Old/New Testament
32 The Eternal spoke again to Jeremiah in the 10th year of Zedekiah’s reign as king of Judah. This was also the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign as king of Babylon. 2 At this time, Jerusalem was under siege by the Babylonian army, and Jeremiah the prophet was being held in the court of the guard in the royal palace of Judah. 3 Zedekiah king of Judah had ordered him held there and leveled this charge against him:
Zedekiah: Why do you continue to prophesy such things? You tell us the Eternal says, “Look! I am going to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. 4 King Zedekiah of Judah will not escape from the Chaldean forces. He will be turned over to the king of Babylon and have to stand eye-to-eye before this powerful ruler. 5 Nebuchadnezzar will order Zedekiah to be taken to Babylon, where he will stay until I am ready to visit him. This is what I, the Eternal One promise: if you try to fight the Chaldeans, you will fail.”
Jeremiah (to Zedekiah): 6 The message of the Eternal came to me through my cousin: 7 “Look! Hanamel (son of Shallum, your uncle), is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth; as my nearest relative, it is your right to buy it before I offer it to anyone else.[a] It is also your duty to keep it in the family.’” 8 And just as He had predicted, my cousin Hanamel came to me while I was being held in the court of the guard. He said, “Jeremiah, buy my field in your hometown of Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin. It’s your right to buy and redeem it so that it stays in our family.” Then I realized this message was from the Eternal.
9 So I bought the field in Anathoth from Hanamel my cousin for seven ounces of silver. 10 I signed and sealed the deed in front of witnesses; after weighing out the silver on the scales, I paid Hanamel. 11 Two copies of the deed were made. I took the sealed copy along with the terms and conditions of the purchase and the unsealed copy and 12 handed them to my trusted friend and confidant, Baruch (son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah). I did all of this in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the deed, and all of the people of Judea who were there that day in the court of the guard. 13 In the presence of all those people, I directed Baruch: 14 “The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies and God of Israel, says: ‘Take both the sealed deed and the unsealed deed and place them in a clay jar to preserve them. I want this deed of sale to last for a long time.’ 15 For this is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies and the God of Israel, promises: ‘The day will come when My people will buy houses and vineyards and fields again in this land.’”
16 After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch (son of Neriah), I prayed to the Eternal: 17 “Eternal Lord, with Your outstretched arm and Your enormous power You created the heavens and the earth. Nothing is too difficult for You. 18 You show loyal love and endless mercy to thousands. But You also allow the damaging effects of the parents’ sins to fall into the laps of their children. You are the great and powerful God; the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, is Your solemn name. 19 Your instructions are great, and Your actions are too wondrous for words. You see all that happens on this earth; You know what everyone does, and You deal with each fairly. 20 What miraculous signs and wonders You did in the land of Egypt! You continue to perform them for Israel and the rest of humanity to this day! You have made a great name for yourself among the nations, and we still remember Your great works today. 21 You rescued Your people Israel out of Egypt with miraculous signs and wonders—with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a power too terrible for words. 22 But You did not stop there, O gracious God. Then You gave them this land, the very land You had promised to their ancestors, an abundant land flowing with milk and honey. 23 They entered this land and conquered it as You led them. But even as they settled in, they refused to listen to Your voice and live as You instructed. They rebelled against Your entire law. So You caused these disastrous consequences to fall on them. 24 Look! The siege ramps are built against the walls of the city. Soon the Chaldeans will begin the assault. Because of war, famine, and disease, the enemy will soon have control of the city. It is all happening as You said it would. 25 But You, Eternal Lord, tell me, “Buy Hanamel’s field with your own money in the presence of witnesses”—even as You hand over the city of Jerusalem to the Chaldeans.
For almost two years the Babylonians have tightened their grip: food supplies are dwindling, disease is rampant, and there is little hope supplies or relief might get through to besieged Jerusalem.
