Jeremiah 32:1-25

New American Standard Bible

Jeremiah Imprisoned

32 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the ^(A)tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. ² Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the ^(B)courtyard of the guard, which was at the house of the king of Judah, ³ because Zedekiah king of Judah had ^(C)imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you ^(D)prophesy, saying, ‘^(E)This is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am going to ^(F)hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will take it; ⁴ and Zedekiah king of Judah will ^(G)not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will ^(H)speak with him ^[a]face to face and see him eye to eye. ⁵ Then he will ^(I)take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,” declares the Lord. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will ^(J)not succeed”’?”

⁶ And Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁷ ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy for yourself my field which is at ^(K)Anathoth, for you have the ^(L)right of redemption to buy it.”’ ⁸ Then my uncle’s son Hanamel came to me in the ^(M)courtyard of the guard in accordance with the word of the Lord and said to me, ‘Buy my field, please, that is at ^(N)Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the right of possession and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the ^(O)word of the Lord.

⁹ “So I bought the field which was in Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I ^(P)weighed out the silver for him, seventeen ^(Q)shekels of silver. ¹⁰ And I ^[b](R)signed and ^(S)sealed the deed, and ^(T)called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. ¹¹ Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the ^(U)terms and conditions and the open copy; ¹² and I gave the deed of purchase to ^(V)Baruch the son of ^(W)Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, in the sight of all the Jews who were sitting in the courtyard of the guard. ¹³ And I commanded Baruch in their sight, saying, ¹⁴ ‘This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, so that they may ^[c]last a long time.” ¹⁵ For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “^(X)Houses and fields and vineyards will again be purchased in this land.”’

Jeremiah Prays and God Explains

¹⁶ “After giving the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I ^(Y)prayed to the Lord, saying, ¹⁷ ‘^(Z)Oh, Lord ^[d]God! Behold, You Yourself have ^(AA)made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! ^(AB)Nothing is too difficult for You, ¹⁸ who ^(AC)shows mercy to thousands, but ^(AD)repays the wrongdoing of fathers into the laps of their children after them, ^(AE)great and ^(AF)mighty God. The ^(AG)Lord of armies is His name; ^19 (AH)great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose ^(AI)eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of mankind, ^(AJ)giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds; ²⁰ who has ^(AK)accomplished signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day both in Israel and among mankind; and You have ^(AL)made a name for Yourself, as at this day. ²¹ You ^(AM)brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders, and with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror; ²² and You gave them this land, which You ^(AN)swore to their forefathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. ²³ They ^(AO)came in and took possession of it, but they ^(AP)did not obey Your voice or ^(AQ)walk in Your Law; they did not do ^[e]anything that You commanded them to do; therefore You have made ^(AR)all this disaster happen to them. ²⁴ Behold, the ^(AS)assault ramps have reached the city to take it; and the city has been ^(AT)handed over to the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the ^(AU)sword, the famine, and the plague; and what You have spoken has ^(AV)come to pass; and behold, You see it. ²⁵ Yet You have said to me, Lord ^[f]God, “Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses”—although the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans.’”