Jeremiah 32:6-25
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
6 [a]Jeremiah said, This word came to me from the Lord: 7 Hanamel, son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you with the offer:(A) “Purchase my field in Anathoth, since you, as nearest relative, have the first right of purchase.”[b] 8 And, just as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard and said, “Please purchase my field in Anathoth, in the territory of Benjamin; as nearest relative, you have the first right of possession—purchase it for yourself.” Then I knew this was the word of the Lord. 9 So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, weighing out for him the silver, seventeen shekels of silver.
10 When I had written and sealed the deed, called witnesses and weighed out the silver on the scales, 11 I accepted the deed of purchase, both the sealed copy, containing title and conditions, and the open copy.[c] 12 I gave this deed of purchase to Baruch, son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and the witnesses who had signed the deed of purchase and before all the Judahites sitting around in the court of the guard.(B)
13 In their presence I gave Baruch this charge: 14 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds of purchase, both the sealed and the open deeds, and put them in an earthenware jar,[d] so they can last a long time. 15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: They shall again purchase houses and fields and vineyards in this land.
16 After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch, son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord: 17 Ah, my Lord God! You made the heavens and the earth with your great power and your outstretched arm; nothing is too difficult for you.(C) 18 You continue your kindness through a thousand generations; but you repay the ancestors’ guilt upon their children who follow them. Great and mighty God, whose name is Lord of hosts,(D) 19 great in counsel, mighty in deed, whose eyes are fixed on all the ways of mortals, giving to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their deeds:(E) 20 you performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt and to this day, in Israel and among all peoples, you have made a name for yourself as on this day.(F) 21 You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and great terror. 22 And you gave them this land, as you had sworn to their ancestors to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.(G) 23 They went in and took possession of it, but they did not listen to your voice. They did not live by your law; they did not do anything you commanded them to do. Then you made all this evil fall upon them.(H) 24 See, the siegeworks have arrived at this city to capture it; the city is handed over to the Chaldeans who are attacking it, with sword, starvation, and disease. What you threatened has happened—you can see it for yourself.(I) 25 Yet you told me, my Lord God: Purchase the field with silver and summon witnesses, when the city has already been handed over to the Chaldeans!
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 32:6–9 Jeremiah’s imprisonment by the weak-willed Zedekiah was a technical custody that did not deprive him of all freedom of action.
- 32:7 The first right of purchase: the obligation of the closest relative to redeem the property of a family member in economic distress so that the ancestral land remains within the family (Lv 25:25–28); see note on Ru 2:20.
- 32:11 The sealed copy…and the open copy: the legal deed of sale was written on a scroll, which was then rolled up and sealed; a second scroll containing a copy of the legal deed was then rolled around it and left unsealed so the contents of the legal deed would be accessible without destroying the original seal.
- 32:14 In an earthenware jar: to protect the scroll from drying out and disintegrating. Some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in such jars.
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