Jeremiah Buys a Field During the Siege

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord ⁿin the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, ^owhich was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet ^pwas shut up in ^qthe court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah. 3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^rBehold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it; 4 ^sZedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, ^rbut shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye. 5 And ^the shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I visit him, declares the Lord. ^uThough you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed’?”

6 Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: 7 Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, ^v‘Buy my field that is at ^wAnathoth, ^xfor the right of redemption by purchase is yours.’ 8 Then Hanamel my cousin came to me in ^qthe court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, ‘Buy my field that is at ^wAnathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.

9 “And I bought the field at ^wAnathoth from Hanamel my cousin, and ^yweighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 ^zI signed the deed, ^asealed it, ^bgot witnesses, and ^yweighed the money on scales. 11 Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions and the open copy. 12 And I gave the deed of purchase to ^cBaruch the son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my cousin, in the presence of ^dthe witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in ^qthe court of the guard. 13 I charged ^cBaruch in their presence, saying, 14 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware vessel, that they may last for a long time. 15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and ^efields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.’

Jeremiah Prays for Understanding

16 “After I had given the deed of purchase to ^fBaruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: 17 ‘Ah, Lord God! It is ^gyou who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by ^hyour outstretched arm! ⁱNothing is too hard for you. 18 ^jYou show steadfast love to thousands, ^jbut you repay the guilt of fathers ^kto their children after them, O great and ^lmighty God, whose name is the ^mLord of hosts, 19 ⁿgreat in counsel and ^omighty in deed, ^pwhose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, ^qrewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds. 20 You have shown ^rsigns and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, ^sand have made a name for yourself, as at this day. 21 ^tYou brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and ^uoutstretched arm, ^tand with great terror. 22 And you gave them this land, ^vwhich you swore to their fathers to give them, ^va land flowing with milk and honey. 23 And they entered and took possession of it. ^wBut they did not obey your voice or walk in your law. They did nothing of all you commanded them to do. Therefore you have made all this disaster come upon them. 24 Behold, ^xthe siege mounds have come up to the city to take it, and ^ybecause of sword and famine and pestilence ^zthe city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you spoke has come to pass, and behold, you see it. 25 Yet you, O Lord God, have said to me, ^a“Buy the field for money ^band get witnesses”—though ^zthe city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.’”

26 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 27 “Behold, I am the Lord, ^cthe God of all flesh. ^dIs anything too hard for me? 28 Therefore, thus says the Lord: ^eBehold, I am giving this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall capture it. 29 The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city ^fshall come and set this city on fire and burn it, ^gwith the houses on whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal ^gand drink offerings have been poured out to other gods, ^hto provoke me to anger. 30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight ⁱfrom their youth. The children of Israel have done nothing but ^hprovoke me to anger ^jby the work of their hands, declares the Lord. 31 This city has aroused my anger and wrath, from the day it was built to this day, ^kso that I will remove it from my sight 32 because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger—^ltheir kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 ^mThey have turned to me their back and not their face. And though I have taught them ⁿpersistently, they have not listened ^oto receive instruction. 34 They set up ^ptheir abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. 35 They built the high places of Baal ^qin the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, ^rto offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, ^sthough I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do ^pthis abomination, ^tto cause Judah to sin.

They Shall Be My People; I Will Be Their God

36 “Now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ^u‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence’: 37 ^vBehold, I will gather them from all the countries ^wto which I drove them in ^xmy anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, ^yand I will make them dwell in safety. 38 ^zAnd they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39 ^aI will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, ^bfor their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 ^cI will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. ^dAnd I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. 41 ^eI will rejoice in doing them good, ^fand I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.

42 “For thus says the Lord: ^gJust as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them. 43 ^hFields shall be bought in this land ⁱof which you are saying, ‘It is a desolation, without man or beast; ^jit is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ 44 Fields shall be bought for money, and ^kdeeds shall be signed and ^ksealed and ^kwitnessed, ^lin the land of Benjamin, ^lin the places about Jerusalem, ^land in the cities of Judah, ^lin the cities of the hill country, ^lin the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb; for ^mI will restore their fortunes, declares the Lord.”

Tremble at the Presence of the Lord

Lawsuits Against Believers

1 When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous ^rinstead of the saints? 2 Or do you not know that ^sthe saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! 4 So if you have such cases, ^twhy do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? 5 ^uI say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, 6 but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? 7 To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. ^vWhy not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? 8 But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even ^wyour own brothers!¹

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous² will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: ^xneither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,³ 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And ^ysuch were some of you. But ^zyou were washed, ^ayou were sanctified, ^byou were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Flee Sexual Immorality

12 ^c“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13 ^d“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one ^eand the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but ^ffor the Lord, and ^gthe Lord for the body. 14 And ^hGod raised the Lord and ⁱwill also raise us up ^jby his power. 15 Do you not know that ^kyour bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined⁴ to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, ^l“The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord ^mbecomes one spirit with him. 18 ⁿFlee from sexual immorality. Every other sin⁵ a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person ^osins against his own body. 19 Or ^pdo you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? ^qYou are not your own, 20 ^rfor you were bought with a price. ^sSo glorify God in your body.

Principles for Marriage

1 Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: ^t“It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” 2 But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. 3 ^uThe husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 ^vDo not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, ^wso that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

6 Now as a concession, ^xnot a command, I say this.⁶ 7 ^yI wish that all were ^zas I myself am. But ^aeach has his own gift from God, ^bone of one kind and one of another.

8 To the unmarried and the widows I say that ^cit is good for them to remain single, ^das I am. 9 But if they cannot exercise self-control, ^ethey should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

10 To the married ^fI give this charge (not I, but the Lord): ^gthe wife should not separate from her husband 11 (but if she does, ^hshe should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and ^gthe husband should not divorce his wife.

12 To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. 13 If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. ⁱOtherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. 15 But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you^{7 j}to peace. 16 For how do you know, wife, ^kwhether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Live as You Are Called

17 Only let each person lead the life^{8 l}that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. ^mThis is my rule in ⁿall the churches. 18 Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? ^oLet him not seek circumcision. 19 ^pFor neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but ^qkeeping the commandments of God. 20 ^rEach one should remain in the condition in which he was called. 21 Were you a bondservant⁹ when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) 22 For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is ^sa freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is ^ta bondservant of Christ. 23 ^uYou were bought with a price; ^vdo not become bondservants of men. 24 So, brothers,^{10 w}in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

The Unmarried and the Widowed

25 Now concerning¹¹ the betrothed,^{12 x}I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as ^yone who by the Lord’s mercy is ^ztrustworthy. 26 I think that in view of the present¹³ distress ^ait is good for a person to remain as he is. 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman¹⁴ marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. 29 This is what I mean, brothers: ^bthe appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy ^cas though they had no goods, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For ^dthe present form of this world is passing away.

32 I want you to be ^efree from anxieties. ^fThe unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 33 But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. 35 I say this for your own benefit, ^gnot to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

36 If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed,¹⁵ if his¹⁶ passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. 37 But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. 38 So then he who marries his betrothed ^hdoes well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better.

39 ⁱA wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only ^jin the Lord. 40 Yet ^kin my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think ^lthat I too have the Spirit of God.