Jeremiah 32-33
Summary
Jeremiah 32–33 shows Jehovah promising restoration in the middle of certain disaster. Jerusalem is about to fall to Babylon because of Judah’s persistent disobedience, yet Jeremiah is told to buy a field as a tangible sign that the land will one day be inhabited again. Jehovah assures his people that he will gather them back, forgive them, give them “one heart and one way,” and restore peace, joy, homes, fields, and worship. Chapter 33 then looks further ahead to the “righteous sprout” from David’s line, emphasizing that Jehovah’s covenant and purpose are as dependable as the cycle of day and night. The central message is that Jehovah’s judgment is real, but so are his promises of restoration, forgiveness, and hope.
Jeremiah 32
The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah in the 10th year of King Zed·e·kiʹah of Judah, that is, the 18th year of Neb·u·chad·nezʹzar. At that time the armies of the king of Babylon were besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the Courtyard of the Guard in the house of the king of Judah. For King Zed·e·kiʹah of Judah had confined him, saying, “Why do you prophesy like this? You say, ‘This is what Jehovah says: “I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it, and King Zed·e·kiʹah of Judah will not escape from the Chal·deʹans, for he will surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will speak to him face-to-face and see him eye to eye.”’ ‘He will take Zed·e·kiʹah to Babylon, and there he will remain until I turn my attention to him,’ declares Jehovah. ‘Although you keep fighting against the Chal·deʹans, you will not succeed.’”
Jeremiah said: “The word of Jehovah has come to me, saying, ‘Here Hanʹa·mel the son of Shalʹlum your uncle will come to you and say: “Buy for yourself my field in Anʹa·thoth, because you have the first right to repurchase it.”’”
Hanʹa·mel the son of my uncle came to me, just as Jehovah had said, into the Courtyard of the Guard, and he said to me: “Please buy my field in Anʹa·thoth, in the land of Benjamin, for you have the right to take possession of it and to repurchase it. Buy it for yourself.” At that I knew that this was by the word of Jehovah.
So I bought the field in Anʹa·thoth from Hanʹa·mel the son of my uncle. I weighed out the money to him, seven shekels and ten silver pieces. Then I recorded it in a deed, affixed the seal, called in witnesses, and weighed the money in the scales. I took the deed of purchase, the one that was sealed according to the commandment and legal requirements, as well as the one that was left unsealed, and I gave the deed of purchase to Barʹuch son of Ne·riʹah son of Mah·seiʹah in the presence of Hanʹa·mel the son of my uncle, the witnesses who wrote in the deed of purchase, and all the Jews who were sitting in the Courtyard of the Guard.
I now commanded Barʹuch in their presence, saying: “This is what Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘Take these deeds, this deed of purchase, the sealed one and the other deed left unsealed, and put them into an earthenware vessel, so that they may be kept for a long time.’ For this is what Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’”
Then I prayed to Jehovah after giving the deed of purchase to Barʹuch the son of Ne·riʹah, saying: “Alas, O Sovereign Lord Jehovah! Look! You made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. Nothing is too wonderful for you, the One showing loyal love to thousands, but repaying the error of the fathers to their sons after them, the true God, the great and mighty One, whose name is Jehovah of armies. You are great in counsel and mighty in deed, you whose eyes observe all the ways of men, to give to each one according to his ways and according to what he does. You have performed signs and miracles in the land of Egypt, which are known down to this day, and thus you have made a name for yourself in Israel and among mankind, as it is today. And you brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt, with signs, with miracles, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with terrifying deeds.
“In time you gave them this land that you swore to give to their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey. And they came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey your voice or walk in your law. They did not do anything you commanded them to do, so that you caused all this calamity to befall them. Look! Men have come with siege ramparts to capture the city, and because of the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, the city will certainly fall into the hands of the Chal·deʹans who are fighting against it; what you said has all happened, as you now see. But you have told me, O Sovereign Lord Jehovah, ‘Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses,’ although the city will certainly be given into the hand of the Chal·deʹans.”
At that the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying: “Here I am, Jehovah, the God of all mankind. Is there anything too wonderful for me? So this is what Jehovah says, ‘Here I am handing this city over to the Chal·deʹans and into the hand of King Neb·u·chad·nezʹzar of Babylon, and he will capture it. And the Chal·deʹans fighting against this city will come in and set this city on fire and burn it down along with the houses on whose roofs the people offered sacrifices to Baʹal and poured out drink offerings to other gods to offend me.’
