Jeremiah 31:15–32:25
lamentation and bitter weeping.
lRachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,
mbecause they are no more.”
“Keep your voice from weeping,
and your eyes from tears,
for there is a reward for your work,
declares the Lord,
and nthey shall come back from the land of the enemy.
17 oThere is hope for your future,
declares the Lord,
and your children shall come back to their own country.
18 I have heard pEphraim grieving,
‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,
like an untrained calf;
qbring me back that I may be restored,
for you are the Lord my God.
19 For after rI had turned away, I relented,
and after I was instructed, sI struck my thigh;
tI was ashamed, and I was confounded,
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
20 pIs Ephraim my dear son?
uIs he my darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
I do remember him still.
vTherefore my heart2 yearns for him;
I will surely have mercy on him,
declares the Lord.
21 w“Set up road markers for yourself;
make yourself guideposts;
xconsider well the highway,
wthe road by which you went.
Return, O virgin Israel,
return to these your cities.
22 yHow long will you waver,
zO faithless daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth:
a woman encircles a man.”
23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, awhen I restore their fortunes:
b“ ‘The Lord bless you, cO habitation of righteousness,
dO holy hill!’
24 eAnd Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and ethe farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25 For I will fsatisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”
26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.
27 g“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when hI will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with ithe seed of man and the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass that jas I have watched over them kto pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, jso I will watch over them lto build and to plant, declares the Lord. 29 In those days they shall no longer say:
m“ ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
30 nBut everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31 o“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make pa new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when qI took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, rthough I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 sFor this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: sI will put my law within them, and I will write it ton their hearts. uAnd I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ vfor they shall all know me, wfrom the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For xI will forgive their iniquity, and yI will remember their sin no more.”
who zgives the sun for light by day
and athe fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
bthe Lord of hosts is his name:
36 c“If this fixed order departs
from before me, declares the Lord,
then shall the offspring of Israel cease
from being a nation before me forever.”
“If the heavens above can be measured,
and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,
dthen I will cast off all the offspring of Israel
for all that they have done,
declares the Lord.”
38 e“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the city shall be rebuilt for the Lord ffrom the Tower of Hananel to gthe Corner Gate. 39 hAnd the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. 40 iThe whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the jbrook Kidron, to the corner of kthe Horse Gate toward the east, lshall be sacred to the Lord. mIt shall not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”
Jeremiah Buys a Field During the Siege
32 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord nin the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, owhich was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet pwas shut up in qthe court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah. 3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: rBehold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it; 4 sZedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, rbut shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye. 5 And the shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I visit him, declares the Lord. uThough you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed’?”
6 Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: 7 Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, v‘Buy my field that is at wAnathoth, xfor the right of redemption by purchase is yours.’ 8 Then Hanamel my cousin came to me in qthe court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, ‘Buy my field that is at wAnathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.
9 “And I bought the field at wAnathoth from Hanamel my cousin, and yweighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 zI signed the deed, asealed it, bgot witnesses, and yweighed the money on scales. 11 Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions and the open copy. 12 And I gave the deed of purchase to cBaruch the son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my cousin, in the presence of dthe witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in qthe court of the guard. 13 I charged cBaruch in their presence, saying, 14 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware vessel, that they may last for a long time. 15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and efields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.’
Jeremiah Prays for Understanding
16 “After I had given the deed of purchase to fBaruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: 17 ‘Ah, Lord God! It is gyou who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by hyour outstretched arm! iNothing is too hard for you. 18 jYou show steadfast love to thousands, jbut you repay the guilt of fathers kto their children after them, O great and lmighty God, whose name is the mLord of hosts, 19 ngreat in counsel and omighty in deed, pwhose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, qrewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds. 20 You have shown rsigns and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, sand have made a name for yourself, as at this day. 21 tYou brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and uoutstretched arm, tand with great terror. 22 And you gave them this land, vwhich you swore to their fathers to give them, va land flowing with milk and honey. 23 And they entered and took possession of it. wBut they did not obey your voice or walk in your law. They did nothing of all you commanded them to do. Therefore you have made all this disaster come upon them. 24 Behold, xthe siege mounds have come up to the city to take it, and ybecause of sword and famine and pestilence zthe city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you spoke has come to pass, and behold, you see it. 25 Yet you, O Lord God, have said to me, a“Buy the field for money band get witnesses”—though zthe city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.’ ”