Jeremiah Buys a Field
1 The Lord spoke to me in the tenth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah, which was also the eighteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. 2 At that time the army of the king of Babylonia was attacking Jerusalem, and I was locked up in the courtyard of the royal palace. 3 King Zedekiah had imprisoned me there and had accused me of announcing that the Lord had said, “I am going to let the king of Babylonia capture this city, 4 and King Zedekiah will not escape. He will be handed over to the king of Babylonia; he will see him face-to-face and will speak to him in person. 5 Zedekiah will be taken to Babylonia, and he will remain there until I deal with him. Even if he fights the Babylonians, he will not be successful. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
6 The Lord told me 7 that Hanamel, my uncle Shallum's son, would come to me with the request to buy his field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin, because I was his nearest relative and had the right to buy it for myself. 8 Then, just as the Lord had said, Hanamel came to me there in the courtyard and asked me to buy the field. So I knew that the Lord had really spoken to me. 9 I bought the field from Hanamel and weighed out the money to him; the price came to seventeen pieces of silver. 10 I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the money on scales. 11 Then I took both copies of the deed of purchase—the sealed copy containing the contract and its conditions, and the open copy— 12 and gave them to Baruch, the son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. I gave them to him in the presence of Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed of purchase and of the people who were sitting in the courtyard. 13 Before them all I said to Baruch, 14 “The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, has ordered you to take these deeds, both the sealed deed of purchase and the open copy, and to place them in a clay jar, so that they may be preserved for years to come. 15 The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, has said that houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”
Jeremiah's Prayer
16 After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch, I prayed, 17 “Sovereign Lord, you made the earth and the sky by your great power and might; nothing is too difficult for you. 18 You have shown constant love to thousands, but you also punish people for the sins of their parents. You are a great and powerful God; you are the Lord Almighty. 19 You make wise plans and do mighty things; you see everything that people do, and you reward them according to their actions. 20 Long ago you performed miracles and wonders in Egypt, and you have continued to perform them to this day, both in Israel and among all the other nations, so that you are now known everywhere. 21 By means of miracles and wonders that terrified our enemies, you used your power and might to bring your people Israel out of Egypt. 22 You gave them this rich and fertile land, as you had promised their ancestors. 23 But when they came into this land and took possession of it, they did not obey your commands or live according to your teaching; they did nothing that you had ordered them to do. And so you brought all this destruction on them.
24 “The Babylonians have built siege mounds around the city to capture it, and they are attacking. War, starvation, and disease will make the city fall into their hands. You can see that all you have said has come true. 25 Yet, Sovereign Lord, you are the one who ordered me to buy the field in the presence of witnesses, even though the city is about to be captured by the Babylonians.”
26 Then the Lord said to me, 27 “I am the Lord, the God of all people. Nothing is too difficult for me. 28 I am going to give this city over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his army; they will capture it 29 and set it on fire. They will burn it down, together with the houses where people have made me angry by burning incense to Baal on the rooftops and by pouring out wine offerings to other gods. 30 From the very beginning of their history the people of Israel and the people of Judah have displeased me and made me angry by what they have done. 31 The people of this city have made me angry and furious from the day it was built. I have decided to destroy it 32 because of all the evil that has been done by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, together with their kings and leaders, their priests and prophets. 33 They turned their backs on me; and though I kept on teaching them, they would not listen and learn. 34 They even placed their disgusting idols in the Temple built for my worship, and they have defiled it. 35 They have built altars to Baal in Hinnom Valley, to sacrifice their sons and daughters to the god Molech. I did not command them to do this, and it did not even enter my mind that they would do such a thing and make the people of Judah sin.”
A Promise of Hope
36 The Lord, the God of Israel, said to me, “Jeremiah, the people are saying that war, starvation, and disease will make this city fall into the hands of the king of Babylonia. Now listen to what else I have to say. 37 I am going to gather the people from all the countries where I have scattered them in my anger and fury, and I am going to bring them back to this place and let them live here in safety. 38 Then they will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them a single purpose in life: to honor me for all time, for their own good and the good of their descendants. 40 I will make an eternal covenant with them. I will never stop doing good things for them, and I will make them fear me with all their heart, so that they will never turn away from me. 41 I will take pleasure in doing good things for them, and I will establish them permanently in this land.
