1   The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah (the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar). 2   At that time the forces of the Babylonian king were besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was imprisoned in the court of the guard-house attached to the royal palace. 3   Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him after demanding what he meant by this prophecy: ‘These are the words of the Lord: I will deliver this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it. 4   Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the Chaldaeans but will be surrendered to the king of Babylon; he will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes. 5   Zedekiah will be taken to Babylon and will remain there until I turn my thoughts to him, says the Lord. However much you fight against the Chaldaeans you will have no success.’

6    7   Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came to me: Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is coming to see you and will say, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth; you have the right of redemption, as next of kin, to buy it.’ 8   As the Lord had foretold, my cousin Hanamel came to the court of the guard-house and said, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth in Benjamin. You have the right of redemption and possession as next of kin; buy it.’ I knew that this was the Lord's message; 9   so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out the price, seventeen shekels of silver. 10   I signed and sealed the deed and had it witnessed; then I weighed out the money on the scales. 11   I took my copies of the deed of purchase, 12   both the sealed ^note and the unsealed, and gave them to

Hopes for the restoration of Jerusalem Baruch son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my cousin, ^note of the witnesses whose names were on the deed of purchase, and of the Judaeans sitting in the court of the guard-house. 13   In the presence of them all I gave my instructions to Baruch: 14   These are the words of the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel: Take these copies of the deed of purchase, the sealed and the unsealed, and deposit them in an earthenware jar so that they may be preserved for a long time. 15   For these are the words of the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel: The time will come when houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought and sold in this land. 16   After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord: 17   O Lord God, thou hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great strength and with thy outstretched arm; nothing is impossible for thee. 18   Thou keepest faith with thousands and thou dost requite the sins of fathers on to the heads ^note of their sons. 19   O great and mighty God whose name is the Lord of Hosts, great are thy purposes and mighty thy actions. Thine eyes watch all the ways of men, and thou rewardest each according to his ways and as his deeds deserve. 20   Thou didst work signs and portents in Egypt and hast continued them to this day, both in Israel and amongst all men, and hast won for thyself a name that lives on to this day. 21   Thou didst bring thy people Israel out of Egypt with signs and portents, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with terrible power. 22   Thou didst give them this land which thou didst promise with an oath to their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23   They came and took possession of it, but they did not obey thee or follow thy law, they disobeyed all thy commands; and so thou hast brought this disaster upon them. 24   Look at the siege-ramps, the men who are advancing to take the city, and the city given over to its assailants from Chaldaea, the victim of sword, famine, and pestilence. The word thou hast spoken is fulfilled and thou dost see it. 25   And yet thou hast bidden me buy the field, O Lord God, and have the deed witnessed, even though the city is given to the Chaldaeans.

26    27   These are the words of the Lord to Jeremiah: I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything impossible for me? 28   Therefore these are the words of the Lord: I will deliver this city into the hands of the Chaldaeans and of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it. 29   The Chaldaeans who are fighting against this city will enter it, set it on fire and burn it down, with the houses on whose roofs sacrifices have been burnt to Baal and drink-offerings poured out to other gods, by which I was provoked to anger.

30   From their earliest days Israel and Judah have been doing what is wrong in my eyes, provoking me to anger by their actions, says the

Hopes for the restoration of Jerusalem Lord. 31   For this city has so roused my anger and my fury, from the time it was built down to this day, that I would rid myself of it. 32   Israel and Judah, their kings, officers, priests, prophets, and everyone living in Jerusalem and Judah have provoked me to anger by their wrongdoing. 33   They have turned their backs on me and averted their faces; though I took pains to teach them, they would not hear or learn their lesson. 34   They set up their loathsome idols in the house which bears my name and so defiled it. 35   They built shrines to Baal in the Valley of Benhinnom, to surrender their sons and daughters to Molech. It was no command of mine, nor did it ever enter my thought to do this abominable thing and lead Judah into sin.

36   Now, therefore, these are the words of the Lord the God of Israel to this city of which you say, ‘It is being given over to the king of Babylon, with sword, famine, and pestilence’: 37   I will gather them from all the lands to which I banished them in my anger, rage, and fury, and I will bring them back to this place and let them dwell there undisturbed. 38    39   They shall become my people and I will become their God. I will give them one heart and one way of life so that they shall fear me at all times, for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40   I will enter into an eternal covenant with them, to follow them unfailingly with my bounty; I will fill their hearts with fear of me, and so they will not turn away from me. 41   I will rejoice over them, rejoice to do them good, and faithfully with all my heart and soul I will plant them in this land. 42   For these are the words of the Lord: As I brought on this people such great disaster, so will I bring them all the prosperity which I now promise them. 43   Fields shall again be bought and sold in this land of which you now say, ‘It is desolate, without man or beast; it is given over to the Chaldaeans.’ 44   Fields shall be bought and sold, deeds signed, sealed, and witnessed, in Benjamin, in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, of the hill-country, of the Shephelah, and of the Negeb; for I will restore their fortunes. This is the very word of the Lord.

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