Jeremiah Buys a Field

32 This is the word the Lord spoke to Jeremiah in the tenth year Zedekiah was king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar [^C587 bc; 52:4–5]. ² At that time the army of the king of Babylon was ·surrounding [besieging] Jerusalem. Jeremiah the prophet was ·under arrest [imprisoned; confined] in the courtyard of the guard, which was at the ·palace [^Lhouse] of the king of Judah.

³ Zedekiah king of Judah had ·put Jeremiah in prison there [confined; imprisoned him]. Zedekiah had asked, “Why have you prophesied the things you have?” (Jeremiah had said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I will soon hand this city [^CJerusalem] over to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. ⁴ Zedekiah king of Judah will not ·escape [be rescued] from the ·Babylonian [^LChaldean] army, but he will surely be handed over to the king of Babylon. And he will speak to him [^Cthe king of Babylon] face to face and see him with his own eyes. ⁵ The king will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will stay until I have punished him,’ says the Lord. ‘If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed.’”)

⁶ Jeremiah said [^Cwhile still in prison], “The Lord spoke this word to me: ⁷ Hanamel, son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you soon. Hanamel will say to you, ‘Buy my field near the town of Anathoth [^CJeremiah’s hometown; 1:1]. It is your right and your duty to buy that field [^Cbecause he is a near relative; Lev. 25:23–25].’

⁸ “Then it happened just as the Lord had said. ·My cousin [^LThe son of my uncle] Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said to me, ‘Buy for yourself my field near Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. It is your right and duty to buy it and own it.’ So I knew this was a ·message [^Lword] from the Lord.

⁹ “I bought the field at Anathoth from ·my cousin [^Lthe son of my uncle] Hanamel, weighing out ·seven ounces [^Lseventeen shekels] of silver for him. ¹⁰ I ·signed the record [^Lwrote in a scroll] and sealed it and had some people witness it. I also weighed out the silver on the scales. ¹¹ Then I took both copies of the ·record [scroll] of ·ownership [purchase]—the one that was sealed that had the demands and ·limits of ownership [terms], and the one that was ·not sealed [^Lexposed]. ¹² And I gave them to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah [36; 43:3, 6; 45:1–2]. My cousin Hanamel, the other witnesses who signed the ·record [scroll] of ·ownership [purchase], and many ·Jews [^LJudeans] sitting in the courtyard of the guard saw me give the ·record [scroll] of ·ownership [purchase] to Baruch.

¹³ “·With all the people watching [^LBefore their eyes], I ·told [^Lcommanded] Baruch, ¹⁴ ‘This is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts], the God of Israel, says: Take both copies of the ·record [scroll] of ·ownership [purchase]—the sealed copy and the copy that was ·not sealed [^Lexposed]—and put them in a clay jar so they will ·last [endure; stand] ·a long time [^Lfor many days]. ¹⁵ This is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts], the God of Israel, says: In the future my people will once again buy houses and fields and vineyards in this land [^CIsrael].’

¹⁶ “After I gave the ·record [scroll] of ·ownership [purchase] to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, ¹⁷ Oh, Lord God, you made the ·skies [heavens] and the earth with your very great power [Gen. 1] and ·strength [^Loutstretched arm]. There is nothing too hard for you to do [Ex. 3:20; Job 9:10; 37:5; Mic. 7:15]. ¹⁸ You show ·love and kindness [loyalty] to thousands of people, but you also ·bring punishment to children for their parents’ sins [^Lrepay the iniquities of the fathers to the laps of their children after them; Ex. 34:7; Deut. 5:9–10]. Great and powerful God, your name is the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts]. ¹⁹ You ·plan [are great in counsel] and ·do great things [mighty in deeds]. ·You see everything that people do [^LYour eyes are open to all the ways/paths of people], and you ·reward people for the way they live and for what they do [^Lgive to each according to his way and according to the fruit of his deeds]. ²⁰ You did ·miracles [signs] and wonderful things in the land of Egypt [Ex. 7–15]. You have continued doing them in Israel and among the other nations even until today. So you have ·become well known [^Lmade yourself a name]. ²¹ You brought your people, the Israelites, out of Egypt using signs and miracles and your ·great power [^Lstrong hand] and ·strength [^Loutstretched arm]. You brought great terror on everyone. ²² You gave them this land that you promised to their ·ancestors [fathers] long ago, a ·fertile land [land flowing with milk and honey; Gen. 12:1–3]. ²³ They came into this land and ·took it for their own [possessed it], but they did not ·obey you [^Llisten to your voice] or follow your ·teachings [laws; instructions]. They did not do everything you commanded. So you made all these terrible things happen to them.

