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We’re heading into the most focused period of this book. It is a premier example of how narrative and oracle are woven together in Jeremiah’s book and Jeremiah’s life: The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, chapter 32 begins, in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah.

The word of the LORD had first come to Jeremiah almost forty years ago, during the reign of King Josiah. And in those first words the LORD warned Jeremiah: “I am watching over my word to perform it… I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.”

You know, and I know, that there is no escape from the judgment to come. The storm of destruction was formed on the horizon and propelled by the LORD’s hand long before Zedekiah was born. Jerusalem will fall, as the LORD must be true to His word. Jeremiah has pushed hard at the king and his subjects to accept this fate and allow the LORD to spare their lives, insisting that while the kingdom will end, “everyone shall die for his own sin. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.”

Sprinkled throughout are promises of the LORD’s faithfulness to His chosen. In chapter 31, the LORD reminds His people that they will not be forsaken forever: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their fortunes: "'The LORD bless you, O habitation of righteousness, O holy hill!' In chapter 32, Jeremiah buys a field – an odd transaction during a siege – to illustrate his faith that the land will one day be restored.

And finally, in chapter 33 the LORD compares His covenant with David to his covenant with the fixed order of heaven and earth…” If His covenant with day and night cannot be broken, then neither can His promise to David’s descendants.

Our verse for this week is Hebrews 8:10: For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Jeremiah 31 through 33. Now let’s read it!

