Jeremiah 39

1 The word that came from the Lord to Jeremiah in the tenth year of King Zedekiah — that was the eighteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. 2 The army of the king of Babylon had set up siege works against Jerusalem, and Jeremiah was being held in the courtyard of the guard, which is in the king’s house, 3 where King Zedekiah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you prophesy, saying, This is what the Lord says: Look, I am giving this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will take it,” 4 “and Zedekiah will not be rescued from the hand of the Chaldeans, for he will surely be handed over into the hands of the king of Babylon, and his mouth will speak to his mouth, and his eyes will see his eyes,” 5 “and Zedekiah will go into Babylon and stay there?” [a]

6 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 7 “Look, Hanamel son of Shallum, your father’s brother, is coming to you to say, Buy for yourself my field in Anathoth, for you have the right to take it as your possession.” 8 Then Hanamel, the son of Shallum my father’s brother, came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said to me, “Buy my field in the land of Benjamin, in Anathoth, for you have the right to buy it, and you are the elder.” And I knew that this was the word of the Lord. [b] 9 So I bought the field from Hanamel, my father’s brother’s son, and weighed out for him about seven ounces of silver. [c] 10 I wrote it in a deed and sealed it, had witnesses witness it, and weighed the silver on the scales. 11 Then I took the deed of purchase — the sealed one and the one that had been read out — 12 and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my father’s brother’s son, in the sight of those who stood by and signed the deed of purchase, and in the sight of the Jews who were in the courtyard of the guard. 13 And I gave Baruch this charge in their sight: 14 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: Take this deed of purchase and the deed that has been read out, and put them in a clay jar, so that they will last many days.” 15 “For this is what the Lord says: Fields and houses and vineyards will yet be bought in this land.”

16 After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord: 17 “Lord, you made heaven and earth by your great power and your high, uplifted arm; nothing can be hidden from you.” 18 “You show mercy to thousands and repay the sins of fathers into the laps of their children after them — the great and mighty God,” 19 “the Lord of great counsel and mighty in his works, the great God, the Almighty, the Lord of great name. Your eyes are on the ways of the sons of men, to give to each according to his way.” 20 “You did signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among those born on the earth, and you made a name for yourself, as it is this day.” 21 “You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an uplifted arm and great sights,” 22 “and you gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers — a land flowing with milk and honey.” 23 “They went in and took possession of it, but they did not listen to your voice and did not walk by your decrees. Everything you commanded them, they failed to do, and you made all these disasters come on them.” 24 “Look, a host has come against this city to take it, and the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who fight against it, by the sword and the famine. As you spoke, so it has happened.” [d] 25 “And yet you say to me, Buy yourself the field for silver. So I wrote a deed and sealed it and had witnesses witness it — and the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans.”

26 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 27 “I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Can anything be hidden from me?” 28 “Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: This city will surely be handed over into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will take it.” 29 “The Chaldeans who fight against this city will come and set this city on fire, and they will burn down the houses where they burned incense on their roofs to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me bitterly.” 30 “For the people of Israel and the people of Judah alone have been doing what is evil in my sight from their youth.” [e] 31 “For this city has been set for my anger and my wrath from the day they built it until this day, so that I should remove it from my presence,” 32 “because of all the evils of the people of Israel and Judah that they did to embitter me — they and their kings and their rulers and their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem.” 33 “They turned their back to me and not their face. I taught them day after day, from early morning — I taught them, and they did not listen so as to take correction.” 34 “They set their defilements in the house that is called by my name, with their uncleanness,” 35 “and they built the altars to Baal in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and their daughters to King Molech — which I did not command them, and it never came into my heart that they should do this detestable thing, to make Judah sin.” [f]

36 “And now this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about this city, of which you say, It will be handed over into the hands of the king of Babylon by sword and by famine and by exile:” [g] 37 “Look, I am gathering them from every land where I scattered them in my anger and my wrath and great fury, and I will bring them back to this place and settle them in confidence.” 38 “They will be my people, and I will be their God.” 39 “I will give them another way and another heart, to fear me all their days, for good to them and to their children after them.” 40 “I will make with them an everlasting covenant that I will never turn away from them, and I will put the fear of me in their heart, so that they will not turn away from me.” 41 “I will attend to them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and with all my soul.” 42 “For this is what the Lord says: Just as I brought all these great disasters on this people, so I will bring on them all the good things I have spoken about them.” 43 “And fields will yet be bought in this land of which you say, It is uninhabited, without man or animal, and it has been handed over into the hands of the Chaldeans.” 44 “They will buy fields for silver, and you will write a deed and seal it and have witnesses witness it — in the land of Benjamin, and around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negev — for I will bring back their exiles.”