Jeremiah

32 The word which came unto Jeremiah from Yahweh, in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah,—the same was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar;

2 and then the forces of the king of Babylon were besieging Jerusalem,—and Jeremiah the prophet had been shut up in the guard-court, which was in the house of the king of Judah;

3 whom Zedekiah king of Judah had shut up saying,—Why art thou prophesying saying,—Thus saith Yahweh, Behold me! giving up this city into the hand of the king of Babylon and he shall capture it;

4 and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not be delivered out of the hand of the Chaldeans,—for he shall be wholly given up into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak—the mouth of the one to the mouth of the other, and the eyes of the one into the eyes of the other shall look;

5 and into Babylon shall he lead Zedekiah and there shall he remain, until I visit him, Declareth Yahweh,—though ye fight with the Chaldeans ye shall not prosper?

6 And Jeremiah said,—The word of Yahweh came unto me saying:

7 Lo! Hanameel son of Shallum thine uncle hath come unto thee saying,—Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth, for thine is the right of redemption to buy it.

8 So Hanameel son of mine uncle came unto me according to the word of Yahweh into the guard-court, and said unto me, Buy, I pray thee, my field that is in Anathoth which is in the land of Benjamin, for thine is the right of inheritance and thine the redemption—buy it for thyself. So I knew that the word of Yahweh it was.

9 And I bought the field from Hanameel son of mine uncle that was in Anathoth,—and weighed him the silver, seventeen shekels was the silver;

10 and I wrote in the scroll and sealed it, and took in attestation witnesses,—and weighed the silver in the balances.

11 Then took I the scroll of purchase, both that which was sealed—the title and the conditions—and that which was open;

12 and gave the scroll of purchase unto Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle[’s son], and in the sight of the witnesses who subscribed the scroll of purchase,—in the sight of all the Jews who were sitting in the guard-court.

13 Then charged I Baruch in their sight saying:

14 Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, Take thou these scrolls, this scroll of purchase, even that which is sealed, and this scroll that is open, and put them in an earthen vessel,—that they may remain many days.

15 For Thus saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel: Again shall houses and fields and vineyards be bought in this land.

16 Then prayed I unto Yahweh,—after I had delivered the scroll of purchase unto Baruch son of Neriah, saying:—

17 Alas! My Lord Yahweh! Lo! thou thyself didst make the heavens and the earth, by thy great might and by thine outstretched arm,—There is nothing too wonderful for thee:

18 Executing lovingkindness unto thousands, But recompensing the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, Thou God the great, the mighty, Yahweh of hosts is his name:

19 Great in counsel and mighty in deed,—Whose eyes are open on all the ways of the sons of men, to give unto every one According to his ways and According to the fruit of his doings:

20 Who didst set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, unto this day, and in Israel and among mankind,—And didst make for thyself a name as at this day;

21 And didst bring forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt, With signs and with wonders and With a strong hand and With an outstretched arm, and With great terror;

22 And didst give unto them this land which thou hadst sworn to their fathers to give unto them,—a land flowing with milk and honey;

23 And they came in and took possession of it But hearkened not unto thy voice Nor in thy law did they walk, Nought of what thou hadst commanded them to do did they do,—And so thou hast caused to befall them all this calamity.

24 Lo! the earthworks! they have entered the city to capture it, And the city hath been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it, because of the sword and the famine and the pestilence,—And so what thou didst speak hath come to pass, And there thou art, looking on!

25 Yet thou thyself saidst unto me, O My Lord Yahweh, Buy thee the field for silver And take in attestation witnesses,—Whereas the city hath been given into the hand of the Chaldeans!

26 Then came the word of Yahweh unto Jeremiah saying:—

27 Lo! I am Yahweh, God of all flesh,—For me is any thing too wonderful?

28 Therefore Thus saith Yahweh,—Behold me! giving this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall capture it;

29 And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city Shall enter, and Shall set this city on fire and Shall consume it,—With the houses on whose roofs they burned incense to Baal and poured out drink-offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger;

30 For the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have been nothing but doers of wickedness in my sight from the days of their youth,—For the sons of Israel have been doing nothing but provoke me to anger by the workmanship of their hands, Declareth Yahweh;

31 For According to mine anger and According to mine indignation hath been to me this city, from the day when they built it even unto this day,—that I should pull it down from before my face:

32 because of all the wickedness of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests and their prophets, and the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem:

33 Thus have they turned unto me the back and not the face,—Though I instructed them, betimes instructing them, Yet have they not been hearkening to receive correction;

34 But have set their abominations in the house on which my name hath been called, to defile it;

35 And have built the high places of Baal which are in the valley of Ben-hinnom To cause their sons and their daughters to pass through unto Molech, Which I commanded them not Neither came it up on my heart, That they should do this horrible thing,—Causing Judah to sin!

36 Now therefore because of this—Thus saith Yahweh, God of Israel,—Concerning this city whereof ye are saying, It hath been delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, by sword and by famine and by pestilence:

37 Behold me! gathering them out of all the lands whither I have driven them—In mine anger and In mine indignation and In great vexation,—And I will cause them to return into this place, And will make them dwell securely;

38 And they shall become my people,—And I will become their God;

39 And I will give them one heart and one way, That they may revere me all the days,—For the good of them and of their children after them;

40 And I will solemnise to them an age-abiding covenant, That I will not turn away from following them, to do them good,—But the reverence of myself will I put in their heart, so that they shall not turn away from me.

41 And I will rejoice over them to do them good,—And will plant them in this land in truth, with all my heart and with all my soul.

42 For Thus saith Yahweh, Like as I have brought upon this people all this great calamity So am I bringing upon them all the good that I am speaking concerning them.

43 Therefore shall fields be bought in this land,—whereof ye are saying, It is a desolation Without man or beast, It hath been given into the hand of the Chaldeans:

44 Fields—for silver shall men buy, And write in scrolls And seal them And take in attestation witnesses, In the land of Benjamin and In the places round about Jerusalem and In the cities of Judah and In the cities of the hill country, and In the cities of the lowland and In the cities of the South,—For I will cause them of their captivity to return, Declareth Yahweh.