Jeremiah 32
1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar.
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah the king of Judah, which is the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar.
2 Now at that time the king of Babylon's army was round Jerusalem, shutting it in: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the place of the armed watchmen, in the house of the king of Judah.
And at that time the king of Babylon's army was besieging Jerusalem; and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the house of the king of Judah;
3 For Zedekiah, king of Judah, had had him shut up, saying, Why have you, as a prophet, been saying, The Lord has said, See, I will give this town into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will take it;
Because Zedekiah the king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore art thou prophesying, saying, Thus hath said the Lord, Behold, I will give up this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it.
4 And Zedekiah, king of Judah, will not get away from the hands of the Chaldaeans, but will certainly be given up into the hands of the king of Babylon, and will have talk with him, mouth to mouth, and see him, eye to eye.
And Zedekiah the king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, because he shall surely be given up into the hand of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak to his mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;
5 And he will take Zedekiah away to Babylon, where he will be till I have pity on him, says the Lord: though you are fighting with the Chaldaeans, things will not go well for you?
And to Babylon shall he lead Zedekiah, and there shall he remain until I think of him, saith the Lord: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper.
6 And Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
And Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
7 See, Hanamel, the son of Shallum, your father's brother, will come to you and say, Give the price and get for yourself my property in Anathoth: for you have the right of the nearest relation.
Behold, Chanamel the son of Shallum thy uncle is coming unto thee, saying, Buy for thyself my field that is in 'Anathoth; for unto thee belongeth the right of redemption to buy it.
8 So Hanamel, the son of my father's brother, came to me, as the Lord had said, to the place of the armed watchmen, and said to me, Give the price and get my property which is in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: for you have the nearest relation's right to the heritage; so get it for yourself. Then it was clear to me that this was the word of the Lord.
And there came to me Chanamel my uncle's son according to the word of the Lord into the court of the prison, and he said unto me, Buy, I pray thee, my field, that is in 'Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for to thee belongeth the right of inheritance, and to thee belongeth the redemption, buy it for thyself: then did I know that it was the word of the Lord.
9 So I got for a price the property in Anathoth from Hanamel, the son of my father's brother, and gave him the money, seventeen shekels of silver;
And I bought the field from Chanamel my uncle's son, that is in 'Anathoth; and I weighed out unto him the money, seven shekels, and ten pieces of silver.
10 And I put it in writing, stamping it with my stamp, and I took witnesses and put the money into the scales.
And I wrote it in a deed, and sealed it, and had it certified by witnesses, and weighed the money in balances.
11 So I took the paper witnessing the business, one copy rolled up and stamped, and one copy open:
And I took the deed of the purchase, both that which was sealed, according to the law and custom, and that which was open;
12 And I gave the paper to Baruch, the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, before the eyes of Hanamel, the son of my father's brother, and of the witnesses who had put their names to the paper, and before all the Jews who were seated in the place of the armed watchmen.
And I gave the deed of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriyah, the son of Machseyah, before the eyes of Chanamel my kinsman, and before the eyes of the witnesses that had signed the deed of the purchase, before the eyes of all the Jews that were sitting in the court of the prison.
13 And I gave orders to Baruch in front of them, saying,
And I charged Baruch before their eyes, saying,
14 This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: Take these papers, the witness of this business, the one which is rolled up and stamped, and the one which is open; and put them in a vessel of earth so that they may be kept for a long time.
Thus hath said the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase, both the sealed, and this open deed, and place them in an earthen vessel, in order that they may last many days.
15 For the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said, There will again be trading in houses and fields and vine-gardens in this land.
For thus hath said the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Yet again shall there be bought houses and fields and vineyards in this land.
16 Now after I had given the paper to Baruch, the son of Neriah, I made my prayer to the Lord, saying,
And I prayed to the Lord after I had delivered the deed of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriyah, saying,
17 Ah Lord God! see, you have made the heaven and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm, and there is nothing you are not able to do:
Ah Lord Eternal! behold, it is thou that hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great power and by thy outstretched arm; nothing is too wonderful for thee;
18 You have mercy on thousands, and send punishment for the evil-doing of the fathers on their children after them: the great, the strong God, the Lord of armies is his name:
Thou exercisest kindness unto the thousandth [generation], and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers unto the bosom of their children after them; [thou art] the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts is his name;
19 Great in wisdom and strong in act: whose eyes are open on all the ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone the reward of his ways and the fruit of his doings:
Great in counsel, and mighty in execution: [thou] whose eyes are open over all the ways of the sons of man, to give unto every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings;
20 You have done signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day, in Israel and among other men; and have made a name for yourself as at this day;
Who hast displayed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, up to this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and thou hast made thyself a name, as it is at this day;
21 And have taken your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders and with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, causing great fear;
And thou didst bring forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror;
22 And have given them this land, which you gave your word to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;
And thou gavest them this land, which thou hadst sworn to their fathers to give unto them, a land flowing with milk and honey;
23 And they came in and took it for their heritage, but they did not give ear to your voice, and were not ruled by your law; they have done nothing of all you gave them orders to do: so you have made all this evil come on them:
And they came in, and took possession of it; but they hearkened not to thy voice, and in thy law they did not walk; all that thou hadst commanded them to do they did not do: and thou hast therefore caused all this evil to befall them.
