The Lord Answers Jeremiah’s Prayer

32:26 The Lord answered Jeremiah.52 32:27 “I am the Lord, the God of all humankind. There is, indeed, nothing too difficult for me.53 32:28 Therefore I, the Lord, say:54 ‘I will indeed hand55 this city over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Babylonian army.56 They will capture it. 32:29 The Babylonian soldiers57 that are attacking this city will break into it and set it on fire. They will burn it down along with the houses where people have made me angry by offering sacrifices to the god Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods on their rooftops.58 32:30 This will happen because the people of Israel and Judah have repeatedly done what displeases me59 from their earliest history until now60 and because they61 have repeatedly made me angry by the things they have done.62 I, the Lord, affirm it!63 32:31 This will happen because64 the people of this city have aroused my anger and my wrath since the time they built it until now.65 They have made me so angry that I am determined to remove66 it from my sight. 32:32 I am determined to do so because the people of Israel and Judah have made me angry with all their wickedness—they, their kings, their officials, their priests, their prophets, and especially the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem67 have done this wickedness.68 32:33 They have turned away from me instead of turning to me.69 I tried over and over again70 to instruct them, but they did not listen and respond to correction.71 32:34 They set up their disgusting idols in the temple which I have claimed for my own72 and defiled it. 32:35 They built places of worship for the god Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they could sacrifice their sons and daughters to the god Molech.73 Such a disgusting practice was not something I commanded them to do! It never even entered my mind to command them to do such a thing! So Judah is certainly liable for punishment.’74

32:36 “You and your people75 are right in saying, ‘War,76 starvation, and disease are sure to make this city fall into the hands of the king of Babylon.’77 But now I, the Lord God of Israel, have something further to say about this city:78 32:37 ‘I will certainly regather my people from all the countries where I will have exiled79 them in my anger, fury, and great wrath. I will bring them back to this place and allow them to live here in safety. 32:38 They will be my people, and I will be their God.80 32:39 I will give them a single-minded purpose to live in a way that always shows respect for me. They will want to do that for81 their own good and the good of the children who descend from them. 32:40 I will make a lasting covenant82 with them that I will never stop doing good to them.83 I will fill their hearts and minds with respect for me so that84 they will never again turn85 away from me. 32:41 I will take delight in doing good to them. I will faithfully and wholeheartedly plant them86 firmly in the land.’

32:42 “For I, the Lord, say:87 ‘I will surely bring on these people all the good fortune that I am hereby promising them. I will be just as sure to do that as I have been in bringing all this great disaster on them.88 32:43 You and your people89 are saying that this land will become desolate, uninhabited by either people or animals. You are saying that it will be handed over to the Babylonians.90 But fields91 will again be bought in this land.92 32:44 Fields will again be bought with silver, and deeds of purchase signed, sealed, and witnessed. This will happen in the territory of Benjamin, the villages surrounding Jerusalem, the towns in Judah, the southern hill country, the western foothills, and southern Judah.93 For I will restore them to their land.94 I, the Lord, affirm it!’ ”95