Holman Christian Standard Bible (233 page)

23
 This is what the
Lord
of
•Hosts
, the God of Israel, says: “When I restore their fortunes, they will once again speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities, ‘May the
Lord
bless you, righteous settlement, holy mountain.' 
24
 Judah and all its cities will live in it together — also farmers and those who move with the flocks —
25
 for I satisfy the thirsty person and feed all those who are weak.”

26
 At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been most pleasant to me.

27
 “The days are coming” — this is the
Lord
's declaration — “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast.
28
 Just as I watched over them to uproot and to tear them down, to demolish and to destroy, and to cause disaster, so will I be attentive to build and to plant them,” says the
Lord
.
29
 “In those days, it will never again be said:

30
 Rather, each will die for his own wrongdoing. Anyone who eats sour grapes — his own teeth will be set on edge.

The New Covenant

31
 “Look, the days are coming” — this is the
Lord
's declaration — “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
32
 This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt — a covenant they broke even though I had married them”  — the
Lord
's declaration.
33
 “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days” — the
Lord
's declaration. “I will put My teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.
34
 No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the
Lord
,' for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them” — this is the
Lord
's declaration. “For I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin.” 

35
 This is what the
Lord
says:

37
 This is what the
Lord
says:

38
 “Look, the days are coming” — the
Lord
's declaration — “when the city from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate will be rebuilt for the
Lord
.
39
 A measuring line will once again stretch out straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn toward Goah.
40
 The whole valley — the corpses, the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east — will be holy to the
Lord
. It will never be uprooted or demolished again.”

Jeremiah

Jeremiah's Land Purchase

32
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the
Lord
in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 
2
 At that time, the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the guard's courtyard in the palace of the king of Judah.
3
 Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying: “Why are you prophesying, ‘This is what the
Lord
says: Look, I am about to hand this city over to Babylon's king, and he will capture it.
4
 Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the Chaldeans; indeed, he will certainly be handed over to Babylon's king. They will speak face to face and meet eye to eye. 
5
 He will take Zedekiah to Babylon where he will stay until I attend to him' — this is the
Lord
's declaration. ‘You will fight the Chaldeans, but you will not succeed'? ” 

6
 Jeremiah replied, “The word of the
Lord
came to me:
7
 Watch! Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, is coming to you to say, ‘Buy my field in Anathoth for yourself, for you own the right of redemption to buy it.'

8
 “Then my cousin Hanamel came to the guard's courtyard as the
Lord
had said and urged me, ‘Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for you own the right of inheritance and redemption. Buy it for yourself.' Then I knew that this was the word of the
Lord
.
9
 So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and I weighed out to him the money  — 17
•shekels
 of silver.
10
 I recorded it on a scroll, sealed it, called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver in the scales.
11
 I took the purchase agreement — the sealed copy with its terms and conditions and the open copy —
12
 and gave the purchase agreement to Baruch son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah. I did this in the sight of my cousin Hanamel, the witnesses who were signing the purchase agreement, and all the Judeans sitting in the guard's courtyard.

13
 “I instructed Baruch in their sight,
14
 ‘This is what the
Lord
of
•Hosts
, the God of Israel, says: Take these scrolls — this purchase agreement with the sealed copy and this open copy — and put them in an earthen storage jar so they will last a long time.
15
 For this is what the
Lord
of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.' 

16
 “After I had given the purchase agreement to Baruch, son of Neriah, I prayed to the
Lord
:
17
 Oh, Lord
God
! You Yourself made the heavens and earth by Your great power and with Your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!
18
 You show faithful love to thousands but lay the fathers' sins on their sons' laps after them, great and mighty God whose name is
•Yahweh
of Hosts,
19
 the One great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are on all the ways of the sons of men in order to give to each person according to his ways and the result of his deeds. 
20
 You performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt and do so to this very day both in Israel and among mankind. You made a name for Yourself, as is the case today.
21
 You brought Your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror. 
22
 You gave them this land You swore to give to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey. 
23
 They entered and possessed it, but they did not obey Your voice or live according to Your instructions. They failed to perform all You commanded them to do, and so You have brought all this disaster on them.
24
 Look! Siege ramps have come against the city to capture it, and the city, as a result of the sword, famine, and plague, has been handed over to the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What You have spoken has happened. Look, You can see it!
25
 Yet You, Lord
God
, have said to me: Buy the field with silver and call in witnesses — even though the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans! ”

