Jeremiah

33“In the future I will make this agreement
with the people of Israel.” This message is
from the Lord. “I will put my teachings in
their minds, and I will write them on their
hearts. I will be their God, and they will be
my people. 34People
JEREMIAH 31:33
will not have to teach
their neighbors and relatives to know the
Lord, because all people, from the least
important to the most important, will know
me.” This message is from the Lord. “I will
forgive them for the evil things they did. I will
not remember their sins.”
The Lord Will Never Leave Israel
35 The Lord makes the sun shine in the day,
and he makes the moon and the stars
shine at night.
He stirs up the sea so that its waves crash
on the shore.
The Lord All-Powerful is his name.
This is what the Lord says:
36 “ The descendants of Israel* will never stop
being a nation.
That would happen only if I lost control
of the sun, moon, stars, and sea.”
37 The Lord says, “I will never reject the
descendants of Israel.
That would happen only if people could
measure the sky above,
and learn all the secrets of the earth
below.
Only then would I reject them for the bad
things they have done.”
This message is from the Lord.
The New Jerusalem
38This message is from the Lord, “The days
are coming when the city of Jerusalem will
be rebuilt for the Lord. The whole city will
be rebuilt—from the Tower of Hananel to
the Corner Gate. 39The measuring line a will
stretch from the Corner Gate straight to the
hill of Gareb and then turn to the place named
Gorah. 40The whole valley where dead bodies
and ashes are thrown and all the terraces
down to the bottom of Kidron Valley all the
way to the corner of Horse Gate will be holy
to the Lord. The city of Jerusalem will never
again be torn down or destroyed.”
Jeremiah Buys a Field
32 1This is the message from the Lord that
came to Jeremiah during the tenth year
that Zedekiah was king of Judah.* b The tenth
year of Zedekiah was the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar.
2At that time the army of the king
of Babylon was surrounding the city of Jerusalem,
and Jeremiah was under arrest in the
a 31:39 measuring line A rope or chain for measur‑
ing property lines.
b 32:1 the tenth year … Judah This was 588‑587
b.c. This was the year Jerusalem was destroyed by
Nebuchadnezzar.
632
courtyard of the guard. This courtyard was at
the palace of the king of Judah. 3King Zedekiah
of Judah had put Jeremiah in prison in that
place. Zedekiah didn’t like the things Jeremiah
prophesied.* Jeremiah had said, “This is what
the Lord says: ‘I will soon give the city of Jerusalem
to the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar
will capture this city. 4King Zedekiah of Judah
will not escape from the army of the Babylonians.
But he will surely be given to the king of
Babylon. And Zedekiah will speak to the king
of Babylon face to face. He will see him with
his own eyes. 5The king of Babylon will take
Zedekiah to Babylon. Zedekiah will stay there
until I have punished him.’ This message is
from the Lord. ‘If you fight against the army of
the Babylonians, you will not succeed.’”
6While Jeremiah was a prisoner, he said,
“This message from the Lord came to me.
This was the message: 7‘Jeremiah, your
cousin, Hanamel, will come to you soon. He
is the son of your uncle Shallum. Hanamel
will say to you, “Jeremiah, buy my field near
the town of Anathoth. Buy it because you are
my nearest relative. It is your right and your
responsibility to buy that field.”’
8“Then it happened just as the Lord said.
My cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard
of the guard. Hanamel said to me, ‘Jeremiah,
buy my field near the town of Anathoth,
in the land of the tribe of Benjamin.
Buy that land for yourself because it is your
right to buy it and own it.’”
So I knew that this was a message from the
Lord. 9I bought the field at Anathoth from my
cousin Hanamel. I weighed out 17 shekels c of
silver for him. 10I signed the deed* and had a
copy of the deed sealed up. d I got some men
to witness what I had done, and I weighed
out the silver on the scales. 11Then I took the
sealed copy of the deed, which contained the
demands and limits of my purchase, and the
copy that was not sealed. 12I gave the deed to
Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah.
I did this while my cousin Hanamel and the
other witnesses were there. They also signed
the deed. There were also many people of
Judah sitting in the courtyard who saw me
give the deed to Baruch.
13With all the people watching, I said
to Baruch, 14“This is what the Lord All-
Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘Take both
copies of the deed—the sealed copy and the
copy that was not sealed—and put them in a
clay jar. Do this so that these deeds will last a
long time.’ 15The Lord All-Powerful, the God
of Israel, says, ‘In the future my people will
once again buy houses, fields, and vineyards*
in the land of Israel.’”
c 32:9 shekel 2/5 of an ounce (11.5 g).
d 32:10 sealed up Important documents were rolled
up and tied with a string. Then a piece of clay or wax
was put on the string. Then a person’s mark was put
in that clay or wax. This way, people could prove
nothing in the document was changed.