²⁴ “Look! The ·enemy has surrounded the city and has built roads to the top of the walls [^Lsiege ramps have come to the city] to capture it. Because of ·war [^Lsword], ·hunger [famine], and ·terrible diseases [plague; pestilence], the city will be handed over to the ·Babylonians [^LChaldeans] who are attacking it. You said this would happen, and now you see it is happening. ²⁵ But now, Lord God, you tell me, ‘Buy the field with silver and call in witnesses.’ You tell me this while the ·Babylonian army is ready to capture the city [^Lcity is given into the hands of the Chaldeans].”

²⁶ Then the Lord spoke this word to Jeremiah: ²⁷ “I am the Lord, the God of ·every person on the earth [^Lall flesh]. ·Nothing is impossible [^LIs anything too hard…?] for me. ²⁸ So this is what the Lord says: I ·will soon hand over the city of Jerusalem to [^Lam giving this city into the hand of] the ·Babylonian army [^LChaldeans] and ·to [^Linto the hand of] Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it. ²⁹ The ·Babylonian army [^LChaldeans] is already attacking this city [^CJerusalem]. They will soon enter it and start a fire to burn down the city and its houses. The people of Jerusalem ·offered sacrifices [or burned incense] to Baal [^Cthe chief God of the Canaanites] on the roofs [^Cflat roofs were living space] of those same houses and poured out drink offerings to other idols to make me angry. ³⁰ From their youth, the ·people [^Lsons] of Israel and Judah have done only ·the things I said were wrong [^Levil] in my eyes. They have made me angry by ·worshiping idols made with [^Lthe works of] their own hands,” says the Lord. ³¹ “From the day this city was built until now, this city has made me angry, so angry that I must remove it from ·my sight [before me]. ³² I will destroy it, because of all the evil the ·people [^Lsons] of Israel and Judah have done. The people, their kings and officers, their priests and prophets, all the people of Judah, and the people of Jerusalem have made me angry. ³³ They turned their backs to me, not their faces. I tried to teach them again and again, but they wouldn’t listen or ·learn [^Lreceive instruction/discipline]. ³⁴ They put their ·hateful idols [abominations] in the ·place where I have chosen to be worshiped [^Lhouse called by my name], so they made it unclean [^Cin a ritual sense]. ³⁵ In the Valley of Ben Hinnom they built ·places to worship [^Lhigh places of; ^Csites associated with pagan worship or inappropriate worship of God] Baal so they could ·burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices [^Lmake their sons and daughters pass through (the fire)] to Molech. But I never commanded them to do such a ·hateful thing [abomination]. It never entered my ·mind [heart] that they would do such a thing and cause Judah to sin [7:30–34; 19:1–6].

³⁶ “You are saying, ‘Because of ·war [^Lsword], ·hunger [famine], and ·terrible diseases [plague; pestilence], the city will be handed over to the king of Babylon.’ But the Lord, the God of Israel, says about this city [^CJerusalem]: ³⁷ I ·forced them [drove them out] from their land, because I was furious and very angry with them. But soon I will gather them from all the lands where I ·forced them to go [drove them out], and I will ·bring them back [restore them] to this place, where they may live in ·safety [confidence]. ³⁸ They [^Cpeople of Israel and Judah] will be my people, and I will be their God. ³⁹ I will ·make them truly want to be one people with one goal [^Lgive them one heart and one way/path]. They will truly want to ·worship [^Lfear] me all their ·lives [^Ldays], for their own good and for the good of their children after them.

⁴⁰ “I will ·make [^Lcut] an ·agreement with them that will last forever [^Leternal covenant with them; 31:31–34; Is. 55:3; 61:8; Ezek. 16:60; 37:27]. I will never turn away from them; I will always do good to them. I will ·make them want to respect me [^Lplace my fear in their hearts] so they will never ·turn away [depart] from me. ⁴¹ I will enjoy doing good to them. And with ·my whole being [^Lall my heart and all my soul] I will ·surely [^Lin faithfulness] plant them in this land.”

⁴² This is what the Lord says: “I have brought this great ·disaster [harm; trouble] to this people [^Cthe people of Israel and Judah]. In the same way I will bring the good things that I promise to do for them. ⁴³ You are saying, ‘This land is an ·empty desert [desolation], without people or animals. It has been handed over to the ·Babylonians [^LChaldeans].’ But in the future, people will again buy fields in this land. ⁴⁴ They will use their ·money [silver] to buy fields. They will ·sign [^Lwrite] and seal their ·agreements [scrolls] and call in witnesses. They will again buy fields in the land of Benjamin, in the area around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the mountains, in the ·western hills [^LShephelah], and in ·southern Judah [^Lthe Negev]. I will ·make everything as good for them as it once was [restore their fortunes],” says the Lord.