Jeremiah 31 - 33

"At that time," says Jehovah, "I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people." Jehovah says, "The people who survive the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest." Jehovah appeared of old to me, saying, "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness. I will build you again, and you will be built, O virgin of Israel. You will again be adorned with your tambourines, and will go out in the dances of those who make merry. Again you will plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria. The planters will plant, and will enjoy its fruit. For there will be a day that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim cry, 'Arise! Let's go up to Zion to Jehovah our God.'" For Jehovah says, "Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations. Publish, praise, and say, 'Jehovah, save your people, the remnant of Israel!' Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, along with the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who travails with child together. They will return as a great company. They will come with weeping. I will lead them with petitions. I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they won't stumble; for I am a father to Israel. Ephraim is my firstborn. "Hear Jehovah's word, you nations, and declare it in the distant islands. Say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock.' For Jehovah has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he. They will come and sing in the height of Zion, and will flow to the goodness of Jehovah, to the grain, to the new wine, to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd. Their soul will be as a watered garden. They will not sorrow any more at all. Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance, the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people will be satisfied with my goodness," says Jehovah. Jehovah says: "A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more." Jehovah says: "Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded," says Jehovah. "They will come again from the land of the enemy. There is hope for your latter end," says Jehovah. "Your children will come again to their own territory. "I have surely heard Ephraim grieving thus, 'You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as an untrained calf. Turn me, and I will be turned, for you are Jehovah my God. Surely after that I was turned. I repented. After that I was instructed. I struck my thigh. I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth.' Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I still earnestly remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him. I will surely have mercy on him," says Jehovah. "Set up road signs. Make guideposts. Set your heart toward the highway, even the way by which you went. Turn again, virgin of Israel. Turn again to these your cities. How long will you go here and there, you backsliding daughter? For Jehovah has created a new thing in the earth: a woman will encompass a man." Jehovah of Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Yet again they will use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I reverse their captivity: 'Jehovah bless you, habitation of righteousness, mountain of holiness.' Judah and all its cities will dwell therein together, the farmers, and those who go about with flocks. For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul." On this I awakened, and saw; and my sleep was sweet to me. "Behold, the days come," says Jehovah, "that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of animal. It will happen that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant," says Jehovah. "In those days they will say no more, "'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.' But everyone will die for his own iniquity. Every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be set on edge. "Behold, the days come," says Jehovah, "that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which covenant of mine they broke, although I was a husband to them," says Jehovah. "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days," says Jehovah: "I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. They will no longer each teach his neighbor, and every man teach his brother, saying, 'Know Jehovah;' for they will all know me, from their least to their greatest," says Jehovah, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Jehovah, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar-- Jehovah of Armies is his name, says: "If these ordinances depart from before me," says Jehovah, "then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before me forever." Jehovah says: "If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done," says Jehovah. "Behold, the days come," says Jehovah, "that the city will be built to Jehovah from the tower of Hananel to the gate of the corner. The measuring line will go out further straight onward to the hill Gareb, and will turn toward Goah. The whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields to the brook Kidron, to the corner of the horse gate toward the east, will be holy to Jehovah. It will not be plucked up or thrown down any more forever." This is the word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. Now at that time the king of Babylon's army was besieging Jerusalem. Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah's house. For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, "Why do you prophesy, and say, 'Jehovah says, "Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take it; and Zedekiah king of Judah won't escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but will surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes will see his eyes; and he will bring Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him," says Jehovah, "though you fight with the Chaldeans, you will not prosper"'?" Jeremiah said, "Jehovah's word came to me, saying, 'Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you, saying, "Buy my field that is in Anathoth; for the right of redemption is yours to buy it."'" "So Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the guard according to Jehovah's word, and said to me, 'Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption is yours. Buy it for yourself.' "Then I knew that this was Jehovah's word. I bought the field that was in Anathoth of Hanamel my uncle's son, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. I signed the deed, sealed it, called witnesses, and weighed the money in the balances to him. So I took the deed of the purchase, both that which was sealed, containing the terms and conditions, and that which was open; and I delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of the purchase, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the guard. "I commanded Baruch before them, saying, Jehovah of Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase which is sealed, and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may last many days.' For Jehovah of Armies, the God of Israel says: 'Houses and fields and vineyards will yet again be bought in this land.' Now after I had delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to Jehovah, saying, "Ah Lord Jehovah! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for you. You show loving kindness to thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them. The great, the mighty God, Jehovah of Armies is your name: great in counsel, and mighty in work; whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of men, to give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings; who performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even to this day, both in Israel and among other men; and made yourself a name, as it is today; and brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, with wonders, with a strong hand, with an outstretched arm, and with great terror; and gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. They came in and possessed it, but they didn't obey your voice and didn't walk in your law. They have done nothing of all that you commanded them to do. Therefore you have caused all this evil to come upon them. "Behold, siege ramps have been built against the city to take it. The city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, of the famine, and of the pestilence. What you have spoken has happened. Behold, you see it. You have said to me, Lord Jehovah, 'Buy the field for money, and call witnesses;' whereas the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans." Then Jehovah's word came to Jeremiah, saying, "Behold, I am Jehovah, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me? Therefore Jehovah says: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it. The Chaldeans, who fight against this city, will come and set this city on fire, and burn it with the houses on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal, and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger. "For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only that which was evil in my sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, says Jehovah. For this city has been to me a provocation of my anger and of my wrath from the day that they built it even to this day, so that I should remove it from before my face, because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger--they, their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned their backs to me, and not their faces. Although I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction. But they set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it. They built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through fire to Molech, which I didn't command them. It didn't even come into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin." Now therefore Jehovah, the God of Israel, says concerning this city, about which you say, "It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:" "Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries where I have driven them in my anger, and in my wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them again to this place. I will cause them to dwell safely. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their good and the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good. I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me. Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul." For Jehovah says: "Just as I have brought all this great evil on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them. Fields will be bought in this land, about which you say, 'It is desolate, without man or animal. It is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.' Men will buy fields for money, sign the deeds, seal them, and call witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South; for I will cause their captivity to be reversed," says Jehovah. Moreover Jehovah's word came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still locked up in the court of the guard, saying, "Jehovah who does it, Jehovah who forms it to establish it--Jehovah is his name, says: 'Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great and difficult things, which you don't know.' For Jehovah, the God of Israel, says concerning the houses of this city and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down to make a defense against the mounds and against the sword: 'While men come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have killed in my anger and in my wrath, and for all whose wickedness I have hidden my face from this city, behold, I will bring it health and healing, and I will cure them; and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel, and will build them as at the first. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against me. I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against me and by which they have transgressed against me. This city will be to me for a name of joy, for praise, and for glory, before all the nations of the earth, which will hear all the good that I do to them, and will fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I provide to it.'" Jehovah says: "Yet again there will be heard in this place, about which you say, 'It is waste, without man and without animal, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without animal,' the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, 'Give thanks to Jehovah of Armies, for Jehovah is good, for his loving kindness endures forever;' who bring thanksgiving into Jehovah's house. For I will cause the captivity of the land to be reversed as at the first," says Jehovah. Jehovah of Armies says: "Yet again there will be in this place, which is waste, without man and without animal, and in all its cities, a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of him who counts them," says Jehovah. "Behold, the days come," says Jehovah, "that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah. "In those days and at that time, I will cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David. He will execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely. This is the name by which she will be called: Jehovah our righteousness." For Jehovah says: "David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel. The Levitical priests won't lack a man before me to offer burnt offerings, to burn meal offerings, and to do sacrifice continually." Jehovah's word came to Jeremiah, saying, "Jehovah says: 'If you can break my covenant of the day and my covenant of the night, so that there will not be day and night in their time, then my covenant could also be broken with David my servant, that he won't have a son to reign on his throne; and with the Levitical priests, my ministers. As the army of the sky can't be counted, and the sand of the sea can't be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant and the Levites who minister to me.'" Jehovah's word came to Jeremiah, saying, "Don't consider what this people has spoken, saying, 'Has Jehovah cast off the two families which he chose?' Thus they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them." Jehovah says: "If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, then I will also cast away the offspring of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his offspring to be rulers over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for I will cause their captivity to be reversed and will have mercy on them."

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