Jeremiah 32:1–15

JEREMIAH’S LAND PURCHASE

32This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of King Zedekiah^k of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.^{l 2}At that time, the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem,^m and the prophet Jeremiah was imprisoned in the guard’s courtyardⁿ in the palace of the king of Judah. ³King Zedekiah of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why are you prophesying as you do? You say, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am about to hand this city over to Babylon’s king, and he will capture it. ⁴King Zedekiah of Judah will not escape from the Chaldeans; indeed, he will certainly be handed over to Babylon’s king. They will speak face to face^B and meet eye to eye.^{o 5}He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will stay until I attend to him—this is the Lord’s declaration. For you will fight the Chaldeans, but you will not succeed.’ ”^p

⁶Jeremiah replied, “The word of the Lord came to me: ⁷Watch! Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, is coming to you to say, ‘Buy my field in Anathoth^q for yourself, for you own the right of redemption^r to buy it.’

⁸“Then, as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to the guard’s courtyard and urged me, ‘Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for you own the right of inheritance and redemption. Buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. ⁹So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and I weighed out the silver to him^s —seventeen shekels^A of silver. ¹⁰I recorded it on a scroll,^t sealed it, called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. ¹¹I took the purchase agreement—the sealed copy with its terms and conditions and the open copy—¹²and gave the purchase agreement to Baruch^u son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah. I did this in the sight of my cousin^B Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the purchase agreement, and all the Judeans sitting in the guard’s courtyard.

¹³“I charged Baruch in their sight, ¹⁴‘This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Take these scrolls—this purchase agreement with the sealed copy and this open copy—and put them in an earthen storage jar so they will last a long time. ¹⁵For this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’^v