Jeremiah Buys a Field

¹ The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the tenth year of Zedekiah the king of Judah, that was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

² Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was laying siege to Jerusalem and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah,

³ where Zedekiah, the king of Judah, had confined him, ⌞saying⌟,¹ “Why are you prophesying, ⌞saying⌟,² ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Look, I am going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it,

1. Literally “to say”
2. Literally “to say”

⁴ and Zedekiah, the king of Judah, will not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but surely he will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and ⌞he will speak face to face with him⌟¹ and ⌞he will see him eye to eye⌟,²

1. Literally “his mouth shall speak with his mouth”
2. Literally “his eyes shall see his eyes”

⁵ and to Babylon he will bring Zedekiah, and there he will be until my attending to him,” ⌞declares⌟¹ Yahweh. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not be successful” ’?”

1. Literally “a declaration of”

⁶ And Jeremiah said, “The word of Yahweh came to me, ⌞saying⌟,¹

1. Literally “to say”

⁷ ‘Look, Hanamel, the son of Shallum, your uncle, is going to come to you, ⌞saying⌟,¹ “Buy for yourself my field that is at Anathoth, for ⌞you have⌟² the right of redemption to buy it.” ’³

1. Literally “to say”
2. Literally “to you is”
3. Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation

⁸ Then Hanamel, the son of my uncle, came to me, to the courtyard of the guard ⌞according to⌟¹ the word of Yahweh, and he said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is at Anathoth, that is in the land of Benjamin, for to you is the claim of possession, and to you the redemption; buy it² for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of Yahweh.

1. Literally “as”
2. Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation

⁹ And I bought the field from Hanamel, the son of my uncle, that was at Anathoth. And I weighed out to him the money, seventeen silver shekels.

¹⁰ And I signed on the letter¹ and sealed it,² and I called witnesses as witness, and I weighed out the money on a set of scales.

1. Or “scroll”
2. Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation

¹¹ Then I took the deed¹ of the purchase, the sealed copy containing the commandments² and the rules, together with the one that was open.

1. Or “scroll”
2. Hebrew “commandment”

¹² And I gave the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, ⌞in the presence of⌟¹ Hanamel, the son of my uncle, and ⌞in the presence of⌟² the witnesses who signed the deed of the purchase, ⌞in the presence of⌟³ the Judeans⁴ who were sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

1. Literally “before the eyes of”
2. Literally “before the eyes of”
3. Literally “before the eyes of”
4. Hebrew “Judean”

¹³ And I commanded Baruch ⌞in their presence⌟,¹ ⌞saying⌟,²

1. Literally “before their eyes”
2. Literally “to say”

¹⁴ ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds,¹ this deed of the purchase, the sealed one, and this opened deed, and you must put them in an ⌞earthenware jar⌟² so that they may be kept preserved many days.”

1. Or “scrolls”
2. Literally “jar of earthenware”

¹⁵ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: “Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.” ’

¹⁶ And I prayed to Yahweh—after giving my deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah—⌞saying⌟,¹

1. Literally “to say”

¹⁷ ‘Ah Lord Yahweh! Look, you made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. ⌞Nothing⌟¹ is too difficult for you,

1. Literally “Not all a thing”

¹⁸ showing loyal love to the thousands, and repaying the guilt of ⌞parents⌟¹ into the laps² of their children after them. Powerful, great, mighty, his name is Yahweh of hosts,

1. Literally “fathers”
2. Hebrew “lap”

¹⁹ great in counsel and great in deed, whose eyes are opened to all the ways of the children of humankind, to give to each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds,

²⁰ who accomplished signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, up to this day, and in Israel, and among humankind, and you have made for yourself a name, as it is this day.

²¹ And you brought out your people Israel from the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with an arm stretched out, and with great terror.

²² And you gave to them this land, which you swore to their ancestors¹ to give to them, a land flowing with milk and honey.

1. Or “fathers”

²³ And they entered and took possession of it, but they did not listen to your voice, and they did not follow your law. They did nothing of all that you commanded to them to do, and you caused to happen to them all this disaster.

²⁴ Look, the siege ramps have come up to 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, the famine, and the plague, and what you spoke happened, and look, you are seeing it.¹

1. Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation

²⁵ Yet you have said to me, Lord Yahweh, “Buy for yourself the field with the money, and call witnesses as witness,” though the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ ”

²⁶ And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, ⌞saying⌟,¹

1. Literally “to say”

²⁷ “Look, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh; is ⌞anything⌟¹ too difficult for me?”

1. Literally “all thing”

²⁸ ⌞Therefore⌟¹ thus says Yahweh: “Look, I am going to give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.

1. Literally “To thus”

²⁹ And the Chaldeans, who are fighting against this city, will come and set this city on fire, and they will burn it, and the houses where they have made smoke offerings on their roofs to Baal, and where they have devoted libations to other gods, in order to provoke me to anger.

³⁰ For the people¹ of Israel and the people² of Judah were doing only evil in my eyes from their youth, for the people³ of Israel were only provoking me to anger by the work of their hands,” ⌞declares⌟⁴ Yahweh.

1. Or “sons/children”
2. Or “sons/children”
3. Or “sons/children”
4. Literally “a declaration of”

³¹ “For this city has been for me a cause of my anger and of my wrath from the day that they built it even until this day, so I will remove it from my ⌞sight⌟,¹

1. Literally “face”

³² because of all the evil of the people¹ of Israel and the people² of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger—they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, and the men³ of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

1. Or “sons/children”
2. Or “sons/children”
3. Hebrew “man”

³³ And they have turned to me their backs¹ and not their faces, though ⌞I have taught them over and over again⌟,² but they were not listening to accept discipline.

1. Hebrew “back”
2. Literally “I have taught them doing early and teaching”

³⁴ And they set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it.

³⁵ And they built the high places of Baal that are in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to present as offerings their sons and their daughters to Molech, which I had not commanded them, and it had not come to my ⌞mind⌟¹ to do this detestable thing in order to cause Judah to sin.”

1. Literally “heart”

³⁶ “So now ⌞therefore⌟,¹ thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning this city, of which you are saying, ‘It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague’: