JeremiahChapter 32
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1The LORD gave a message to Jeremiah in the tenth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah. That was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2At that time the army of the king of Babylon had surrounded Jerusalem to attack it. Jeremiah the prophet was locked up in the courtyard of the guard. It was in the palace of the king of Judah. 3Zedekiah king of Judah had locked him up there. He said, "Why do you prophesy like this? You say that the LORD says, 'Look, I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon. He will capture it. 4Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the Chaldeans. He will surely be handed over to the king of Babylon. He will speak with him face to face. He will see him eye to eye. 5He will take Zedekiah to Babylon. Zedekiah will stay there until I deal with him, says the LORD. If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not win.'" 6Jeremiah answered, "The LORD gave me this message. He said, 7Look! Hanamel is coming to you. He is the son of your uncle Shallum. He will say, 'Buy my field in Anathoth. You have the right to buy it back for the family.' 8Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard, just as the LORD had said. He begged me, 'Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. You have the right to own it and to buy it back for the family. Buy it for yourself.'" Then I knew this was the LORD's message.a 9So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out seventeen shekels of silver for him.b 10I signed the deed and sealed it. I called in witnesses. I weighed out the silver on the scales. 11Then I took the deed of sale. There was the sealed copy with its terms and rules. There was also the open copy. 12I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah. My cousin Hanamel watched. So did the witnesses who signed the deed. All the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard watched too. 13While they watched, I gave Baruch these orders. 14"This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Take these deeds. Take both the sealed copy and the open copy of the deed of sale. Put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time. 15For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: People will again buy houses, fields, and vineyards in this land." 16After I gave the deed of sale to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD. 17"Oh, Lord GOD! You made the heavens and the earth by your great power and your outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you! 18You show faithful love to thousands. But you also lay the sin of the fathers in the laps of their children after them. You are the great and mighty God. Your name is the LORD of Hosts. 19Your plans are great, and your deeds are mighty. Your eyes see all the ways of people. You pay back each one for how he lives and for what his deeds have brought about. 20You did signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. You still do them today, in Israel and among all people. You have made a name for yourself, and it is still so today. 21You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt. You did it with signs and wonders. You did it with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror. 22You gave them this land. You had promised with an oath to give it to their fathers. It is a land flowing with milk and honey. 23They came in and took it for their own. But they did not obey your voice or live by your law. They did not do all you commanded them. So you have brought all this disaster on them. 24Look at the dirt ramps built up against the city to capture it! Because of war, hunger, and sickness, the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you said has happened, as you can see! 25Still, Lord GOD, you said to me, 'Buy the field with silver and call in witnesses.' But the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans!" 26Then the LORD gave this message to Jeremiah. 27"Look, I am the LORD, the God of all people. Is anything too hard for me? 28So this is what the LORD says: Look, I am about to hand this city over to the Chaldeans. I will give it to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will capture it. 29The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in. They will set it on fire and burn it down. They will burn the houses where people made me angry. On their rooftops they burned incense to Baal. They poured out drink offerings to other gods. 30The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight since they were young. Yes, they have done nothing but make me angry by the things they have made, says the LORD. 31This city has made me angry and furious from the day it was built until now. So I will remove it from my sight. 32This is because of all the evil the people of Israel and Judah have done to make me angry. Their kings and officials did it. Their priests and prophets did it. The men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem did it. 33They have turned their backs to me, not their faces. I taught them again and again. But they would not listen or accept correction. 34They set up their disgusting idols in the house that bears my Name. So they made it unclean. 35They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom. There they made their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech. I never commanded them to do that. It never even entered my mind that they would do such a disgusting thing and cause Judah to sin. 36You say about this city, 'It will be handed over to the king of Babylon by war, hunger, and sickness.' But now this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about it: 37I will surely gather my people from all the lands where I scattered them. I drove them out in my great anger and fury. But I will bring them back to this place. I will let them live in safety. 38They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39I will give them one heart and one way of life. Then they will always fear me. That will be good for them and for their children after them. 40I will make a covenant with them that lasts forever. I will never stop doing good to them. I will put fear of me in their hearts. Then they will never turn away from me. 41Yes, I will be glad to do them good. I will faithfully plant them in this land with all my heart and all my soul. 42For this is what the LORD says: I have brought all this great disaster on this people. In the same way, I will bring them all the good things I have promised them. 43Fields will be bought again in this land. You say about it, 'It is an empty ruin, with no people or animals. It has been handed over to the Chaldeans.' 44People will buy fields with silver. They will sign deeds, seal them, and have them witnessed. This will happen in the land of Benjamin and in the towns around Jerusalem. It will happen in the towns of Judah. It will happen in the towns of the hill country, the foothills, and the Negev. For I will bring my people back from captivity, says the LORD."