42 “Just as I have brought this disaster on these people, so I am going to give them all the good things that I have promised. 43 The people are saying that this land will be like a desert where neither people nor animals live, and that it will be given over to the Babylonians. But fields will once again be bought in this land. 44 People will buy them, and the deeds will be signed, sealed, and witnessed. This will take place in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah, and in the towns in the hill country, in the foothills, and in southern Judah. I will restore the people to their land. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
Yeremiya ye kenoo saŋ ka ke taamanseeroo ti
1 Ñiŋ kumoo le naata nte Yeremiya kaŋ ka bo Yaawe* bulu, Yahuuda mansakewo Sedekiya la maraloo sanji tanjaŋo kono. Wo saŋo le keta Babiloni mansakewo Nebukanesa la mansayaa sanji taŋ niŋ seyinjaŋo ti. 2 Wo waatoo la Babiloni mansakewo la kelediŋ kafoo le tarata Yerusalaamu saatewo suki kaŋ. Wo tumoo ì ye nte Yeremiya soroŋ kelediŋ kantarilaalu la luwo to le, meŋ be Yahuuda mansakewo la mansasuwo kono.
3 Ate Yahuuda mansakewo Sedekiya le ye m muta jee, a ko n ye ko, “Muŋ ne ye a tinna ite ye ñiŋ kiilaariyaa kumoo fo? I ko Yaawe ye ñiŋ ne fo ko: ‘A juubee, m be ñiŋ saatewo duŋ na Babiloni mansakewo bulu le, a ye a taa. 4 Yahuuda mansakewo Sedekiya te kana la mutaroo ma. Fo a si duŋ Babiloni mansakewo buloo kono doroŋ. A niŋ a be diyaamu la ñoo ye le, ñaa niŋ ñaa. 5 A be a samba la Babiloni bankoo kaŋ ne, aduŋ a be tu la wo le to, fo janniŋ n niŋ a be janjuŋ na. Niŋ ali ye Babiloninkoolu kele fanaa, ali te nooroo ke la. Nte Yaawe le ye a fo.’ ”
6 Wo tumoo le mu Yaawe la kumoo naata nte Yeremiya kaŋ ko: 7 “A juubee, Hanameli be naa i yaa le, i bariŋ Sallumu dinkewo. A be a fo la i ye le ko, i ye a la kenoo saŋ, meŋ be Anatoti saatewo to, kaatu ite le mu baadiŋ sutuŋo ti meŋ ye siloo soto ka a saŋ.”
8 Bituŋ m bariŋ dinkewo Hanameli naata n kaŋ kelediŋ kantarilaalu la luwo to, ko Yaawe la kumoo ye a yitandi n na ñaameŋ. A ko n ye ko, “Dukaree n na kenoo saŋ, meŋ be Anatoti, Benjamini tundoo kaŋ, kaatu ite le mu baadiŋ sutuŋo ti meŋ ye siloo soto ka a saŋ, ka a ke i la sotofeŋo ti. A saŋ i faŋo ye.”
