Jeremiah Buys a Field During the Siege
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord[ch. 37:5,11;39:1,2;52:4;2 Kgs. 25:2] in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, [ch. 52:12;2 Kgs. 25:8]which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet Ps. 88:8was shut up in ver. 8, 12;ch. 33:1;37:21;38:6,13;39:14;[Neh. 3:25]the 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: ver. 25, 36, 43;ch. 21:10;34:2;37:17;38:3Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it; 4 ch. 34:3Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, [See ver. 3above]but 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 ch. 39:7;52:11he shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I visit him, declares the Lord. [ch. 21:4;33:5]Though 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, ver. 25‘Buy my field that is at ch. 1:1;29:27;Josh. 21:18Anathoth, Lev. 25:25;[Ruth 4:4]for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.’ 8 Then Hanamel my cousin came to me in [See ver. 2above] the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, ‘Buy my field that is at [See ver. 7above]Anathoth 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 [See ver. 7above] Anathoth from Hanamel my cousin, and Gen. 23:16;Zech. 11:12;[Matt. 26:15]weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 ver. 44I signed the deed, Esth. 3:12sealed it, ver. 25got witnesses, and [See ver. 9above]weighed 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 ch. 36:4,8,10,14,26,32;43:3,6;45:1-3Baruch the son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my cousin, in the presence of [Isa. 8:2] the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in [See ver. 2above]the court of the guard. 13 I charged [See ver. 12above]Baruch 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 ver. 43fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.’
Jeremiah Prays for Understanding
16 "After I had given the deed of purchase to See ver. 12Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: 17 ‘Ah, Lord God! It is Isa. 37:16you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by See ch. 21:5your outstretched arm! ver. 27;See Gen. 18:14Nothing is too hard for you. 18 Ex. 20:6;34:7;Deut. 5:9,10You show steadfast love to thousands, Ex. 20:6;34:7;Deut. 5:9,10but you repay the guilt of fathers [Ps. 79:12;Isa. 65:6-7] to their children after them, O great and Isa. 9:6mighty God, whose name is the See ch. 10:16Lord of hosts, 19 Isa. 28:29great in counsel and [Ps. 66:3,5] mighty in deed, See ch. 16:17whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, See ch. 17:10rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds. 20 You have shown Ps. 135:9signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, 2 Sam. 7:23;See Neh. 9:10and have made a name for yourself, as at this day. 21 Ex. 6:6;Deut. 4:34;1 Chr. 17:21You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and See ch. 21:5outstretched arm, Ex. 6:6;Deut. 4:34;1 Chr. 17:21and with great terror. 22 And you gave them this land, Deut. 26:15;See Ex. 3:8which you swore to their fathers to give them, Deut. 26:15;See Ex. 3:8a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 And they entered and took possession of it. Neh. 9:26,27;See ch. 11:8;Dan. 9:10-14But 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, ch. 33:4;See ch. 6:6the siege mounds have come up to the city to take it, and ver. 36;See ch. 14:12because of sword and famine and pestilence See ver. 3the 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, ver. 7"Buy the field for money ver. 10and get witnesses"—though [See ver. 24above]the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.’"
26 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 27 "Behold, I am the Lord, Num. 16:22the God of all flesh. See Gen. 18:14Is anything too hard for me? 28 Therefore, thus says the Lord: ver. 3Behold, 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 See ch. 21:10shall come and set this city on fire and burn it, See ch. 19:13with the houses on whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal See ch. 19:13and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods, See ch. 7:18to provoke me to anger. 30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight ch. 3:25from their youth. The children of Israel have done nothing but [See ver. 29above] provoke me to anger ch. 25:6,7by 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, 2 Kgs. 23:27;24:3so 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—ch. 2:26their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 ch. 2:27;[Ezek. 8:16]; See ch. 7:24They have turned to me their back and not their face. And though I have taught them See ch. 25:3persistently, they have not listened See ch. 5:3to receive instruction. 34 They set up See ch. 7:30;23:11their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. 35 They built the high places of Baal ch. 7:31;See Josh. 18:16in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, Lev. 18:21to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, ch. 7:31though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do [See ver. 34above] this abomination, [1 Kgs. 16:19]to 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, See ver. 3‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence’: 37 See ch. 23:3Behold, I will gather them from all the countries See ch. 8:3to which I drove them in ch. 21:5;Deut. 29:28my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, ch. 23:6;33:16;Ezek. 34:25and I will make them dwell in safety. 38 See ch. 30:22;31:33And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39 Ezek. 11:19,20I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, Deut. 6:24for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 ch. 50:5;Ps. 89:34;Isa. 55:3;Ezek. 16:60I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. See ch. 31:33And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. 41 [Deut. 28:63] I will rejoice in doing them good, See ch. 24:6and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.
42 "For thus says the Lord: [ch. 31:28]Just 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 ver. 15Fields shall be bought in this land ch. 33:10of which you are saying, ‘It is a desolation, without man or beast; See ver. 3it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ 44 Fields shall be bought for money, and ver. 10deeds shall be signed and ver. 10sealed and ver. 10witnessed, See ch. 17:26in the land of Benjamin, See ch. 17:26in the places about Jerusalem, See ch. 17:26and in the cities of Judah, See ch. 17:26in the cities of the hill country, See ch. 17:26in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb; for See ch. 30:3I will restore their fortunes, declares the Lord."