Jeremiah 32

1. The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

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 do you prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I will 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 face to face, and see him eye to eye,

5. And he shall lead Zedekiah into Babylon, and there he shall be until I visit him,” says the LORD. “And though you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not be blessed.” ’ ”

6. And Jeremiah said, “The Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

7. ‘Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum your uncle shall come to you, saying, “Buy for yourself my field in Anathoth; for the right to redeem it is yours, to buy it.” ’

8. So Hanameel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to the Word of the LORD and said to me, “Please buy my field in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the right to redeem is yours. Buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was the Word of the LORD.

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

10. And I wrote it in the document, and sealed it, and called witnesses, and weighed the silver in the scales.

11. So I took the deed of the purchase, that which was sealed according to the terms and conditions and the open copy.

12. And I gave the document of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, before the eyes of Hanameel my uncle’s son, and before the eyes of the witnesses who wrote in the purchase deed, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the guard.

13. And I commanded Baruch before them, saying,

14. “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Take these documents, the purchase document, the one sealed and the unsealed document, and put them in an earthen vessel so that they may last for a long time.’

15. For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Houses and fields and vineyards shall be owned again in this land.’ ”

16. And after I gave the purchase deed to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD, saying,

17. “Ah, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and stretched out arm. Nothing is too great for You.

18. You show lovingkindness to thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them. The great, the mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is His name,

19. Great in counsel and mighty in work; for Your eyes are open on all the ways of the sons of men, to give every one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings.

20. For You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among men; and have made You a name, as at this day;

21. And have brought forth Your 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 You have given them this land, which You swore 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 obey Your voice, nor did they walk in Your law. They have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do; therefore You have caused all this evil to come on them.

24. Behold, the siege mounds have come to the city to take it; and the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans who fight against it because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the plague. And what You have spoken has come to pass; and, behold, You saw it.

25. And You have said to me, O Lord GOD, ‘Buy the field for money, and take witnesses;’ for the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.”

26. Then the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

27. “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?

28. Therefore thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it.

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

30. For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before Me from their youth. For the children of Israel have only provoked Me to anger with the work of their hands,’ says the LORD.

31. ‘For this city has been to Me as a cause of My anger and of My fury from the day that they built it even to this day; that I should remove it from before My face

32. Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children 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 the back to Me, and not the face; though I taught them, again and again, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.

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

35. And they built the high places of Baal, in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to sacrifice their sons and daughters which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.’ ”

36. “And now therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city—of which you say, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague’—

37. ‘Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands where I have driven them in My anger, and in My fury, and in great wrath. And I will bring them again to 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 forever, for their good and for the good of their children after them.

40. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, rather, to do them good. But I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me.

41. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will truly plant them in this land with all My heart and all My whole soul.’

42. For thus says the LORD, ‘As I have brought all this great evil on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them.

43. And fields shall be bought in this and of which you say, “It is a desert without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.”

44. Men shall buy fields for silver, and deeds will be signed, sealed and witnessed in the land of Benjamin, and in the places around 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 them to return from their captivity,’ says the LORD.”