1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD {YHWH, Revealer of Events} in the tenth year of Zedekiah {Tsidqiyahu: Judah’s last vassal king}, king of Judah, was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar.
2 And at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah {Yirmeyahu: Yahweh Will Exalt} the prophet was confined in the courtyard {chatzer: outer enclosure} of the guard that was in the house of the king of Judah.
3 Which Zedekiah, king of Judah, had imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the LORD {YHWH, Prophetic Speaker}: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture {lakad: forceful seizure} it?’”
4 And Zedekiah {tsidqiyahu: Yahweh is my righteousness}, king of Judah, will not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans {kasdim: Mesopotamian aristocracy}, for he will surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall see his eyes.
5 And he will lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he will remain until I visit him {pakad: bring about judgment}, declares the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Appointer}. For though you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed.
6 And Jeremiah said, "The word of the LORD {YHWH, Message Giver} came to me {elai: direct revelation}, saying:"
7 Behold, Hanamel {khanamel: personal name} son of Shallum, your uncle, is coming to you and says, “Buy for yourself my field in Anathoth, for the right of redemption {geullah: legal claim} is yours to buy it.”
8 And Hanamel, my uncle’s son, came to me according to the word of the LORD {YHWH, Divine Ordinance Giver} in the courtyard of the guard and said to me, “Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of inheritance {yerushah: property passed down} is yours and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.
9 And I bought the field from Hanamel {Hanamel: familial seller}, my uncle’s son, who was in Anathoth, and I weighed out to him the silver {hakasef: standard currency}—seventeen shekels of silver.
10 And I wrote in the book and sealed it, and I caused witnesses {edim: legal affirmers} to attest, and I weighed out the silver {kesef: money, standard value} on the scales.
11 And I took the scroll of the purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms {mitzvah: detailed stipulation} and the statutes, and the open copy {galui: publicly accessible}.
12 And I gave the document of purchase {mikneh: legal transfer} to Baruch {Barukh: blessed}, son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my uncle’s son and in the presence of the witnesses writing in the document of purchase, and in the presence of all the Jews sitting in the court of the guard.
13 And I commanded Baruch {Barukh: blessed one} in their sight {le'enehem: publicly visible}, saying,
14 Thus says the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tsevaot, Divine Commander}, the God of Israel: “Take these documents, this deed of purchase, the sealed copy, and this open copy, and put them in an earthen vessel {kli-cheres: clay container}, so that they may be preserved for many days.”
15 For thus says the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tsevaot, Commander of Armies}, the God of Israel {Elohei Yisrael, National Protector}: “Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”
16 And I prayed to the LORD {YHWH, Prayer Recipient} after I had handed over the scroll {sefer: written record} of purchase to Baruch son of Neriyah, saying,
17 Ah, Lord GOD {YHWH Adonai, Supreme Creator}! Look, You formed the heavens and the earth by Your great power {koach: strength} and by Your outstretched arm; no matter is too difficult for You.
18 You show steadfast love {chesed: covenantal loyal love} to thousands and You repay the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them. The great, the mighty God, the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tsevaot, Supreme Commander} is His name.
19 Great in counsel {etsah: deliberate purpose} and mighty in deed, Your {YHWH, Sovereign Observer} eyes are open over all the ways of the sons of man, to repay each person according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.
20 You set signs {otot: miraculous tokens} and wonders in the land of Egypt—even to this day—and also in Israel and among mankind, and You made a name for Yourself {YHWH, Name Establisher} as it is today.
21 And You {YHWH, Covenant Redeemer} brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs {otot: miraculous signs} and wonders, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror.
22 And You {YHWH, Promise Keeper} granted them this territory, which You had vowed to their forefathers to bestow—an expanse brimming with milk and honey {devash: natural sweetness}.
23 And they entered and took possession of it, but they did not heed Your {YHWH, Faithful Judge} voice {qolekha: direct instruction}, nor did they walk in Your law. They did not do any of the commands You gave them. Therefore, You brought all this evil upon them.
24 Behold, the siege mounds {sollelot: piled earth structures} have reached the city to capture it, and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans {kasdim: Babylonian invaders} who are fighting against it, because of the sword, the famine, and the pestilence; what you have spoken has taken place, and behold, you see it.
25 Yet You, O Lord GOD {Adonai YHWH, Sovereign Judge}, said to me, “Buy the field for yourself with money and appoint witnesses {edim: those who testify}; for the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.”
26 Then the word of the LORD {YHWH, Divine Speaker} came to Jeremiah, saying {leʾemor: speech introducer},
27 Behold, I am the LORD {YHWH, Supreme Authority}, the God of all flesh {kol basar: domain of living beings}. Is anything too difficult for Me?
28 Therefore thus says the LORD {YHWH, Supreme Judge}: "Behold{hineni: direct divine presence}, I am giving this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall capture it."
29 And the Chaldeans{kasdim: Babylonian forces}, who are fighting against this city, will come and set this city on fire, and burn it, along with the houses upon whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods, in order to provoke Me{YHWH, Angered Judge}.
30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil {hara: moral corruption} in My sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have only provoked Me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the LORD {YHWH, Just Arbiter}.
31 For this city has been to Me {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} a provocation of My anger {api: burning anger} and of My wrath from the day they built it even until this day, to remove it from before My face.
32 Because of all the evil {ra’at: moral corruption} of the children of Israel and the children of Judah, which they did to anger {le-hachiseni: incite wrath} Me, they—their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
33 And they have turned to me the back and not the face; though I {YHWH, Patient Instructor} taught them, rising early and teaching, yet they are not listening to take instruction {musar: discipline and correction}.
34 And they set their abominations {shikkuṭzeihem: detestable things} in the house that is called by My {YHWH, Sovereign Owner} name to defile it.
35 And they built the high places of Baal {baal: Canaanite fertility god}, which are in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I did not command, nor did it ever come into my heart to do this abomination {toevah: detestable practice}, so as to cause Judah to sin.
36 And now therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel {Yhwh Elohei Yisrael, Covenant Nation God} concerning this city that you are saying, “It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, famine {rav: severe starvation}, and pestilence.”
37 Behold, I {YHWH, Gatherer of Exiles} will assemble them from every land where I expelled them in My anger, My wrath, and My great indignation; then I will restore them to this place and settle them in safety {lavetach: secure peace}.
38 And they will be to Me for a people {am: covenant community}, and I will be to them for a God {Elohim, Covenant Bond}.
39 And I will give them one heart and one way {derekh: course of life}, so that they may fear Me {YHWH, Giver of Unity} all their days, for their welfare and for the welfare of their children after them.
40 And I {YHWH, Covenant Faithful} will make with them an everlasting covenant {berit olam: permanent binding agreement}, that I will not turn away from doing them good. And I will put My fear in their heart, so that they will not turn away from Me.
41 And I {YHWH, Covenant Restorer} will rejoice over them in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness {emet: steadfast faithfulness}, with all My heart and with all My soul.
42 For thus says the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Restorer}: Just as I have brought all this great disaster {ra'ah: divine judgment} upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I am speaking concerning them.
43 And fields will yet be acquired in this land, which you call a wasteland {shemamah: utter desolation}, void of man or beast; it has now been delivered into the hand of the Chaldeans {kasdim: Babylonian forces}.
44 People will purchase fields with money, write the deeds in the book, seal them, and present them before witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the settlements of the lowland, and in the communities of the Negev; for I will restore their fortunes {ashib: cause to return}, declares the LORD {YHWH, Restorer of Hope}.