Jeremiah 32

Confined during the siege

1This word came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the guard courtyard of the palace of the king of Judah. 3Zedekiah king of Judah had confined him, saying, “Why do you prophesy this: ‘The LORD says: I am handing this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it? 4Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape the Chaldeans. He will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon and speak with him face to face, looking him in the eyes. 5He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will remain until I attend to him, declares the LORD. Though you fight the Chaldeans, you will not succeed.’”

A field purchased at Anathoth

6Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me: 7‘Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, is coming to you. He will say, “Buy my field at Anathoth, because you have the right of redemption to buy it.”’ 8Just as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the guard courtyard. He said, ‘Please buy my field at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. You have the inheritance right and the right of redemption. Buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew this was the word of the LORD. 9“So I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out the silver for him: seventeen shekels. 10I wrote the deed, sealed it, called witnesses, and weighed the silver on scales. 11Then I took the purchase deed, the sealed document containing the terms and conditions, and the open copy. 12I gave the purchase deed to Baruch son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my kinsman Hanamel, the witnesses who signed the purchase deed, and all the Judeans sitting in the guard courtyard. 13In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions: 14‘The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, this purchase deed—the sealed one—and this open document, and put them in an earthenware jar so they will last a long time. 15For the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’

Jeremiah’s prayer

16“After giving the purchase deed to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD: 17‘Ah, Lord GOD! You made the heavens and the earth by your great power and your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you. 18You show steadfast love to thousands and repay the guilt of fathers into the laps of their children after them. Great and mighty God, whose name is the LORD of hosts, 19you are great in counsel and mighty in deeds. Your eyes are open to all the ways of human beings, to give each person according to their ways and the fruit of their deeds. 20You performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt and have continued them to this day, in Israel and among humankind. You made a name for yourself that remains to this day. 21You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and great terror. 22You gave them this land, which you swore to give their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23They entered and possessed it, but they did not listen to your voice or follow your instruction. They did none of what you commanded them to do. So you brought all this disaster upon them. 24Look, the siege ramps have reached the city to capture it. Through sword, famine, and plague, the city is being handed over to the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you said has happened, as you can see. 25Yet you, Lord GOD, told me, “Buy the field with silver and call witnesses,” even though the city is being handed over to the Chaldeans!’”

The answer: disaster and restoration

26Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 27“Look, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for me? 28So the LORD says: I am handing this city over to the Chaldeans and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will capture it. 29The Chaldeans fighting against this city will come in, set it on fire, and burn it down, along with the houses on whose roofs people burned offerings to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods, provoking me. 30From their youth, the people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my eyes. The people of Israel have done nothing but provoke me with the work of their hands, declares the LORD. 31From the day it was built until today, this city has stirred my anger and wrath, so that I must remove it from my presence. 32This is because of all the evil the people of Israel and Judah have done to provoke me—they, their kings, their officials, their priests, their prophets, the people of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33They turned their backs to me, not their faces. Though I taught them again and again, they would not listen and accept correction. 34They put their detestable things in the house that bears my name and defiled it. 35They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech. I never commanded them to do this; it never entered my heart that they should commit such an abomination and lead Judah into sin.

36“Now, therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, says this about the city you say is being handed over to the king of Babylon through sword, famine, and plague: 37I will gather them from all the lands where I drove them in my anger, wrath, and great fury. I will bring them back to this place and 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, so that they will fear me always, for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing them good. I will put the fear of me in their hearts, so that they will not turn away from me. 41I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all my heart and all my soul. 42“For the LORD says: Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I will bring on them all the good I am promising them. 43Fields will again be bought in this land that you call a desolate waste, without people or animals, handed over to the Chaldeans. 44People will buy fields with silver, write and seal deeds, and call witnesses in the land of Benjamin, around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah, and in the towns of the hill country, the Shephelah, and the Negeb. For I will restore their fortunes, declares the LORD.”