The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 32 The promise and sign of Israel's restoration and spiritual blessings.

 

 The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 32

The promise and sign of Israel's restoration and spiritual blessings.

 

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 (Now the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard that was in the house of the king of Judah;

3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you prophesy, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;’”

4 Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans; he will surely be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will speak face to face with him, and his eyes will see his.

5 And he will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will remain there until I visit him, declares the Lord. And even if you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not prevail.

6 Then Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me:

7 Behold, Hananeel the son of Shallum, your uncle, will come to you, saying, “Buy for yourself my field that is in Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy it.”

8 Then Hananeel, my uncle’s son, came to me in the courtyard of the guard, according to the word of the Lord, and said to me, “Buy my field that is in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and you have the right of redemption; buy it for yourself.” Then I understood that this was the word of the Lord.

9 So I bought the field from Hananeel, my uncle's son, which is in Anathoth, and I weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver.

10 And I signed the document, and sealed it, and it was confirmed by witnesses; and I weighed out the money on scales.

11 And I took the deed of purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and the statutes, and that which was open.

12 And I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch , the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hananeel, the son of my uncle, and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the sight of all the Jews who were sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

13 And I gave orders to Baruch in their presence, saying:

14 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Take these documents, the sealed and the open deed of purchase, and put them in an earthenware jar, so they can be preserved for many days;

15 For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”

16 After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying:

17 Ah! Lord Jehovah! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm; nothing is too wonderful for you:

18 You show kindness to thousands, but you repay the sin of the parents to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord Almighty.

19 Great in counsel, and magnificent in deed; for your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give to each according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds:

20 You performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even to this day, both in Israel and among other people, and you made a name for yourself, which is what you have this day.

21 And you brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror;

22 And you gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers that you would give them: a land flowing with milk and honey.

23 And they entered it and possessed it, but they did not obey your voice or walk in your law; all that you commanded them to do, they did not do; therefore you ordained all this evil to befall them.

24 Look, here are the siege ramps! They have come against the city to take it, and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, who fight against it with the sword, famine, and pestilence; and what you said has come true, and behold, you are witnessing it.

25 Yet you said to me, O Lord God: Buy the field for yourself with money, and have it witnessed; even though the city is already given into the hand 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 anything too wonderful for me?

28 Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will deliver 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 are fighting against this city, will enter it, set fire to this city, and burn the houses on whose roofs they burned 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 done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have done nothing but provoke me to anger with the works of their hands, says the Lord.

31 For this city has been a source of anger and wrath to me from the day it was built until this day, so that I might remove it from my presence;

32 Because of all the wickedness of the children of Israel and the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they and their kings, their prophets, as well as the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

33 They turned their backs to me and not their faces. Though I taught them, rising early and teaching, they did not listen 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, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech ; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

36 Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning this city, about which you say, “It has been given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, famine, and pestilence”:

37 Behold, I will gather them from all the lands whither I have driven them in my anger, and in my wrath, and in my great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place, and cause them to dwell safely there.

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 own good and 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, to do them good; and I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me.

41 And I will rejoice over them, doing them good; and I will surely plant them in this land with all my heart and with all my soul.

42 For this is what the Lord says: ‘Just as I have brought all this great disaster on this people, so I will bring on them all the good I have promised them.’

43 And fields will be bought in this land, of which you say, 'It is desolate, without man or beast; it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.'

44 They will buy fields for money, and sign the documents, and seal them, and have them witnessed in the land of Benjamin, and in the outskirts of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains and in the cities of the plain, and in the cities of the south; for I will bring them back from their captivity, says the Lord.