the people of this city. I will make my people well again. They will live safely in peace. ⁷ I will bring back the people of Judah and Israel from foreign lands. I will make them a strong nation, as they were before. ⁸ They have done bad things and they have turned against me. But I will forgive all their sins that they have done against me. ⁹ Then this city will cause the people of all the nations on the earth to give me honour. They will praise me and make me happy. They will hear about all the good things that I am doing for Jerusalem. They will see that I have caused its people to have health and peace. Because of that, they will respect me and they will shake with fear.” 

¹⁰ The Lord says, “You say that this place is like a desert, and no people or animals live here. But I tell you that people will return to live here. You will hear the voices of people in the streets of Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah that are now empty. ¹¹ You will hear the sounds of happy people. You will hear the songs of men and women at their weddings. You will hear the voices of people as they bring gifts to the Lord's temple to thank him. They will say,

Yes, I will make the land successful again, as it was before.” That is what the Lord says.

¹² The Lord Almighty says, “This place will become a heap of stones. No people or animals will live here. But I will put fields of grass around the towns again. There will be places for shepherds to rest with their sheep. ¹³ Shepherds will count their sheep again, one by one. They will do that in the towns of the hill country, in the low hills in the west and in the Negev region in the south. They will do it in the land that belongs to Benjamin's tribe, in the villages around Jerusalem and in all the towns of Judah.” That is what the Lord says.

¹⁴ The Lord also says, “A time will soon come when I do good things for the nations of Israel and Judah. I will do what I have promised to do for them. ¹⁵ At that time, I will cause a descendant of David to be born. He will be righteous. He will grow like a branch on the tree of David's family. He will do what is right and fair in the land.^{[c] 16} When he rules, the people of Judah will be safe. Jerusalem's people will live in peace. People will give this name to the city: ‘The Lord is our righteous Saviour.’ ”

¹⁷ The Lord says, “One of David's descendants will always rule as king over the nation of Israel. ¹⁸ There will always be priests who are descendants of Levi. They will serve me in my temple. They will always be there to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings and other sacrifices to me.” ’

¹⁹ The Lord also said this to Jeremiah: ²⁰ ‘I, the Lord, say to you, “The day and the night will always come at their proper times. I have made that agreement with them, and nobody can stop it. ²¹ In the same way, nobody can stop the covenant that I have made with my servant David, and with the Levites. I promise you that there will always be a descendant of King David who rules as king. I also promise that there will always be descendants of Levi to serve me as priests. ²² I promise that my servant David will always have many descendants. There will also be very many Levites to serve me as priests. You will not be able to count them. They will be more than the stars in the sky and more than the sand on the shore of the sea.” ’

²³ The Lord also said to Jeremiah, ²⁴ ‘Some people are saying, “The Lord chose the two nations of Israel and Judah to be his special people. But now he has turned away from them.” You have heard people say those things. They do not think that my people will ever be a nation again. ²⁵ But I promise you this: Nobody can stop the agreement that I have made with the day and the night. I have also commanded the earth and the sky to obey certain laws. ²⁶ In the same way, I will never change my promise to the descendants of Jacob and to my servant David. I will always choose one of David's descendants to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.^[d] I will bring them back to their own land. I will be kind to them and forgive them.’

God warns Zedekiah

34 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah again, while King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his army were attacking Jerusalem. Soldiers from all the kingdoms that King Nebuchadnezzar ruled joined with Babylon's own soldiers to make a large army. They were attacking Jerusalem and the towns around it. ² The Lord, Israel's God, said to Jeremiah, ‘Go to Zedekiah, king of Judah, and give him this message: The Lord says, “I will put this city under the power of the king of Babylon. He will burn it down. ³ You will not be able to escape. Babylon's soldiers will certainly take hold of you. They will take you to the king of Babylon. You will have to stand in front of the king of Babylon and answer his questions. Then you will go to Babylon as his prisoner.

⁴ But listen to the promise that the Lord makes to you, Zedekiah, king of Judah. I, the Lord, promise you that you will not die in a battle. ⁵ Instead, you will die with peace in your mind. People will burn incense to give you honour when they bury you. They did that for your ancestors who ruled as kings before you. They will do it for you too. When you die, people will weep because they are sad. They will say, ‘This is terrible! Our king has died!’ That is my promise to you, says the Lord.” ’

⁶ The prophet Jeremiah told all this to King Zedekiah of Judah, in Jerusalem. ⁷ This happened when the king of Babylon's army were attacking Jerusalem and the cities of Lachish and Azekah. Those were the only strong cities in Judah that were not yet under his power.

King Zedekiah and the slaves

⁸ At another time, the Lord gave Jeremiah another message for King Zedekiah. Zedekiah had made an agreement with the people of Jerusalem. They all agreed to let their slaves go free. ⁹ Everyone in Judah who had a Hebrew slave must let their slave go free, both male and female slaves. Nobody should keep another Israelite person as their slave. ¹⁰ All the officers and the people agreed with the king that they would do this. They would not continue to have male or female slaves. They let them go free, as they had promised. ¹¹ But later, they decided that they would not do that. They took the men and women back to work for them as slaves again. They forced them to do that.

¹² Then the Lord said to Jeremiah, ¹³ ‘The Lord, Israel's God, says this to the people: I made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt. They had been slaves when they were there. ¹⁴ I told them, “When any Hebrew slave has worked for you for six years, you must let them go free. In the seventh year after they sold themselves to you, you must set them free.”^[e] But your ancestors did not listen to me. They did not obey me. ¹⁵ But now, you yourselves agreed to do what pleases me. You decided to obey me. You made a serious agreement with me in the temple which is my home. You let your slaves go free. ¹⁶ But now you have turned back to your old ways. You have refused to give me honour. You had let your slaves go free, as they wanted to do. But now you have forced them to work for you as your slaves again.

¹⁷ So I, the Lord, tell you this: You have not obeyed me. You have not let your Israelite slaves become free men and women. So now I will make you free! Yes, you will be free to let war, famine or disease kill you. People of all the kingdoms in the world will see how disgusting you are. ¹⁸ I will punish the people who did not obey the agreement that they made with me. When they made that agreement, they cut a young cow into two pieces and they walked between the pieces. Because they have not obeyed their agreement, I will now cut them into pieces, like the young cow.^[f]

¹⁹ I will punish the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the king's officers and the priests. I will punish all the people of Judah who refused to obey the agreement that they made with me. ²⁰ I will put them under the power of their enemies. Their enemies will kill them. Birds and wild animals will eat their dead bodies as food.

²¹ I will also put King Zedekiah of Judah and his officers under the power of their enemies. Their enemies will want to kill them. The king of Babylon's army has stopped attacking Jerusalem for a time. But I will put King Zedekiah and his officers under their power. ²² I will command Babylon's army to return to this city. They will fight against it and they will take it. They will burn the city down. I will also cause the other towns of Judah to become heaps of stones. Nobody will live in them any more.’