Jeremiah 39
He Bought a Field While the City Was Falling
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Jeremiah Shut in the Guard Court
39:1The word that came from the Lord to Jeremiah in King Zedekiah’s tenth year, which was the eighteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
39:2The king of Babylon’s force had built siegeworks against Jerusalem, and Jeremiah was kept in the prison court at the king’s house.
39:3King Zedekiah had shut him in there, saying, Why do you prophesy, saying, Thus said the Lord: I am handing this city over to Babylon’s king, and he will take it?
39:4Zedekiah will certainly not be saved from the Chaldeans’ hand, but will certainly be handed over to Babylon’s king. His mouth will speak to his mouth, and his eyes will see his eyes.
39:5Zedekiah will enter Babylon and remain there.
39:6The Lord’s word came to Jeremiah:
Buy My Field at Anathoth
39:7Hanamel son of Shallum, your father’s brother, is coming to you, saying, Acquire my field at Anathoth for yourself, because you have the right to receive it as a possession.
39:8Hanamel son of Shallum, my father’s brother, came to me in the prison court and said, Acquire my field in Benjamin’s land at Anathoth, because you have the right to acquire it, and you are the elder. Then I knew that this was the Lord’s word.
39:9I acquired the field of Hanamel, my father’s brother’s son, and weighed out to him seventeen shekels of silver.
39:10I wrote a document, sealed it, called witnesses, and weighed the silver on a balance.
39:11I took the purchase document, the sealed one and the one that had been read.
39:12I gave it to Baruch son of Neriah son of Maaseiah, before Hanamel my father’s brother’s son, before those standing there and writing in the purchase document, and before the Judeans in the prison court.
The Purchase Document Given to Baruch
39:13Before their eyes I instructed Baruch:
39:14Thus said the Lord Almighty: Take this purchase document and the document that has been read, and put it in an earthenware vessel so that it may last many days.
39:15For thus said the Lord: Fields, houses, and vineyards will again be acquired in this land.
39:16After giving the purchase document to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord:
O Lord, You Made Heaven and Earth
39:17O Lord, You made heaven and earth by Your great strength and Your high, uplifted arm. Nothing can be hidden from You.
39:18You show mercy to thousands and repay fathers’ sins into their children’s laps after them, the great and strong God,
39:19Lord of great counsel and powerful in works, the great God, the Almighty and renowned Lord. Your eyes are upon the ways of human beings, to give each according to his way.
39:20You performed signs and wonders in Egypt down to this day, in Israel and among earthborn people, and made a name for Yourself as it is this day.
39:21You brought Your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a mighty hand, a high arm, and great sights.
39:22You gave them this land, which You had sworn to their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.
39:23They entered and received it, but did not obey Your voice or walk in Your ordinances. They did none of all that You commanded them, and You caused all these calamities to befall them.
39:24A multitude has reached this city to seize it. The city was handed over to the Chaldeans fighting it because of sword and famine. As You spoke, so it happened.
39:25Yet You say to me, Acquire a field with silver. And I wrote a document, sealed it, and called witnesses—even though the city was handed over to the Chaldeans.
39:26The Lord’s word came to me:
I Am the Lord, the God of All Flesh
39:27I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Can anything be hidden from Me?
39:28Therefore thus said the Lord, Israel’s God: This city will certainly be handed over to Babylon’s king, and he will take it.
39:29The Chaldeans fighting this city will come and burn this city with fire. They will burn down the houses on whose roofs they burned incense to Baal and poured libations to other gods to provoke Me bitterly.
39:30The children of Israel and Judah alone were doing evil in My sight from their youth.
39:31This city has aroused My anger and wrath from the day they built it until this day, so that I would remove it from My presence,
39:32because of all the wicked deeds the children of Israel and Judah committed to embitter Me—they and their kings, their rulers, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah and Jerusalem’s inhabitants.
39:33They turned their backs to Me, not their faces. I taught them from early morning and kept teaching, but they did not listen and take hold of discipline.
39:34They set their pollutions in the house over which My name is invoked, amid their impurities.
39:35They built the altars to Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer their sons and daughters to Molech the king. I had not instructed them, nor had it entered My heart, to do this abomination and cause Judah to sin.
39:36And now, thus said the Lord, Israel’s God, concerning the city of which you say, It will be handed over to Babylon’s king by sword, famine, and a sent affliction:
Gathered Again Under an Eternal Covenant
39:37I am gathering them from all the land where I scattered them in My anger, wrath, and great indignation. I will bring them back to this place and settle them in confidence.
39:38They will be My people, and I will be their God.
39:39I will give them another way and another heart, to fear Me always, for their good and their children’s good after them.
39:40I will establish an eternal covenant with them, which I will certainly not turn back from behind them. I will put My fear in their heart so that they do not depart from Me.
39:41I will attend to them to do them good and will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all heart and all soul.
39:42For thus said the Lord: Just as I brought all these great calamities upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good things I spoke concerning them.
Fields Bought Again in the Land
39:43Fields will again be acquired in the land of which you say, It is untrodden by people and animals, and they were handed over to the Chaldeans.
39:44They will acquire fields with silver, and you will write a document, seal it, and call witnesses in Benjamin’s land, around Jerusalem, in Judah’s cities, the hill-country cities, the cities of the Shephelah, and the cities of the Negeb, because I will bring back their exiles.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.