Dual Panel1The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar.
2At that time the forces of the Babylonian king were besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was imprisoned in the court of the guardhouse attached to the royal palace.
3King Zedekiah had imprisoned him after demanding what he meant by this prophecy: “These are the words of the LORD: I shall give this city into the power of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.
4Nor will King Zedekiah of Judah escape from the Chaldaeans; he will be surrendered to the king of Babylon and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes.
5Zedekiah will be taken to Babylon and will remain there until the day I visit him, says the LORD. However much you fight against the Chaldaeans you will have no success.”
6Jeremiah said: This word of the LORD came to me:
7Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is coming to you; he will say, “Buy my field at Anathoth; as next-of-kin you have the right of redemption to buy it.”
8Just as the LORD had foretold, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guardhouse and said, “Buy my field at Anathoth in Benjamin. You have the right of redemption and possession as next-of-kin, so buy it for yourself.” I recognized that this instruction came from the LORD,
9so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out the price for him, seventeen shekels of silver.
10I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and then weighed the money on the scales.
11I took my copies of the deed of purchase, both the sealed and the unsealed copies,
12and handed them over to Baruch son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my cousin and the witnesses whose names were subscribed on the deed of purchase, and of the Judaeans sitting in the court of the guardhouse.
13In their presence I gave my instructions to Baruch:
14These are the words of the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: Take these copies of the deed of purchase, both the sealed and the unsealed copies, and deposit them in an earthenware jar so that they may be preserved for a long time to come.
15For these are the words of the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought and sold in this land.
16After I handed over the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I offered this prayer to the LORD:
17Lord GOD, maker of the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm, nothing is impossible for you.
18You keep faith with thousands but punish the children for the sins of their fathers. Great and mighty God whose name is the LORD of Hosts,
19great in purpose and mighty in action, your eyes watch all the ways of mortals, rewarding each according to his conduct and as his deeds deserve.
20You worked signs and portents in Egypt and have continued them to this day, both in Israel and among all mankind, and have won for yourself renown that lives on to this day.
21You brought your people Israel out of Egypt amid signs and portents, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror.
22You gave them this land which you promised with an oath to their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.
23They came and took possession of it, but they did not obey you or follow your law; they did not perform all you commanded them to do, and so you have brought on them this whole disaster:
24siege-ramps, and men advancing to take the city; and the city, victim of sword, famine, and pestilence, is given over to the attacking Chaldaeans. What you threatened has come true, as you see.
25And yet, Lord GOD, you have bidden me buy the field and have the deed witnessed, even though the city is to be given into the power of the Chaldaeans!
26These are the words of the LORD to Jeremiah:
27I am the LORD, the God of all mankind; is anything impossible for me?
28Therefore these are the words of the LORD: I am about to give this city into the hands of the Chaldaeans and of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, and he will take it.
29The Chaldaeans assailing this city will enter and set it on fire; they will burn it down, together with the houses on whose roofs sacrifices have been burnt to Baal and drink-offerings poured out to other gods, by which I was provoked to anger.
30From their earliest days Israel and Judah have been doing what is wrong in my eyes, provoking me to anger by their idolatry, says the LORD.
31For this city has so roused my anger and my fury, from the time it was built down to this day, that I mean to rid myself of it.
32Israel and Judah, their kings, officers, priests, prophets, and the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem, have provoked me to anger by their wrongdoing.
33They have turned their backs on me and averted their faces; though I taught them again and again, they would not hear or learn their lesson.
34They set up their loathsome idols in the house which bears my name and so defiled it.
35They built shrines to Baal in the valley of Ben-hinnom, at which to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech. That was no command of mine to them, nor did it ever enter my mind that they should do this abominable thing, so causing Judah to sin.
36Now, therefore, these are the words of the LORD the God of Israel to this city of which you say, “It is being given over to the king of Babylon, by sword, famine, and pestilence”:
37I shall gather them from all the lands to which I banished them in my furious anger and great wrath; I shall bring them back to this place and let them dwell there undisturbed.
38They will be my people and I shall be their God.
39I shall give them singleness of heart and one way of life so that they will fear me at all times, for their own good and the good of their children after them.
40I shall enter into an everlasting covenant with them, to follow them unfailingly with my bounty; I shall put fear of me into their hearts, and so they will not turn away from me.
41It will be a joy to me to do them good, and faithfully with all my heart and soul I shall plant them in this land.
42For these are the words of the LORD: As I brought upon this people all this great disaster, so shall I bring them all the prosperity which I now promise them.
43Fields will again be bought and sold in this land of which you now say, “It is a desolation abandoned by man and beast; it is given over to the Chaldaeans.”
44Fields will be bought and sold, deeds signed, sealed, and witnessed, in Benjamin, in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah, of the hill-country, of the Shephelah, and of the Negeb; for I shall restore their fortunes. This is the word of the LORD.