26
 Then the word of the
Lord
came to Jeremiah:
27
 “Look, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?
28
 Therefore, this is what the
Lord
says: I am about to hand this city over to the Chaldeans, to Babylon's king Nebuchadnezzar, and he will capture it.
29
 The Chaldeans who are going to fight against this city will come, set this city on fire, and burn it along with the houses where incense has been burned to
•Baal
on their rooftops and where
•drink
offerings have been poured out to other gods to provoke Me to anger. 
30
 From their youth, the Israelites and Judeans have done nothing but what is evil in My sight! They have done nothing but provoke Me to anger by the work of their hands”  — this is the
Lord
's declaration —
31
 “for this city has caused My wrath and fury from the day it was built until now. I will therefore remove it from My presence, 
32
 because of all the evil the Israelites and Judeans have done to provoke Me to anger — they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem.
33
 They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Though I taught them time and time again, they do not listen and receive discipline.
34
 They have placed their detestable things in the house that is called by My name and have defiled it.
35
 They have built the
•high
places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to
•Molech
  — something I had not commanded them. I had never entertained the thought that they do this detestable act causing Judah to sin!

36
 “Now therefore, this is what the
Lord
, the God of Israel, says to this city about which you said, ‘It has been handed over to Babylon's king through sword, famine, and plague':
37
 I am about to gather them from all the lands where I have banished them in My anger, rage and great wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them live in safety. 
38
 They will be My people, and I will be their God.
39
 I will give them one heart and one way so that for their good and for the good of their descendants after them, they will
•fear
Me always.

40
 “I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put fear of Me in their hearts so they will never again turn away from Me.
41
 I will take delight in them to do what is good for them, and with all My heart and mind I will faithfully plant them in this land. 

42
 “For this is what the
Lord
says: Just as I have brought all this great disaster on these people, so am I about to bring on them all the good I am promising them.
43
 Fields will be bought in this land about which you are saying, ‘It's a desolation without man or beast; it has been handed over to the Chaldeans! '
44
 Fields will be purchased with silver, the transaction written on a scroll and sealed, and witnesses will be called on in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in Judah's cities — the cities of the hill country, the cities of the Judean foothills, and the cities of the
•Negev
 — because I will restore their fortunes.” 

This is the 
Lord
's declaration.

Jeremiah

Israel's Restoration

33
While he was still confined in the guard's courtyard, the word of the
Lord
came to Jeremiah a second time:
2
 “The
Lord
who made the earth, the
Lord
who forms it to establish it,
•Yahweh
is His name, says this:
3
 Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things you do not know. 
4
 For this is what the
Lord
, the God of Israel, says concerning the houses of this city and the palaces of Judah's kings, the ones torn down for defense against the siege ramps and the sword: 
5
 The people coming to fight the Chaldeans will fill the houses with the corpses of their own men that I strike down in My wrath and rage. I have hidden My face from this city because of all their evil.
6
 Yet I will certainly bring health and healing to it and will indeed heal them. I will let them experience the abundance of peace and truth. 
7
 I will restore the fortunes of Judah and of Israel and will rebuild them as in former times. 
8
 I will purify them from all the wrongs they have committed against Me, and I will forgive all the wrongs they have committed against Me, rebelling against Me.
9
 This city will bear on My behalf a name of joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, who will hear of all the good I will do for them. They will tremble with awe because of all the good and all the peace I will bring about for them.

10
 “This is what the
Lord
says: In this place, which you say is a ruin, without man or beast — that is, in Judah's cities and Jerusalem's streets that are a desolation without man, without inhabitant, and without beast — there will be heard again
11
 a sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the groom and the bride, and the voice of those saying,