26 Then the Eternal spoke to Jeremiah.
Eternal One: 27 Look! I am the Eternal, the God of all living things. Is anything too difficult for Me? 28 I tell you this: I am about to hand this city over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his Chaldean army, and they will conquer it. 29 The Chaldeans who are now assaulting the city will enter and set everything on fire. They will set houses ablaze where people set up shrines on roofs to burn incense to Baal and pour out drink offerings to other gods. Their offerings have ignited My anger. 30 The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in My sight since their early days. They have done nothing except kindle My anger with their handmade idols and the way they live their lives. 31 From the day Jerusalem was built until this very moment, the people have stirred My anger and provoked My wrath; so now I am forced to remove this city completely from My sight. 32 The people of Israel and Judah have angered Me with their wickedness—from their kings and their officials to their priests and prophets, from the people of Judah to the citizens of Jerusalem. 33 They have all turned their backs to Me instead of their faces. They have refused to listen and learn from My instruction, even though I tried to teach them again and again. 34 They even put up their detestable idols in My temple, defiling the very place that is supposed to honor Me! 35 They built altars to another master[b] in the valley of Ben-hinnom so they’d have a place to sacrifice their own children to Molech! I never demanded they do such a thing—it never even crossed My mind that they would do such a disgusting evil or that Judah would sin like that.
36 Jeremiah, listen to what the Eternal God of Israel has to say about Jerusalem: you say that by war, famine, and disease this city will fall to the king of Babylon, and you are right. 37 Look! I will gather My people from all the countries where I scattered them in My righteous anger, in My great wrath and fury. I will bring them back to this place, Jerusalem, and let them live here safely under My protection. 38 They will be My people, and I will be their God. 39 I will unite them behind a single desire and purpose: to revere and worship Me forever for their own good and for the good of all who will come after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop blessing them with good things, and I will put in them a fear and respect of Me so they will not turn their backs to Me again. 41 It will be My great joy to do good things for them, and you can be sure that I will devote Myself completely to planting them anew in this land.
42 This is what I, the Eternal, declare: Just as I brought this great disaster upon My people, so will I do all these good things I have promised to them. 43 Property will be bought and sold once again in this land about which you say, “This land is a wasteland—not fit for man or beast—for it has been handed over to the Chaldeans.” 44 Property will be bought and sold once again for silver—deals will be made and deeds signed in the presence of witnesses—in the territory of Benjamin, in the vicinity of Jerusalem, in the villages of Judah and the hill country, in the villages of the western hills, and in the cities of the Negev. In all these places I will restore them from their exile.
So says the Eternal.
33 1-2 For a second time the message of the Eternal came to Jeremiah as he was being held in the court of the guard. The Eternal who made the earth, who formed and fashioned it, the One whose name is the Eternal, has this to say:
Time is growing short; the city is being squeezed, and the dreaded enemy is one step closer to victory. Some hope Egypt might come to Jerusalem’s rescue, but nothing can stop her inevitable defeat. In these dark days just before the fall of Jerusalem, Jeremiah is still a prisoner of the king. People come to Jeremiah as he sits shackled in a courtyard, surrounded by guards. In this humiliating scene, another message comes to the prophet from God. Once again, Jeremiah is looking past the city’s present despair to a future God is showing him: one day God will restore Jerusalem and the people of Israel.
Eternal One: 3 Call to Me, and I will answer you. I will tell you of great things, things beyond what you can imagine, things you could never have known. 4 I, the Eternal God of Israel, tell you that all these public buildings and royal palaces have been dismantled in vain. You thought you could strengthen the city walls with the scraps of those buildings, but it is a useless defense against the siege ramps and swords 5 of the Chaldeans. In this fight, the city will be filled with the dead whom I will destroy in My anger and wrath, for I have hidden My face from this city because of their wickedness. 6 Nevertheless, keep watching! I will restore this city and heal the wounds of My people. I will lavish them with peace and stability. 7 I will bring both Judah and Israel back from captivity, and I will rebuild their land to what it was before. 8 I will cleanse them from all the sins they committed against Me and forgive all the wrongs they have done and all the ways they rebelled against Me. 9 Jerusalem will have a sweet-sounding name once again. The good I do for her will bring Me joy, praise, and honor among all nations of the earth, for they will be in awe and tremble at the peace and prosperity I give to this city.
10 Listen to Me, Jeremiah. You say this place will become a desolate wasteland with no people and no animals, but it will not always be so. The towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem may indeed become lifeless, but I, the Eternal One, promise you the silence will be broken. Once again you will hear 11 the sounds of laughter and joy, the sweet words of the bride and bridegroom at a wedding, and voices of those who bring thank offerings to the temple singing,
Give thanks to the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies,
for He is good. His faithful love endures forever.
All of this will happen because I will restore the riches of this land to what they once were.
