UST JER chapter 32

32 After Zedekiah had been ruling Judah for almost ten years, Yahweh gave me this message. That was during the time that Nebuchadnezzar had been ruling Babylonia for almost eighteen years.

2 At that time, the army of the king of Babylon was surrounding Jerusalem, and King Zedekiah had locked me in a prison area in the courtyard where the guards of the king of Judah's palace stayed.3 King Zedekiah had put me there because I had kept prophesying. I had kept saying, “Yahweh says this: ‘I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and his army will capture it.4 King Zedekiah, king of Judah, will not escape from the power of the army of Babylonia. Instead, I will certainly hand him over to the king of Babylon, and Zedekiah will speak with the king of Babylon face to face and will see him with his own eyes.5 The king of Babylon will force Zedekiah to go to Babylon, and he will remain there until I decide how to punish him. So even though Zedekiah and his soldiers fight against the army of Babylonia, they will not succeed.’ ” Yahweh declares this.

6 At that time, I, Jeremiah, said this: “Yahweh gave me another message. He said,7 “Listen! Your cousin Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you. He will say to you, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, because you are my closest relative, so you have the right to buy it before anyone else does.’ ”

8 And just as Yahweh had predicted, my cousin Hanamel came to see me in the courtyard where the guards stayed. He said to me, "Please buy my field at Anathoth in the area where the descendants of Benjamin live. Because you are my closest relative, you have the right to buy it and to keep it in our family. So buy it for yourself." Then I knew that this message had truly come from Yahweh.

9 So I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out for him the silver to pay for it, which was about seven ounces of silver.10 I signed and sealed the deed on which it was written that I was buying it, while others were witnessing it. Then I weighed the silver on a scale and gave it to him.11 Then I took the deeds of purchase. I took both the sealed and the unsealed copy, which stated the terms and conditions of the purchase.

12 And I gave them to Baruch, who was the son of Neriah and the grandson of Mahseiah. I did this while my cousin Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the document, and all the men of Judah who were sitting in the courtyard where the guards stayed were watching.

13 While all of them were watching, I commanded Baruch. I said this,14 "Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, the God whom we Israelites worship, says this: 'Take both of these documents of purchase, the sealed copy and the copy that is not sealed, and put them in a clay jar, so that they will last for a long time.15 Do that because Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, the God whom we Israelites worship, says this: Some day people will again buy houses and fields and vineyards in this land.'"

16 After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch, the son of Neriah, I prayed to Yahweh. I said,

17 Oh Yahweh my Lord! Surely, because of how very powerful you are, you yourself were able to make the sky and the earth. Nothing is too difficult for you to do.18 You faithfully love thousands of people, but you also punish children for the sins that their parents committed. You are the great and mighty God; you are Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies.19 You make wise plans and you do many mighty deeds. You know everything that people do, and you reward each person according to how that person has behaved.20 You performed many miracles in the land of Egypt, miracles that people still remember to this day. And you continue to work great miracles here in Israel and throughout the world. And you have made yourself famous to this day.21 You brought our Israelite ancestors out of the land of Egypt by performing many miracles by your very great power, causing your enemies to be greatly terrified.22 You gave us Israelite people this land that you had solemnly promised to give to our ancestors, a very fertile and productive land.23 Our ancestors came here and took control of this land and started to live in it, but they did not obey you or do all that you commanded them to do through Moses. So you caused them to experience all these disasters.

24 Look! The army of Babylonia has built ramps up against the walls of our city in order to capture it. Because of war and because of famine and diseases, the army of Babylonia, which is fighting against us, is about to capture our city. The things that you said would happen are happening, and you see it happening.25 Yet you yourself, Yahweh my Lord, told me, 'Buy the field for yourself with silver and have some men watch you do it so that they can testify about it'— even though the army of Babylonia is about to capture this city!

Yahweh's reply about buying the land

26 Then gave Yahweh me this message:27 “I am Yahweh, the God who rules over every living thing. Know for certain, that there is nothing that is too difficult for me to do!28 So I, Yahweh, say this: I am certainly about to hand this city over to the army of Babylonia and to their king, king Nebuchadnezzar, and his army will capture it.29 The soldiers of Babylonia who are now attacking this city will enter it and set it on fire and burn it down. They will burn down the houses where the people made me very angry by burning incense on the tops of their roofs to honor Baal and by pouring out offerings of wine to other gods.

30 The people of Israel and the people of Judah have done only what I consider to be evil from the time that they became a nation. The people of Israel have surely made me very angry by the idols that they made.” Yahweh declares this.31 From the time that the Israelite people took Jerusalem from the Jebusites and began expanding it and fortifying it, until now, the people of this city have made me extremely angry. So now I will remove it from my presence.32 The people of Israel and the people of Judah have made me angry by all the evil things that they did. This includes their kings, their officials, their priests, their prophets, and all the people of Judah and the people who live in Jerusalem.33 My people refused to pay attention to me. Although I taught them again and again, yet they would not pay attention in order to act upon the things I told them.34 They set up their detestable idols in the temple which belongs to me, and so they caused it to become unacceptable for people to worship me there.35 They built shrines for worshiping Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, and there they sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire to the god Molech. I never commanded them to do that; and I did not even think about commanding them to do such a detestable thing. By doing it, they caused the people of Judah to sin.

The promise to restore Judah and Israel

36 But now, therefore, I, Yahweh, the God whom you Israelite people say you belong to, say this about this city about which you people of Jerusalem are saying, 'The army of the king of Babylon is about to capture it by warfare and because of famines and diseases.'37 But I, Yahweh, say, Listen! I will certainly gather my people from all the countries to which I will force them to go because I am extremely angry with them. I will bring them back to this place and allow them to live here safely.38 They will be my people, and I myself will be their God.39 I will cause them to have a single-minded purpose and way of behaving so that they will revere me forever. This will benefit them and their descendants.40 I will make an agreement with them that will last forever: I will never stop doing good things for them, and I will cause them to revere me, so that they will not stop obeying me.41 I will be happy to do good things for them, and I will faithfully settle them permanently in this land. I will do that wholeheartedly and enthusiastically.

42 I, Yahweh, say this: 'Just as I caused my people to experience all these great disasters, so I will also do for them all the good things that I have promised them.43 People will once again buy fields in this land, the land about which you people of Jerusalem now say, "It is desolate. There are no longer any people or animals here, and the army of Babylonia has captured it."44 People will buy fields with silver, sign documents, seal them, and have other men watch them do it so that they can testify about it. People will do that in the land where the descendants of Benjamin live, in the villages around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the western foothills, and in the cities of the southern wilderness. I will cause my people to prosper again.’ ” Yahweh declares this.

UST JER Chapter 32