Chronological

32 ¶ The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar;

² for then the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem; and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah’s house.

³ For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Why dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus hath the LORD said, Behold, I give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it?

⁴ And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;

⁵ and he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, said the LORD; if ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper?

⁶ And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

⁷ Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle comes unto thee, saying, Buy my field that is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.

⁸ So Hanameel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of the LORD and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.

⁹ And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle’s son, that was in Anathoth and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.

¹⁰ And I subscribed the evidence and sealed it and took witnesses and weighed him the money in the balances.

¹¹ So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open.

¹² And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel my uncle’s son and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase before all the Jews that were in the court of the guard.

¹³ And I charged Baruch before them, saying,

¹⁴ Thus hath the LORD of the hosts, the God of Israel, said: Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both that which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel that they may continue many days.

¹⁵ For thus hath the LORD of the hosts the God of Israel said: Houses and fields and vineyards shall be bought and sold again in this land.

¹⁶ ¶ Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the LORD, saying,

¹⁷ Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing hidden from thee;

¹⁸ that thou dost show mercy in thousands and recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their sons after them, the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of the hosts, is his name,

¹⁹ great in counsel and magnificent in works: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men to give unto each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings;

²⁰ who hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and in the man, and hast made thee a name, as at this day;

²¹ and hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders, and with a strong hand and with a stretched out arm and with great terror;

²² and hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;

²³ and they came in and possessed it; but they did not hear thy voice, neither did they walk in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou didst command them to do, therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them.

²⁴ Behold the siege engines are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans that fight against it because of the sword and of the famine and of the pestilence, and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou dost see it.

²⁵ And thou hast said unto me, O Lord GOD, Buy the field for money and take witnesses; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

²⁶ ¶ Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,

²⁷ Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: peradventure shall any thing be covered unto me?

²⁸ Therefore thus hath the LORD said; Behold, I give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:

²⁹ and the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.

³⁰ For the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have done only evil before me from their youth: for the sons of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, said the LORD.

³¹ For this city has been unto me as a provocation of my anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face

³² because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and of the sons of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

³³ And they have turned unto me the back and not the face: when I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they did not hearken to receive chastisement;

³⁴ but they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.

³⁵ And they built altars unto Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I did not command them, neither did it come into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

³⁶ And now therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto this city, of which ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine and by the pestilence;

³⁷ behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in my anger, in my fury and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:

³⁸ and they shall be my people, and I will be their God:

³⁹ and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever for the good of them and of their sons after them:

⁴⁰ and I will make an eternal covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good, and I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me.

⁴¹ And, I will rejoice with them doing them good, and I will plant them in this land with truth, with my whole heart and with my whole soul.

⁴² For thus hath the LORD said; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I speak regarding them.

⁴³ And they shall possess inheritance in this land, of which ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.

⁴⁴ Men shall buy fields for money and subscribe evidences and seal them and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin and in the places about Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah and in the cities of the mountains and in the cities of the valley and in the cities of the south; for I will cause their captivity to turn, saith the LORD.

33 ¶ Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time while he was yet shut up in the court of the guard, saying,

² Thus hath said the LORD that makes it, the LORD that forms it to establish it; the LORD is his name;

³ Call unto me, and I will answer thee and show thee great and difficult things, which thou dost not know.

⁴ For thus hath the LORD the God of Israel said concerning the houses of this city and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the siege engines and by the sword

⁵ (because they came to fight with the Chaldeans, to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in my anger and in my fury and because I hid my face from this city due to all her wickedness):

⁶ behold, I will bring her healing and medicine, and I will cure them and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.

⁷ And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to turn and will build them, as at the first.

⁸ And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, with which they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their sins, with which they have sinned against me and with which they rebelled against me.

⁹ And it shall be unto me a name of joy, of praise and of glory among all the Gentiles of the earth, who shall have heard all the good that I do unto them and they shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I shall do unto them.

¹⁰ ¶ Thus hath the LORD said: Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say is desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast,

¹¹ the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of those that shall say, Praise the LORD of the hosts; for the LORD is good; for his mercy endures for ever: and of those that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause the captivity of the land to turn as at the first, said the LORD.

¹² Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, there shall be booths of shepherds who shall cause the flocks to lie down.

¹³ In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that counts them, said the LORD.

¹⁴ Behold, the days come, said the LORD, that I will confirm the good Word which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.

¹⁵ In those days and at that time, I will cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

¹⁶ In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is the name with which she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.

¹⁷ ¶ For thus hath the LORD said: David shall never lack a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;

¹⁸ neither shall the priests the Levites lack a man before me to offer burnt offerings and to kindle grain offerings and to do sacrifice continually.

¹⁹ And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,

²⁰ Thus hath the LORD said; If ye can break my covenant with the day, and my covenant with the night, such that there should not be day nor night in their season,

²¹ then may also my covenant be broken with David my slave, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites and priests, my ministers.

²² As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the seed of David my slave and the Levites that minister unto me.

²³ Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying:

²⁴ Dost thou not consider what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD has chosen, he has even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should no longer be a nation before them.

²⁵ Thus hath the LORD said: If my covenant remains not with the day and the night, and if I have not appointed the laws of the heaven and the earth,

²⁶ then I will cast away the seed of Jacob and David my slave, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; for I will cause their captivity to turn, and I will have mercy on them.

34 ¶ The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, (when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the peoples, fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities thereof) saying,

² Thus hath the LORD God of Israel said: Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus hath the LORD said: Behold, I give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:

³ and thou shalt not escape out of his hand but shalt surely be taken and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.

⁴ Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus hath the LORD said of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword:

⁵ but thou shalt die in peace: and according to the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, said the LORD.

⁶ Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem

⁷ when the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah, for of the strong cities of Judah these had remained.

⁸ ¶ This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;

⁹ that every man should let his manslave, and every man his maidslave, being a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that no one should use of his brethren, the Jews, as a slave.

¹⁰ Now when all the princes and all the people, who had entered into the covenant, heard that each one should let his manslave and each one his maidslave go free, that no one should use them any more as servants, then they listened and let them go.

¹¹ But afterward they repented and caused the slaves and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return and brought them into subjection for slaves and for handmaids.

¹² Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

¹³ Thus saith the LORD God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying,

¹⁴ At the end of seven years each one shall let his Hebrew brother go, who has been sold unto thee; therefore he shall serve thee six years, and thou shalt send him forth free from thee: but your fathers did not hearken unto me, nor incline their ear.

¹⁵ And ye were now converted and had done right in my sight in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:

¹⁶ but ye turned and polluted my name and caused each man his slave and each man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for slaves and for handmaids.

¹⁷ Therefore thus hath the LORD said: Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, each one to his brother and each man to his neighbour; behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, said the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

¹⁸ And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts thereof,

¹⁹ the princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;

²⁰ I will even give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those that seek their soul; and their dead bodies shall be for food unto the fowls of the heaven and to the beasts of the earth.

²¹ And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those that seek their soul and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which are gone up from you.

²² Behold, I command, said the LORD and will cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against her and take her and burn her with fire; and I will give the cities of Judah unto desolation until they are without an inhabitant.