Jeremiah 32 — Septuagint (LXX)

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

At 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 palace of the king of Judah.

Zedekiah king of Judah had confined him, saying, "Why do you prophesy, saying, 'This is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it;

and Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the Chaldeans, but will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye;

He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he will remain until I attend to him, declares the LORD. If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed.'"

Jeremiah said: The word of the LORD came to me:

"Hanamel son of Shallum, your uncle's son, is coming to you. He will say: 'Buy my field at Anathoth, for the right of redemption belongs to you as next of kin to purchase it.'"

Then Hanamel, my uncle's son, came to me in the court of the guard, just as the LORD had said, and told me: "Please buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin, for you have the right of inheritance and the right of redemption — buy it for yourself." Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.

So I bought the field at Anathoth from Hanamel, my uncle's son, and I weighed out the silver for him — seventeen shekels of silver.

I signed the deed, sealed it, called witnesses, and weighed the silver on scales.

Then I took the deed of purchase — the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, and the open copy —

and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, son 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 court of the guard.

Then I instructed Baruch in their presence:

"This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Take these deeds — this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed — and place them in a clay jar so that they will last for a long time."

For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.

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

You show faithful love to thousands, yet you repay the iniquity of ancestors into the laps of their children after them — O great and mighty God, the LORD of Hosts is his name!

Great in counsel and mighty in deed — your eyes are open to all the ways of humankind, to repay each person according to his ways and according to the fruit of his actions.

You performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt — and to this day, both in Israel and among all people — and you made a name for yourself, as it remains today.

You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror.

You gave them this land that you swore to their ancestors to give them — a land flowing with milk and honey.

They came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey your voice or walk in your instruction. They did nothing of all you commanded them to do — so you brought all this disaster upon them.

Look — the siege ramps have reached the city to capture it, and the city is being handed over to the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of sword, famine, and plague. What you spoke has come to pass — and you can see it yourself!

Yet you yourself said to me, Lord GOD: 'Buy the field with silver and call witnesses' — even though the city is being handed over to the Chaldeans!"

Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

"I am the LORD, the God of all living things. Is anything too difficult for me?"

Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the Chaldeans and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will capture it.

The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come and set this city on fire, burning it along with the houses on whose rooftops they burned incense to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods, provoking me to anger.

For the people of Israel and the people of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth, for the people of Israel have done nothing but provoke me to anger with the work of their hands, declares the LORD.

For this city has been a source of my anger and my fury from the day they built it until this very day, so that I must remove it from my presence —

because of all the evil that the people of Israel and the people of Judah have done to provoke me to anger — they, their kings, their officials, their priests, their prophets, the people of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

They turned their backs to me, not their faces. Though I taught them persistently, teaching again and again, they would not listen or accept correction.

They placed their detestable idols in the house that bears my name, defiling it.

They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through fire to Molech — something I never commanded and that never entered my mind — committing this abomination and causing Judah to sin.

"Now therefore, this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about this city that you say is being handed over to the king of Babylon by sword, famine, and plague:

I am going to gather them from all the lands where I have driven them in my anger, in my fury, and in great wrath. I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety.

They will be my people, and I will be their God.

I will give them one heart and one path, to revere me at all times, for their own good and for the good of their children after them.

I will cut an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from them or cease doing them good. I will place the reverence of me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from me.

I will take delight in doing them good, and I will plant them firmly in this land with all my heart and with all my being.

For this is what the LORD says: Just as I brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I am going to bring upon them all the good that I am promising them.

Fields will again be purchased in this land about which you say, 'It is desolate, without human or animal — it has been handed over to the Chaldeans.'

Fields will be bought with silver, deeds will be written, sealed, and witnessed — in the territory of Benjamin, in the area around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowlands, and in the cities of the Negev. For I will restore their fortunes, declares the LORD."