1The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.
2At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah.
3For Zedekiah king of Judah had confined him, saying, “Why do you prophesy, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it,
4and Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and his mouth will speak with his mouth, and his eyes will see his eyes,’
5and he will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he will remain until I attend to him, declares Yahweh. Though you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed’?”
6And Jeremiah said, “The word of Yahweh came to me, saying:
7Behold, Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, ‘Buy for yourself my field that is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is yours to buy it.’
8So Hanamel my cousin came to me, according to the word of Yahweh, to the court of the guard, and said to me, ‘Buy my field, please, that is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession is yours, and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of Yahweh.
9So I bought the field from Hanamel my cousin that was in Anathoth, and I weighed out for him the silver, seventeen shekels of silver.
10And I wrote it in a deed and sealed it and called witnesses, and I weighed the silver on the scales.
11Then I took the deed of purchase, both the sealed copy—containing the terms and conditions—and the open copy,
12and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, before the eyes of Hanamel my cousin, and before the eyes of the witnesses who had signed the deed of purchase, before the eyes of all the Judeans sitting in the court of the guard.
13And I charged Baruch before their eyes, saying,
14Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, this deed of purchase, both the sealed one and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware vessel, so that they may last for many days.
15For thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”
16After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to Yahweh, saying,
17“Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you—
18showing loyal love to thousands, but repaying the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them, the great and mighty God—Yahweh of Hosts is his name—
19great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of man, to give to each according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds;
20who set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day, both in Israel and among mankind, and made a name for yourself as it is this day;
21and you brought out your people Israel from the land of Egypt with signs and wonders and with a strong hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror,
22and you gave them this land that you swore to their fathers to give to them, a land flowing with milk and honey.
23And they came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey your voice, and did not walk in your law; they did nothing of all that you commanded them to do. So you have brought upon them all this disaster.
24Behold, the siege ramps have reached the city to capture it, and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it, because of the sword and the famine and the plague. What you spoke has happened, and behold, you are seeing it.
25Yet you, Lord Yahweh, said to me, ‘Buy for yourself the field with silver and call witnesses’—though the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans!”
26Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying:
27“Behold, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for me?
28Therefore thus says Yahweh: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will capture it.
29And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come and set this city on fire and burn it, along with the houses on whose roofs they burned incense to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods, so as to provoke me to anger.
30For the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have only been doing what is evil in my eyes from their youth; indeed, the sons of Israel have only been provoking me to anger by the work of their hands, declares Yahweh.
31For this city has been to me a provocation of my anger and my wrath from the day they built it until this day, so that I should remove it from before my face,
32because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah that they did to provoke me — they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
33They turned to me the back of the neck and not the face; though I taught them, rising early and teaching, they were not listening to receive discipline.
34They set their detestable things in the house over which my name is called, to defile it.
35They built the high places of Baal that are in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom, to pass their sons and their daughters over to Molech — which I did not command them, nor did it come up into my heart to do this abomination, so as to make Judah sin.
36And now, therefore, thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you are saying, ‘It has been given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword and by famine and by plague’:
37Behold, I am gathering them from all the lands where I have driven them in my anger and in my wrath and in great fury, and I will bring them back to this place and cause them to dwell in security.
38And they will be my people, and I myself will be their God.
39And I will give them one heart and one way, to fear me all the days, for good to them and to their children after them.
40And I will cut with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn back from following them to do them good; and I will put the fear of me in their heart, so that they will not turn away from me.
41And I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and with all my self.
42For thus says Yahweh: Just as I have brought upon this people all this great evil, so I am bringing upon them all the good that I am speaking concerning them.
43And fields will be bought in this land of which you are saying, ‘It is a desolation, without human or beast; it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’
44Fields will be bought for silver, and deeds written and sealed and witnessed by witnesses, in the land of Benjamin and in the surroundings of Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah and in the cities of the hill country and in the cities of the Shephelah and in the cities of the Negev; for I will restore their fortunes, declares Yahweh.
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