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The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah, the king of Judah. The same is the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.
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It was then that the army of the king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem. And Jeremiah, the prophet, was confined to the atrium of the prison, which was in the house of the king of Judah.(a)
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For Zedekiah, the king of Judah, had confined him, saying: “Why do you make predictions, saying: ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it?
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And Zedekiah, the king of Judah, will not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans. Instead, he will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon. And he will speak to him, mouth to mouth, and he will see him, eye to eye.
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And he will lead Zedekiah to Babylon. And he will be there until I visit him, says the Lord. So then, if you contend against the Chaldeans, you will have no success.’ ”
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And Jeremiah said: “The word of the Lord came to me, saying:
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Behold, Hanamel, the son of Shallum, your cousin, will come to you, saying: ‘Buy for yourself my field, which is in Anathoth. For it is your right, as next of kin, to buy it.’
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And in accord with the word of the Lord, Hanamel, the son of my uncle, came to me, to the entrance of the prison, and he said to me: ‘Take possession of my field, which is in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. For the right of inheritance is yours, and as the next of kin you may possess it.’ Then I understood that this was the word of the Lord.
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And I bought the field, which is in Anathoth, from Hanamel, the son of my uncle. And I weighed out the money to him, seven small coins and ten pieces of silver.
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And I wrote it in a book and signed it, and I summoned witnesses. And I weighed out the silver on a scale.
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And I received the signed deed of possession, and the stipulations, and the ratifications, with the exterior seals.
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And I gave the deed of possession to Baruch, the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel, the son of my uncle, in the sight of the witnesses who had been recorded in the book of the purchase, and in the sight of all the Jews who were sitting in the atrium of the prison.
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And I instructed Baruch, in their sight, saying:
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Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Take these writings, this sealed deed of purchase, and this deed which is open, and place them in an earthen vessel, so that they will be preserved for many days.’
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For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Houses, and fields, and vineyards will be possessed still, in this land.’
Jeremiah Prays for Understanding
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And after I had delivered the deed of possession to Baruch, the son of Neri, I prayed to the Lord, saying:
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Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God! Behold, you have made heaven and earth, by your great strength and by your outstretched arm. No word is difficult for you.
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You act with mercy a thousand-fold, but you repay the iniquity of the fathers into the sinews of their sons after them. The Lord of hosts is your name: most strong, great, and powerful!
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You are great in counsel and incomprehensible in thought. Your eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of Adam, so that you may repay each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his intentions.
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You caused signs and portents in the land of Egypt, and in Israel, and among men, even until this day. And you have made a name for yourself, just as in this day.
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And you have led your people Israel away from the land of Egypt, with signs and portents, and with a robust hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror.
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And you have given them this land, which you swore, to their fathers, that you would give to them, a land flowing with milk and honey.
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And they entered it and possessed it. But they did not obey your voice, and they did not walk in your law. And they did not do all of the things that you commanded them to do. And so, all of these evils have happened to them.
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Behold, fortifications were built against the city, so as to capture it. And the city was given into the hands of the Chaldeans, who fight against it, before the face of the sword, and of famine, and of pestilence. And what you have spoken has occurred, just as you yourself discern.
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So why, O Lord God, are you saying to me: ‘Buy a field with money, and summon witnesses,’ while the city is being given into the hands of the Chaldeans?”
The LORD Answers Jeremiah
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And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying:
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“Behold, I am the Lord God; I am above all flesh. Can any word be difficult for me?
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Therefore, thus says the Lord: Behold, I will deliver this city into the hands of the Chaldeans, and into the hands of the king of Babylon, and they will capture it.
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And the Chaldeans fighting against this city will advance, and set fire to it, and burn it, along with the houses on whose roofs they were offering sacrifice to Baal and were pouring out libations to strange gods, so that they provoked me to wrath.
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For the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah, from their youth, have continually done evil in my eyes. The sons of Israel, even until now, have been provoking me with the work of their hands, says the Lord.
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For this city has been a cause of fury and indignation to me, from the day when they built it, until this day, in which it will be taken away from my sight,
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because of all the wickedness of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah, which they have done, provoking me to wrath, they and their kings, their leaders and their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
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And they have turned their backs to me, and not their faces. And though I taught them and instructed them, rising at first light, they were not willing to listen, so that they would receive discipline.
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And they have placed their idols in the house where my name is invoked, so that they defiled it.
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And they have built the exalted places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, so that they may initiate their sons and their daughters into Molech, though I did not command, nor did it enter into my heart, that they should do this abomination, and so lead Judah into sin.
A Promise of Restoration
(Ezekiel 11:13–21)
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And now, because of these things, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to this city, about which you say that it will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence:
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Behold, I will gather them together from all the lands to which I have cast them out in my fury, and in my wrath, and in my great indignation. And I will lead them back to this place, and I will cause them to live in confidence.
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And they will be my people, and I will be their God.
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And I will give to them one heart and one way, so that they may fear me all their days, and so that it may be well with them, and with their sons after them.
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And I will form an everlasting covenant with them, and I will not cease to do good for them. And I will put my fear into their heart, so that they do not withdraw from me.
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And I will rejoice over them, while I do good for them. And I will plant them in this land, in truth, with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
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For thus says the Lord: Just as I have led over this people all this great evil, so will I lead over them all the good that I am speaking to them now.
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And fields will be possessed in this land, about which you say that it is desolate because there remains neither man nor beast, and because it has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans.
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Fields will be bought for money, and deeds will be written and signed, and witnesses will be summoned, in the land of Benjamin and all around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, and in the cities on the mountains, and in the cities on the plains, and in the cities that are toward the south. For I will convert their captivity, says the Lord.”
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