HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1068
J EREMIA H 3 3
the people of Israel this land that you had
promised their ancestors long before—
a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 Our
ancestors came and conquered it and lived
in it, but they refused to obey you or follow
your word. They have not done anything
you commanded. That is why you have
sent this terrible disaster upon them.
24 “See how the siege ramps have been
built against the city walls! Through war,
famine, and disease, the city will be handed
over to the Babylonians, who will conquer
it. Everything has happened just as you said.
25 And yet, O Sovereign Lord, you have told
me to buy the field—paying good money
for it before these witnesses—even though
the city will soon be handed over to the
Babylonians.”
— promises —
from God
“I will give them one
heart and one purpose:
to worship me forever.”
J E R E M I A H 32 :39
A Prediction of Jerusalem’s Fall
26 Then this message came to Jeremiah from
the Lord: 27 “I am the Lord, the God of all the
peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for
me? 28 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
I will hand this city over to the Babylonians
and to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and
he will capture it. 29 The Babylonians outside
the walls will come in and set fire to the city.
They will burn down all these houses where the
people provoked my anger by burning incense
to Baal on the rooftops and by pouring out liquid offerings to other gods. 30 Israel and Judah
have done nothing but wrong since their earliest days. They have infuriated me with all their
evil deeds,” says the Lord. 31 “From the time this
city was built until now, it has done nothing but
anger me, so I am determined to get rid of it.
32 “The sins of Israel and Judah—the sins of
the people of Jerusalem, the kings, the officials,
the priests, and the prophets—have stirred up
my anger. 33 My people have turned their backs
on me and have refused to return. Even though
I diligently taught them, they would not receive
instruction or obey. 34 They have set up their
abominable idols right in my own Temple, defiling it. 35 They have built pagan shrines to Baal
in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and there they
sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech.
I have never commanded such a horrible deed;
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it never even crossed my mind to command
such a thing. What an incredible evil, causing
Judah to sin so greatly!
A Promise of Restoration
36 “Now I want to say something more about
this city. You have been saying, ‘It will fall to
the king of Babylon through war, famine, and
disease.’ But this is what the Lord, the God of
Israel, says: 37 I will certainly bring my people
back again from all the countries where I will
scatter them in my fury. I will bring them back
to this very city and let them live in peace and
safety. 38 They will be my people, and I will be
their God. 39 And I will give them one heart
and one purpose: to worship me forever, for
their own good and for the good of all their
descendants. 40 And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them: I will never stop doing
good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts
to worship me, and they will never leave me.
41 I will find joy doing good for them and will
faithfully and wholeheartedly replant them in
this land.
42 “This is what the Lord says: Just as I have
brought all these calamities on them, so I will
do all the good I have promised them. 43 Fields
will again be bought and sold in this land about
which you now say, ‘It has been ravaged by the
Babylonians, a desolate land where people and
animals have all disappeared.’ 44 Yes, fields will
once again be bought and sold—deeds signed
and sealed and witnessed—in the land of Benjamin and here in Jerusalem, in the towns of
Judah and in the hill country, in the foothills
of Judah* and in the Negev, too. For someday I
will restore prosperity to them. I, the Lord, have
spoken!”
Promises of Peace and Prosperity
While Jeremiah was still confined in the
courtyard of the guard, the Lord gave
him this second message: 2 “This is what the
Lord says—the Lord who made the earth, who
formed and established it, whose name is the
Lord: 3 Ask me and I will tell you remarkable
secrets you do not know about things to come.
4 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel,
says: You have torn down the houses of this
city and even the king’s palace to get materials
to strengthen the walls against the siege ramps
and swords of the enemy. 5 You expect to fight
the Babylonians,* but the men of this city are already as good as dead, for I have determined to
destroy them in my terrible anger. I have abandoned them because of all their wickedness.
6 “Nevertheless, the time will come when I
will heal Jerusalem’s wounds and give it prosperity and true peace. 7 I will restore the fortunes
of Judah and Israel and rebuild their towns.
33
32:44 Hebrew the Shephelah.
33:5 Or Chaldeans.