Jeremiah Buys a Field During the Siege

32 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.”

The Lord Promises Peace

33 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still ⁿshut up in the court of the guard: 2 “Thus says ^othe Lord who made the earth,¹ the Lord who formed it to establish it—^pthe Lord is his name: 3 ^qCall to me and I will answer you, ^rand will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. 4 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against ^sthe siege mounds and against the sword: 5 They are coming in ^tto fight against the Chaldeans and to fill them² with the dead bodies of men whom I shall strike down ^uin my anger and my wrath, ^vfor I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil. 6 ^wBehold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. 7 ^xI will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, ^yand rebuild them as they were ^zat first. 8 ^aI will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, ^band I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. 9 ^cAnd this city³ shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall ^dfear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.

10 “Thus says the Lord: In this place ^eof which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again 11 ^fthe voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring ^gthank offerings to the house of the Lord:

^xFor I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.

12 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ⁱIn this place that is waste, without man or beast, and in all of its cities, there shall again be ^jhabitations of shepherds ^kresting their flocks. 13 ^lIn the cities of the hill country, ^lin the cities of the Shephelah, ^land in the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, ^lthe places about Jerusalem, ^land in the cities of Judah, ^mflocks shall again pass under the hands ⁿof the one who counts them, says the Lord.

The Lord’s Eternal Covenant with David

14 ^o“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when ^pI will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous ^qBranch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, ^rand Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ^s‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

17 “For thus says the Lord: ^tDavid shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18 ^uand the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.”

19 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 20 ^v“Thus says the Lord: ^wIf you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, ^xso that day and night will not come at their appointed time, 21 ^ythen also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers. 22 As ^zthe host of heaven cannot be numbered and ^zthe sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.”

23 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 24 “Have you not observed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two clans that he chose’? Thus they have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight. 25 Thus says the Lord: ^aIf I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, 26 then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ^bFor I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”

Zedekiah to Die in Babylon

34 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when ^cNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army ^dand all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and all of its cities: 2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Go and speak to ^eZedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^fBehold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. 3 ^gYou shall not escape from his hand but shall surely be captured and delivered into his hand. ^gYou shall see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face. And you shall go to Babylon.’ 4 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! ^hThus says the Lord concerning you: ^h‘You shall not die by the sword. 5 You shall die in peace. ⁱAnd as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so people shall ^jburn spices for you ^kand lament for you, saying, “Alas, lord!”’ For I have spoken the word, declares the Lord.”

6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, 7 when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left, ^lLachish and ^mAzekah, ⁿfor these were the only ^ofortified cities of Judah that remained.

8 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah ^phad made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem ^qto make a proclamation of liberty to them, 9 ^rthat everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, ^sso that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother. 10 And they obeyed, all the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant that everyone would set free his slave, male or female, so that they would not be enslaved again. They obeyed and set them free. 11 But afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slaves ^rthey had set free, and brought them into subjection as slaves. 12 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 13 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your fathers when ^tI brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, 14 ^u‘At the end of seven years each of you must set free the fellow Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you six years; ^ryou must set him free from your service.’ But ^vyour fathers did not listen to me or incline their ears to me. 15 You recently repented and did what was right in my eyes ^qby proclaiming liberty, each to his neighbor, and ^wyou made a covenant before me in the ^xhouse that is called by my name, 16 but then you turned around ^yand profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves, ^zwhom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your slaves.

17 “Therefore, thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed me ^qby proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor; ^abehold, I proclaim to you liberty ^bto the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the Lord. ^cI will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of ^wthe covenant that they made before me, I will make them like^{1 d}the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts— 19 the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, ^ethe eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf. 20 And I will give them into the hand of their enemies ^fand into the hand of those who seek their lives. ^gTheir dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. 21 And ^hZedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon ⁱwhich has withdrawn from you. 22 Behold, ^jI will command, declares the Lord, and will ^kbring them back to this city. ^kAnd they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire. ^lI will make the cities of Judah a desolation ^mwithout inhabitant.”

The Obedience of the Rechabites

35 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of ⁿJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Go to the house of the ^oRechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of ^pthe chambers; then offer them wine to drink.” 3 So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites. 4 I brought them to the house of the Lord into ^pthe chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, ^qthe man of God, which was near ^pthe chamber of the officials, above ^pthe chamber of ^rMaaseiah the son of Shallum, ^skeeper of the threshold. 5 Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” 6 But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for ^tJonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. 7 You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, ^uthat you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ 8 We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9 and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, 10 but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 But ^vwhen Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of ^wthe army of the Chaldeans and ^wthe army of the Syrians.’ ^xSo we are living in Jerusalem.”

12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ^yWill you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the Lord. 14 The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. I have spoken to you ^zpersistently, but you have not listened to me. 15 I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them ^zpersistently, saying, ^a‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and ^bdo not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ ^cBut you did not incline your ear or listen to me. 16 The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. 17 Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, ^dbecause I have spoken to them and they have not listened, ^dI have called to them and they have not answered.”