12 I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, promise: even this desolate place—with no people and no animals—and all of its ruined cities will once again have pastures where shepherds will rest their flocks. 13 In the towns of the hill country, in the villages of the western hills, in the cities of the Negev, in the territory of Benjamin, in the vicinity around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, once again flocks will be cared for by a faithful shepherd who will count each and every one of his sheep.
14 Look! The days are coming when I will fulfill the promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah. 15 In those days, when the time is right, I will cause a righteous Branch to sprout from the old stump of David’s lineage; He will do what is right and just in the land. 16 In those days, Judah will be liberated, and Jerusalem will live in safety. And the city will be called by His name, The Eternal Is Our Righteousness. 17 I tell you, the royal dynasty of David will not cease; the throne of Israel still belongs to his family.[c] Remember this, even as other kings rule over you. 18 Remember also that the line of Levitical priests will not cease; for all time they will stand before Me offering burnt offerings, grain offerings, and making sacrifices.
19-20 Again, the word of the Eternal came to Jeremiah.
Eternal One: If you can figure out a way to break My covenant with the day and with the night so they do not always arrive on schedule, the very rhythm of life on this earth, 21 only then will My covenant with My servant David be broken and his son not rule from his throne. Only then will My covenant with the Levitical priests who minister before Me be null and void. 22 I will make David’s descendants, along with the Levitical priests who minister before Me, so numerous they will seem like the stars of the skies that cannot be counted and the sands of the seashore that can never be measured.
23 The word of the Eternal came to Jeremiah again.
Eternal One: 24 Have you noticed what some people are saying? “The Eternal chose these two families, Israel and Judah, but He has now rejected them.” They clearly despise My people—they don’t even consider them a nation any longer! 25 But again, this is what the Eternal promises: “Just as I am not about to stop ruling the universe with fixed laws so that the day and the night become confused, 26 I will likewise keep My promise to the descendants of Jacob and David, My servant; I will not reject them. I will not forget the covenant I made with David that one of his descendants will rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will restore their fortunes and have mercy on them.
1 Long ago, at different times and in various ways, God’s voice came to our ancestors through the Hebrew prophets. 2 But in these last days, it has come to us through His Son, the One who has been given dominion over all things and through whom all worlds were made.
3 This is the One who—imprinted with God’s image, shimmering with His glory—sustains all that exists through the power of His word. He was seated at the right hand of God once He Himself had made the offering that purified us from all our sins. 4 This Son of God is elevated as far above the heavenly messengers as His holy name is elevated above theirs.
Most images of angels are influenced by art and pop culture—and are far removed from the Bible. The word “angel” literally means “messenger,” and it can refer to either a human being or a heavenly being. The Hebrews author is writing about heavenly messengers.
In the Bible, heavenly messengers have several functions—executors of God’s judgment, guardians of God’s people, heralds of God’s plans. They appear at critical moments to chosen people who play important roles in God’s salvation, such as arriving to announce the birth and resurrection of Jesus and to transmit God’s law to Moses. They are no more than messengers, created beings, who serve the will of God and His Son. Recognizing their place, they bow before the Son in loving adoration.
5 For no heavenly messengers have ever heard God address them with these words of the psalms:
You are My Son.
Today I have become Your Father.[a]
Or heard Him promise,
I will be to You a Father,
and You will be My Son.[b]
6 Now, when the Son, the firstborn of God, was brought into the world, God said,
Let all My heavenly messengers worship Him.[c]
7 Concerning them, God said,
I make My heavenly messengers like the winds,
and My servants like a flame.[d]
8 But to the Son He said,
God, Your throne is eternal;
You will rule Your kingdom with the scepter of justice.
9 You have loved what is right
and hated what is evil;
That is why God, Your God, has anointed You
with the oil of gladness and lifted You above Your companions.[e]
10 And God continues,
In the beginning, You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth
and set the skies above us with Your own hands.
11 But while they will someday pass away,
You remain forever;
when they wear out like old clothes,
12 You will roll them up
and change them into something new.
But You will never change;
Your years will never come to an end.[f]
13 Did God ever say to any of the heavenly messengers,
Sit here, at My right hand, in the seat of honor;
and I’ll put all Your enemies under Your feet?[g]
14 No, of course not. The heavenly messengers are only spirits and servants, sent out to minister to those who will certainly inherit salvation.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.