“‘For the people of Israel and of Judah have done only what was bad in my eyes, from their youth on; the people of Israel keep offending me by the work of their hands,’ declares Jehovah. ‘For this city, from the day that they built it down to this day, has been nothing but a cause of anger and wrath to me, so that it must be removed from before my face, because of all the evil that the people of Israel and of Judah have done to offend me—they, their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, and the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They kept turning their backs to me, not their faces; although I tried to teach them again and again, none of them would listen to receive discipline. And they put their disgusting idols in the house that bears my name, in order to defile it. Furthermore, they built the high places of Baʹal in the Valley of the Son of Hinʹnom, in order to make their sons and their daughters pass through the fire to Moʹlech, something that I had not commanded them and that had never come into my heart to do such a detestable thing, causing Judah to sin.’
“Therefore this is what Jehovah the God of Israel says concerning this city that you are saying will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, ‘Here I will gather them together from all the lands where I dispersed them in my anger and in my wrath and in great indignation, and I will bring them back to this place and let them dwell in security. And they will be my people, and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart and one way so that they may always fear me, for their own good and the good of their children after them. And I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them; and I will put the fear of me in their hearts, so that they will not turn away from me. I will exult over them to do good to them, and I will firmly plant them in this land, with all my heart and with all my soul.’”
“For this is what Jehovah says, ‘Just as I have brought on this people all this great calamity, so I will bring on them all the goodness that I am promising them. And fields will again be bought in this land, though you are saying: “It is a wasteland without man and beast, and it has been handed over to the Chal·deʹans.”’
“‘Fields will be bought with money, deeds of purchase will be recorded and sealed, and witnesses will be called in the land of Benjamin, in the areas around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the mountainous region, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the south, because I will bring back their captives,’ declares Jehovah.”
Jeremiah 33
The word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still confined in the Courtyard of the Guard, saying: “This is what Jehovah the Maker of earth says, Jehovah who formed it and firmly established it; Jehovah is his name, ‘Call to me, and I will answer you and readily tell you great and incomprehensible things that you have not known.’”
“For this is what Jehovah the God of Israel says concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that are pulled down because of the siege ramparts and the sword, and concerning those who are coming to fight the Chal·deʹans, filling these places with the carcasses of those whom I struck down in my anger and in my wrath, those whose evil has caused me to hide my face from this city: ‘Here I am bringing recuperation and health to her, and I will heal them and reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth. And I will bring back the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel, and I will build them up as I did at the start. And I will purify them from all the guilt of their sins against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sins and their transgressions against me. And she will become to me a name of exultation, a praise, and a beauty before all the nations of the earth who will hear of all the goodness that I bestow on them. And they will be in dread and will tremble because of all the goodness and peace that I will bestow on her.’”
“This is what Jehovah says: ‘In this place that you will say is a wasteland, without man or livestock, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or livestock, there will again be heard the sound of exultation and the sound of rejoicing, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those saying: “Give thanks to Jehovah of armies, for Jehovah is good; his loyal love endures forever!”’
“‘They will bring thanksgiving offerings into the house of Jehovah, for I will bring back the captives of the land, as at the start,’ says Jehovah.”
“This is what Jehovah of armies says: ‘In this wasteland, without man or livestock, and in all its cities, there will again be pastures for the shepherds to rest their flocks.’
“‘In the cities of the mountainous region, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the south, in the land of Benjamin, in the areas around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, flocks will again pass under the hands of the one counting them,’ says Jehovah.”
“‘Look! The days are coming,’ declares Jehovah, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise that I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause to sprout for David a righteous sprout, and he will execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will reside in security. And this is what she will be called: Jehovah Is Our Righteousness.’”
“For this is what Jehovah says: ‘There will never fail to be a man from David’s line to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, nor will the Levitical priests ever fail to have a man stand before me to offer whole burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to offer sacrifices.’”
And the word of Jehovah again came to Jeremiah, saying: “This is what Jehovah says, ‘If you could break my covenant regarding the day and my covenant regarding the night, to prevent day and night from coming at their proper time, only then could my covenant with my servant David be broken, so that he should not have a son ruling as king on his throne, and so also my covenant with the Levitical priests, my ministers. Just as the army of the heavens cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of my servant David and the Levites who are ministering to me.’”
And the word of Jehovah again came to Jeremiah, saying: “Have you not taken note of what this people is saying, ‘Jehovah will reject the two families that he chose’? And they are treating my own people with disrespect, and they no longer regard them as a nation.
“This is what Jehovah says: ‘Just as surely as I have established my covenant regarding the day and the night, the laws of heaven and earth, so I will never reject the offspring of Jacob and of my servant David, so as not to take from his offspring rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will gather back their captives and have pity on them.’”