Jer 12, Jer 32 | ESV | STEP | Righteous are you, O Lord , when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper ? Why do all who are treacherous thrive ?

1 ^aRighteous are you, O Lord,
when I complain to you;
yet I would plead my case before you.
^bWhy does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all ^cwho are treacherous thrive?
2 You plant them, and they take root;
they grow and produce fruit;
^dyou are near in their mouth
and far from their heart.
3 ^eBut you, O Lord, know me;
^fyou see me, and test my heart toward you.
^gPull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
and set them apart for ^hthe day of slaughter.
4 ⁱHow long will the land mourn
and the grass of every field wither?
^jFor the evil of those who dwell in it
^kthe beasts and the birds are swept away,
because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”

The Lord Answers Jeremiah

5 “If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,
how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you are so trusting,
what will you do in ^lthe thicket of the Jordan?
6 For ^meven your brothers and the house of your father,
ⁿeven they have dealt treacherously with you;
they are in full cry after you;
^odo not believe them,
though they speak friendly words to you.”
7 “I have forsaken my house;
I have abandoned ^pmy heritage;
I have given ^qthe beloved of my soul
into the hands of her enemies.
8 ^rMy heritage has become to me
like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
therefore I hate her.
9 Is ^smy heritage to me like ^ta hyena’s lair?
Are the ^ubirds of prey against her all around?
Go, ^vassemble all the wild beasts;
bring them to devour.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
^wthey have trampled down my portion;
they have made my pleasant portion
a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made it a desolation;
desolate, ^xit mourns to me.
The whole land is made desolate,
^ybut no man lays it to heart.
12 Upon all the bare heights in the desert
destroyers have come,
for the sword of the Lord devours
from one end of the land to the other;
no flesh has peace.
13 ^zThey have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
^aathey have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their ^{▼▼Hebrew your} harvests
^acbecause of the fierce anger of the Lord.”
14 Thus says the Lord concerning all ^admy evil neighbors ^aewho touch the heritage that ^afI have given my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. 15 And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, ^agand I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. 16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, ^ahto swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, ^aithen they shall be built up in the midst of my people. 17 ^ajBut if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord.”

Jeremiah 32

Jeremiah Buys a Field During the Siege

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord ^akin the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, ^alwhich was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet ^amwas shut up in ^anthe court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah. 3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^aoBehold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it; 4 ^apZedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, ^aqbut shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye. 5 And ^arhe shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I visit him, declares the Lord. ^asThough you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed’?”

6 Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: 7 Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, ^at‘Buy my field that is at ^auAnathoth, ^avfor the right of redemption by purchase is yours.’ 8 Then Hanamel my cousin came to me in ^awthe court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, ‘Buy my field that is at ^axAnathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.

9 “And I bought the field at ^ayAnathoth from Hanamel my cousin, and ^azweighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 ^baI signed the deed, ^bbsealed it, ^bcgot witnesses, and ^bdweighed the money on scales. 11 Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions and the open copy. 12 And I gave the deed of purchase to ^beBaruch the son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my cousin, in the presence of ^bfthe witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in ^bgthe court of the guard. 13 I charged ^bhBaruch in their presence, saying, 14 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware vessel, that they may last for a long time. 15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and ^bifields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.’

Jeremiah Prays for Understanding

16 “After I had given the deed of purchase to ^bjBaruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: 17 ‘Ah, Lord God! It is ^bkyou who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by ^blyour outstretched arm! ^bmNothing is too hard for you. 18 ^bnYou show steadfast love to thousands, ^bobut you repay the guilt of fathers ^bpto their children after them, O great and ^bqmighty God, whose name is the ^brLord of hosts, 19 ^bsgreat in counsel and ^btmighty in deed, ^buwhose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, ^bvrewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds. 20 You have shown ^bwsigns and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, ^bxand have made a name for yourself, as at this day. 21 ^byYou brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and ^bzoutstretched arm, ^caand with great terror. 22 And you gave them this land, ^cbwhich you swore to their fathers to give them, ^cca land flowing with milk and honey. 23 And they entered and took possession of it. ^cdBut they did not obey your voice or walk in your law. They did nothing of all you commanded them to do. Therefore you have made all this disaster come upon them. 24 Behold, ^cethe siege mounds have come up to the city to take it, and ^cfbecause of sword and famine and pestilence ^cgthe city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you spoke has come to pass, and behold, you see it. 25 Yet you, O Lord God, have said to me, ^ch“Buy the field for money ^ciand get witnesses”—though ^cjthe city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.’”

26 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 27 “Behold, I am the Lord, ^ckthe God of all flesh. ^clIs anything too hard for me? 28 Therefore, thus says the Lord: ^cmBehold, I am giving this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall capture it. 29 The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city ^cnshall come and set this city on fire and burn it, ^cowith the houses on whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal ^cpand drink offerings have been poured out to other gods, ^cqto provoke me to anger. 30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight ^crfrom their youth. The children of Israel have done nothing but ^csprovoke me to anger ^ctby the work of their hands, declares the Lord. 31 This city has aroused my anger and wrath, from the day it was built to this day, ^cuso that I will remove it from my sight 32 because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger— ^cvtheir kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 ^cwThey have turned to me their back and not their face. And though I have taught them ^cxpersistently, they have not listened ^cyto receive instruction. 34 They set up ^cztheir abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. 35 They built the high places of Baal ^dain the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, ^dbto offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, ^dcthough I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do ^ddthis abomination, ^deto cause Judah to sin.

They Shall Be My People; I Will Be Their God

36 “Now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ^df‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence’: 37 ^dgBehold, I will gather them from all the countries ^dhto which I drove them in ^dimy anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, ^djand I will make them dwell in safety. 38 ^dkAnd they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39 ^dlI will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, ^dmfor their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 ^dnI will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. ^doAnd I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. 41 ^dpI will rejoice in doing them good, ^dqand I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.

42 “For thus says the Lord: ^drJust as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them. 43 ^dsFields shall be bought in this land ^dtof which you are saying, ‘It is a desolation, without man or beast; ^duit is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ 44 Fields shall be bought for money, and ^dvdeeds shall be signed and ^dwsealed and ^dxwitnessed, ^dyin the land of Benjamin, ^dzin the places about Jerusalem, ^eaand in the cities of Judah, ^ebin the cities of the hill country, ^ecin the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb; for ^edI will restore their fortunes, declares the Lord.”