24 See, they have made earthworks against the town to take it; and the town is given into the hands of the Chaldaeans who are fighting against it, because of the sword and need of food and disease: and what you have said has taken place, and truly you see it.
Behold the mounds reach unto the city to capture it; and the city is given up into the hand of the Chaldeans, who fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it.
25 And you have said to me, Give the money to get yourself a property, and have the business witnessed; though the town is given into the hands of the Chaldaeans.
And yet thou hast said unto me, O Lord Eternal, Buy for thyself the field for money, and have it certified by witnesses: while the city is given up into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,
Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying,
27 See, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything so hard that I am unable to do it?
Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: shall any thing be too wonderful for me?
28 So this is what the Lord has said: See, I am giving this town into the hands of the Chaldaeans and into the hands of Nebuchadrezzar, the king of Babylon, and he will take it:
Therefore thus hath said the Lord, Behold, I will give up this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it:
29 And the Chaldaeans, who are fighting against this town, will come and put the town on fire, burning it together with the houses, on the roofs of which perfumes have been burned to the Baal, and drink offerings have been drained out to other gods, moving me to wrath.
And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set this city on fire, and burn it, with the houses upon the roofs of which they have offered incense unto Ba'al, and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods, in order to provoke me to anger;
30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my eyes from their earliest years: the children of Israel have only made me angry with the work of their hands, says the Lord.
For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have been doing only what is evil in my eyes from their youth; for the children of Israel have been only provoking me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the Lord.
31 For this town has been to me a cause of wrath and of burning passion from the day of its building till this day, so that I put it away from before my face:
For to excite my anger and my fury hath been unto me this city from the day that they built it, even until this day; so that I will remove it from before my presence:
32 Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to make me angry, they and their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem.
Because of all the wickedness 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 been turning their backs and not their faces to me: and though I was their teacher, getting up early and teaching them, their ears were not open to teaching.
And they turned unto me the back, and not the face: though [my prophets] taught them, rising up early and teaching; yet they hearkened not to receive instruction.
34 But they put their disgusting images into the house which is named by my name, making it unclean.
But they placed their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.
35 And they put up the high places of the Baal in the valley of the son of Hinnom, making their sons and their daughters go through the fire to Molech; which I did not give them orders to do, and it never came into my mind that they would do this disgusting thing, causing Judah to be turned out of the way.
And they built the high-places of Ba'al, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through [the fire] unto Molech; which I had not commanded them, and which had not come into my mind, to practise this abomination, in order to mislead Judah to sin.
36 And now the Lord, the God of Israel, has said of this town, about which you say, It is given into the hands of the king of Babylon by the sword and by need of food and by disease:
But now, therefore, thus hath said the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, it is given up into the hand of the king of Babylon through the sword, and through the famine, and through the pestilence:
37 See, I will get them together from all the countries where I have sent them in my wrath and in the heat of my passion and in my bitter feeling; and I will let them come back into this place where they may take their rest safely.
Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries, whither I have driven them in my anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them back again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell in safety;
38 And they will be my people, and I will be their God:
And they shall be unto me for a people, and I will be unto them for a God:
39 And I will give them one heart and one way, so that they may go on in the worship of me for ever, for their good and the good of their children after them:
And I will give them one heart, and one manner, to fear me at all times, that it may be well with them, and with their children after them;
40 And I will make an eternal agreement with them, that I will never give them up, but ever do them good; and I will put the fear of me in their hearts, so that they will not go away from me.
And I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good on my part; and my fear will I place in their heart, so that they may not depart from me.
41 And truly, I will take pleasure in doing them good, and all my heart and soul will be given to planting them in this land in good faith.
And I will be glad over them to do them good; and I will plant them in this land in truth, with all my heart and with all my soul.
42 For the Lord has said: As I have made all this great evil come on this people, so I will send on them all the good which I said about them.
For thus hath said the Lord, Just as I have brought upon this people all this great evil, so will I bring upon them all the good that I speak concerning them.
43 And there will be trading in fields in this land of which you say, It is a waste, without man or beast; it is given into the hands of the Chaldaeans.
And the field shall yet be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast, it is given up into the hand of the Chaldeans.
44 Men will get fields for money, and put the business in writing, stamping the papers and having them witnessed, in the land of Benjamin and in the country round Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah and in the towns of the hill-country and in the towns of the lowland and in the towns of the South: for I will let their fate be changed, says the Lord.
Men shall buy fields for money, and write it in deeds, and seal it, and certify it by witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the environs of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountain, and in the cities of the lowlands, and in the cities of the south; for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the Lord.
