Jeremiah 32:1-21 ▼

1 This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah. It was the eighteenth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.

2 The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard at the palace of the king of Judah

3 where Zedekiah had confined him. Zedekiah had said, |Why did you prophesy and say these things? You said, 'This is what the LORD says: |I'm about to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.

4 Zedekiah, king of Judah, won't escape from the Chaldeans, for he has surely been given over to the king of Babylon. He will speak to him face to face and look at him eye to eye.

5 The king of Babylon will take Zedekiah to Babylon and there he will stay until I judge him,| declares the LORD. |If you fight against the Chaldeans, you won't succeed.|'|

6 Jeremiah replied, |This message from the LORD came to me:

7 Look, Hanamel, your cousin, is coming to you and will say, |Buy my field in Anathoth for yourself, because the right of redemption to buy it belongs to you.|'

8 |Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard just as the LORD had said, and he told me, 'Please buy my field in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin because you have the right to possess it, and the right to redeem it belongs to you. Buy it for yourself.' So I knew that this was a message from the LORD.

9 |Then I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out the silver for him—seventeen shekels of silver.

10 I signed the deed and sealed it. I called in witnesses and used scales to weigh out the silver.

11 Then I took the deed of purchase—both the sealed one with the terms and conditions and the open one —

12 and I gave the deed of purchase to Neriah's son Baruch, the grandson of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

13 In their presence, I instructed Baruch as follows:

14 This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: |Take these deeds—both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed—and put them in a clay pot so they'll last for a long time.

15 For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.'|'|

16 |After I had given the deed of purchase to Neriah's son Baruch, I prayed to the LORD:

17 LORD! Look, you made the heavens and the earth with your great power and your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you!

18 You, the great God, the mighty one, show gracious love to thousands and repay the parents' iniquity to their children after them. The LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name.

19 You are great in regards to your purposes and mighty in regards to your works. Your eyes are open to everything that people do, and will reward each one according to their ways and just as their actions deserve.

20 You are the one who performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt and continue to do so until this day, both in Israel and among the rest of humanity. You made a reputation for yourself that continues to this day.

21 By your strong hand and outstretched arm, and with great terror, you brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders.