Jeremiah Purchases a Field

32 This is^[a] the message that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of the reign of^[b] Zedekiah, king of Judah. It was the eighteenth year of the reign of^[c] Nebuchadnezzar. ² The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard at the palace of the king of Judah ³ where Zedekiah had confined him. Zedekiah had said,^[d] “Why did you prophesy and say these things? You said,^[e] ‘This is what the Lord says: “I’m about to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. ⁴ Zedekiah, king of Judah, won’t escape from^[f] the Chaldeans, for he has surely been given over to the king of Babylon. He will speak to him face to face and look at him eye to eye. ⁵ The king of Babylon^[g] will take Zedekiah to Babylon and there he will stay until I judge him,” declares the Lord. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you won’t succeed.”’”

⁶ Jeremiah replied, “This message from the Lord came to me: ⁷ ‘Look, Hanamel, your cousin,^[h] is coming to you and will say, “Buy my field in Anathoth for yourself, because the right of redemption to buy it belongs to you.”’

⁸ “Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard just as the Lord had said, and he told me, ‘Please buy my field in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin because you have the right to possess it, and the right to redeem it belongs to you. Buy it for yourself.’ So I knew that this was a message from the Lord.

⁹ “Then I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out the silver for him—seventeen shekels^[i] of silver. ¹⁰ I signed the deed and sealed it. I called in witnesses and used scales to weigh out the silver. ¹¹ Then I took the deed of purchase—both the sealed one^[j] with the terms and conditions and the open one^[k]— ¹² and I gave the deed of purchase to Neriah’s son Baruch, the grandson of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans sitting in the courtyard of the guard. ¹³ In their presence, I instructed Baruch as follows: ¹⁴ ‘This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Take these deeds—both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed—and put them in a clay pot so they’ll last for a long time. ¹⁵ For this is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’”’”

Jeremiah’s Prayer

¹⁶ “After I had given the deed of purchase to Neriah’s son Baruch, I prayed to the Lord: ¹⁷ ‘Lord! Look, you made the heavens and the earth with your great power and your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you! ¹⁸ You, the great God, the mighty one, show gracious love to thousands and repay the parents’ iniquity to their children after them. The Lord of the Heavenly Armies is his name. ¹⁹ You are^[l] great in regards to your purposes and mighty in regards to your works. Your eyes are open to everything that people do, and will reward each one according to their ways and just as their actions deserve.^{[m] 20} You are the one who performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt and continue to do so^[n] until this day, both in Israel and among the rest of humanity. You made a reputation for yourself that continues to this day.^{[o] 21} By your strong hand and outstretched arm, and with great terror, you brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders. ²² And you gave them this land which you had promised their ancestors that you would give them—a land flowing with milk and honey. ²³ They came and took possession of it, but they didn’t obey you or walk according to your Law.^[p] They didn’t do what you commanded them to do, so you caused all this calamity to happen to them. ²⁴ Look, the siege ramps have reached the city to take it. Because of the sword, famine, and plague, the city has been given over to the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you said has happened, and you are watching it occur!^{[q] 25} Lord, you have told me, “Buy the field for yourself with money and call in witnesses,^[r]” even though the city is being given over to the Chaldeans.’”

Prophecy of Jerusalem’s Fall

²⁶ Then this message from the Lord came to Jeremiah: ²⁷ “Look, I am the Lord, the God who rules over all flesh. Is anything too difficult for me?” ²⁸ Therefore, this is what the Lord says: “I’m about to give this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he will capture it. ²⁹ The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come, set this city on fire, and burn it along with the houses on whose roofs incense was burned to Baal and liquid offerings were poured out to other gods in order to provoke me. ³⁰ Indeed, the Israelis^[s] and Judeans^[t] have been doing only evil in my presence since their youth. Indeed, the Israelis have done nothing but provoke me by what they have made with their hands,” declares the Lord.

³¹ “Indeed, this city has provoked me to anger and wrath from the day they built it until now, and so I’ll remove it^[u] from my sight ³² because of all the evil that the Israelis and Judeans have done to provoke me. They, their kings, their officials, their priests, their prophets, the people of Judah, and those living in Jerusalem have done these things.^{[v] 33} They have turned their backs to me rather than their faces. Even though I taught them, teaching them again and again,^[w] they didn’t listen to accept correction. ³⁴ They put their detestable idols in the house that is called by my name and defiled it. ³⁵ They built the high places of Baal that are in the Hinnom Valley^[x] in order to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech—something that I didn’t command, nor did it ever enter my mind for them to require this utterly repugnant thing—and lead Judah into sin.”

A Promise of Restoration

³⁶ “Now therefore,” says the Lord God of Israel, “concerning this city about which you are saying, ‘It is being given into the control of the king of Babylon by sword, famine, and plague,’ ³⁷ I’m about to gather my people^[y] from all the lands where I’ve driven them in my anger, wrath, and great indignation. I’ll bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. ³⁸ They’ll be my people, and I’ll be their God. ³⁹ I’ll give them one heart and one lifestyle^[z] so they’ll fear me always for their own good and for the good of^[aa] their descendants after them. ⁴⁰ I’ll make an everlasting covenant with them that I won’t turn away from doing good for them.^[ab] I’ll put the fear of me in their hearts so they won’t turn away from me. ⁴¹ I’ll rejoice over them to do good for them, and I’ll faithfully plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.’

⁴² “Indeed, this is what the Lord says: ‘Just as I’m bringing all this great disaster on this people, so I’ll bring on them all the good things that I’m promising concerning them. ⁴³ Fields will be bought in this land about which you will say, “It is a desolate place without people or animals. It is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.” ⁴⁴ People^[ac] will buy fields for money, sign deeds, seal them, and call witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the areas around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah, the towns of the hill country, the towns of the Shephelah,^[ad] and the towns of the Negev,^[ae] for I’ll restore their fortunes,’ declares the Lord.”