Jeremias 39
1 The word that came from the Lord to Jeremias in the tenth year of king Sedekias, this is the eighteenth year of king Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon.
In the ninth year and tenth month of Zedekiah king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and besieged it.
2 And the host of the king of Babylon had made a rampart against Jerusalem: and Jeremias was kept in the court of the prison, which is in the king's house;
In the eleventh year and fourth month of Zedekiah, on the ninth day of the month, the city was broken into.
3 in which king Sedekias [had] shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I [will] give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;
Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and sat in the middle gate: Nebo-Sarsekim, Samgar Nebo, and Sarsechim, an important official. Nebo-Sarsekim was a high official and all the rest were the officials of the king of Babylon.
4 and Sedekias shall by no means be delivered out of the hand of the Chaldeans, for he shall certainly be given up into the hands of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak to his mouth, and his eyes shall look upon his eyes;
It happened that when Zedekiah, king of Judah, and all his fighting men saw them, they fled. They went out at night from the city by the king's garden path, through the gate between the two walls. The king went out in the direction of the Arabah.
5 and Sedekias shall go into Babylon, and dwell there?
But the army of Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of the Jordan River valley near Jericho. Then they captured him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where Nebuchadnezzar passed sentence on him.
6 AND THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO JEREMIAS, SAYING,
The king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah's sons before his own eyes at Riblah. He also slaughtered all the noblemen of Judah.
7 Behold, Anameel the son of Salom thy father's brother is coming to thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for thou [hast] the right to take [it] as a purchase.
Then he put out Zedekiah's eyes and bound him in bronze chains in order to take him to Babylon.
8 So Anameel the son of Salom my father's brother came to me into the court of the prison, and said, Buy thee my field that is in the land of Benjamin, in Anathoth: for thou [hast] a right to buy it, and thou art the elder. So I knew that it was the word of the Lord.
Then the Chaldeans burned the king's house and the people's houses. They also tore down the walls of Jerusalem.
9 And I bought the field of Anameel the son of my father's brother, and I weighed him seventeen shekels of silver.
Nebuzaradan, the commander of the king's bodyguards, took into exile the rest of the people who were left in the city. This included the people who had deserted to the Chaldeans and the rest of the people who were left in the city.
10 And I wrote [it] in a book, and sealed [it], and took the testimony of witnesses, and weighed the money in the balance.
But Nebuzaradan the commander of the king's bodyguards allowed the poorest people who had nothing for themselves to remain in the land of Judah. He gave them vineyards and fields on that same day.
11 And I took the book of the purchase that was sealed;
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had given an order about Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the commander of the king's bodyguards. He had said,
12 and I gave it to Baruch son of Nerias, son of Maasaeas, in the sight of Anameel my father's brother's son, and in the sight of the men that stood by and wrote in the book of the purchase, and in the sight of the Jews that were in the court of the prison.
“Take him and care for him. Do not harm him. Do for him anything he tells you.”
13 And I charged Baruch in their presence, saying, Thus saith the Lord Almighty;
So Nebuzaradan the commander of the king's bodyguards, Nebushazban the high eunuch, Nergal-Sharezer the high official, and all the most important officials of the king of Babylon sent men out.
14 Take this book of the purchase, and the book that has been read; and thou shalt put it into an earthen vessel, that it may remain many days.
Their men took Jeremiah from the courtyard of the guard and entrusted him to Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, to take him home, so Jeremiah stayed among the people.
15 For thus saith the Lord; There shall yet be bought fields and houses and vineyards in this land.
Now the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah while he was under arrest in the courtyard of the guard, saying,
16 And I prayed to the Lord after I had given the book of the purchase to Baruch the son of Nerias, saying,
“Speak to Ebed-Melek the Cushite and say, 'Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: See, I am about to carry out my words against this city for disaster and not for good. For they will all come true before you on that day.
17 O [ever] living Lord! thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power, and with thy high and lofty arm: nothing can be hidden from thee.
But I will rescue you on that day—this is Yahweh's declaration—and you will not be given into the hand of the men whom you fear.
18 Granting mercy to thousands, and recompensing the sins of the fathers into the bosoms of their children after them: the great, the strong God;
For I will certainly rescue you. You will not fall by the sword. You will escape with your life, since you trust in me—this was Yahweh's declaration.'”
19 the Lord of great counsel, and mighty in deeds, the great Almighty God, and Lord of great name: thine eyes are upon the ways of the children of men, to give to every one according to his way:
20 who hast wrought signs and wonders in the land of Egypt even to this day, and in Israel, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and thou didst make for thyself a name, as at this day;
21 and thou didst bring out thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, with a mighty hand, and with a high arm, and with great sights;
22 and thou gavest them this land, which thou didst swear [to give] to their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey;
23 and they went in, and took it; but they hearkened not to thy voice, and walked not in thine ordinances; they did none of the things which thou didst command them, and they caused all these calamities to happen to them.
24 Behold, a multitude is come against the city to take it; and the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans that fight against it, by the power of the sword, and the famine: as thou hast spoken, so has it happened.
25 And thou sayest to me, Buy thee the field for money; and I wrote a book, and sealed [it], and took the testimony of witnesses: and the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.
26 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
27 I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: shall anything be hidden from me!
28 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel; This city shall certainly be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it:
29 and the Chaldeans shall come to war against this city, and they shall burn this city with fire, and shall burn down the houses wherein they burnt incense on the roofs thereof to Baal, and poured drink-offerings to other gods, to provoke me.
30 For the children of Israel and the children of Juda alone did evil in my sight from their youth.
31 For this city was [obnoxious] to my anger and my wrath, from the day that they built it even to this day; that I should remove it from my presence,
32 because of all the wickedness of the children of Israel and Juda, which they wrought to provoke me, they and their kings, and their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, the men of Juda, and the dwellers in Jerusalem.
33 And they turned the back to me, and not the face: whereas I taught them early in the morning, but they hearkened no more to receive instructions.
34 And they set their pollutions in the house, on which my name was called, by their uncleannesses.
35 And they built to Baal the altars that are in the valley of the son of Ennom, to offer their sons and their daughters to king Moloch; which things I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Juda to sin.
36 And now thus has the Lord God of Israel said concerning this city, of which thou sayest, it shall be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by famine, and banishment.
37 Behold, I [will] gather them out of every land, where I have scattered them in my anger, and my wrath, and great fury; and I will bring them back into this place, and will cause them to dwell safely:
38 and they shall be to me a people, and I will be to them a god.
39 And I will give them another way, and another heart, to fear me continually, and [that] for good to them and their children after them.
40 And I will make with them an everlasting covenant, which I will by no means turn away from them, and I will put my fear into their heart, that they may not depart from me.
41 And I will visit [them] to do them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, and with all my heart, and with all [my] soul.
42 For thus saith the Lord; As I have brought upon this people all these great evils, so will I bring upon them all the good things which I pronounced upon them.
43 And there shall yet be fields bought in the land, of which thou sayest, it shall be destitute of man and beast; and they are delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans.
44 And they shall buy fields for money, and thou shalt write a book, and seal [it], and shalt take the testimony of witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Juda, and in the cities of the mountain, and in the cities of the plain, and in the cities of the south: for I will turn their captivity.
