The Responsibility of Promise

Jeremiah 32:1-3, 6-15

¹ Jeremiah received the LORD’s word in the tenth year of Judah’s King Zedekiah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule. ² At that time, the army of the Babylonian king had surrounded Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined to the prison quarters in the palace of Judah’s king. ³ Judah’s King Zedekiah had Jeremiah sent there after questioning him: “Why do you prophesy, ‘This is what the LORD says: I’m handing this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will occupy it; ⁶ Jeremiah said, The LORD’s word came to me: ⁷ Your cousin Hanamel, Shallum’s son, is on his way to see you; and when he arrives, he will tell you: “Buy my field in Anathoth, for by law you are next in line to purchase it.” ⁸ And just as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel showed up at the prison quarters and told me, “Buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for you are next in line and have a family obligation to purchase it.” Then I was sure this was the LORD’s doing. ⁹ So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and weighed out for him seventeen shekels of silver. ¹⁰ I signed the deed, sealed it, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver on the scales. ¹¹ Then I took the deed of purchase—the sealed copy, with its terms and conditions, and the unsealed copy ¹² and gave it to Baruch, Neriah’s son and Mahseiah’s grandson, before my cousin Hanamel and the witnesses named in the deed, as well as before all the Judeans who were present in the prison quarters. ¹³ I charged Baruch before all of them: ¹⁴ “The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: Take these documents—this sealed deed of purchase along with the unsealed one—and put them into a clay container so they will last a long time. ¹⁵ The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”