Bituŋ ŋa a loŋ ko ñiŋ mu Yaawe la kumoo le ti. 9 Wo le to ŋa kenoo ñiŋ saŋ, meŋ tarata Anatoti saatewo to, ka bo m bariŋ dinkewo Hanameli bulu. Ŋa kodiforo kuntoolu sumaŋ a ye joo ti, meŋ kaañanta kuntu taŋ niŋ woorowula fee. 10 Ŋa a safee seedeyaaraŋ kayitoo kono, ŋa a noto, ŋa seedoolu ke a la. N naata kodiforoo peesa peesarilaŋo kaŋ ka a joo. 11 Bituŋ ŋa seedeyaaraŋ kayitoo taa meŋ be notoriŋ, kenoo saŋo saratoolu niŋ kaŋolu safeeta meŋ kono, aniŋ a be seyinkaŋ safeeriŋ kayiti doo meŋ bala, meŋ maŋ noto. 12 Ŋa ì dii Baruku la, Neriya dinkewo, Maseya mamariŋo. Ŋa ì dii a la Hanameli ñaa la le, aniŋ seedoolu mennu ye seedeyaaraŋ kayitoo tampu, ka taa Yahuuda moolu mennu be siiriŋ nuŋ kelediŋ kantarilaalu la luwo to jee.
13 Ì ñaa la jee n ko Baruku ye ko, 14 Yaawe Alihawaa Maariyo* ye ñiŋ ne fo ko: “Ñiŋ seedeyaaraŋ kayitoolu taa, meŋ notota aniŋ meŋ maŋ noto, i ye ì ke daandiŋo kono, ñiŋ kamma la ì si mee fo waati jaŋ. 15 Kaatu nte Yaawe Alihawaa Maariyo, Banisirayila la Alla ye ñiŋ ne fo ko: Buŋolu niŋ kenoolu, aniŋ wayini* yiri kankaŋolu be saŋ na ñiŋ bankoo kaŋ ne kotenke.”
Yeremiya duwaata ka Yaawe tentu
16 Kabiriŋ ŋa seedeyaaraŋ kayitoo dii Baruku la, Neriya dinkewo fokabaŋ, n duwaata ka Yaawe tentu ko:
17 Hee Yaawe Alla, ite le ye saŋo niŋ bankoo daa ka bo niŋ i la sembe baa la, aduŋ i ye a ke niŋ i bulu sembemaa le la. Feŋ maŋ koleyaa ite fee. 18 Ite ka kanu bambaloo yitandi moo wuliwuloolu la le, bari i ka alifaalu la boyidaalu juloo joo ì diŋolu to le. Kooni! Alla sembemaa, Alla meŋ warata, ite le too mu Yaawe Alihawaa Maariyo ti! 19 I la feeroolu warata le, aduŋ i la keroolu semboo warata. I ñaa ka tara hadamadiŋolu bee taaraŋ siloolu la le, aduŋ i ka moo-wo-moo joo ka bo niŋ a maañaa le la, aniŋ ka bo niŋ a kekuwolu la. 20 I ye taamanseeroolu niŋ kaawakuwolu le ke Misira bankoo kaŋ, fo ka naa bula bii la, i ka ì ke Banisirayila kono le, aniŋ duniyaa hadamadiŋolu bee kono. Wo ye a tinna le i too bota, ka naa bula bii la.
21 I ye i la moolu Banisirayilankoolu bondi naŋ Misira bankoo kaŋ niŋ taamanseeroolu niŋ kaawakuwolu le la. I ye ì ke niŋ i bulu sembemaa baa le la, aduŋ a ye kijafara baa le saabu moolu ma. 22 I ye ñiŋ bankoo dii ì la le, i kalita ì mumuñolu ye meŋ na ka a dii ì la, keekewo niŋ liyo ka woyi ñiŋ bankoo meŋ kaŋ. 23 Ì dunta ñiŋ bankoo kaŋ ne, ì ye a taa, bari ì maŋ i la kumakaŋolu muta, waraŋ ka taama i la yaamaroolu la. I ye ì yaamari kuwolu mennu bee la, ì maŋ hani feŋ ke jee. Wo le ye a tinna i ye ñiŋ kasaaroo bee boyi ì kaŋ.
24 A juubee baŋ, Babiloninkoolu ye seleraŋolu loo le ka saatewo suki, fo ì si a muta. Hawusari keloo, konkoo, aniŋ alibalaa kuuraŋo be a tinna le ñiŋ saatewo ye duŋ ì bulu, mennu be a kele kaŋ. I ye meŋ fo, a keta le, aduŋ a fele, i faŋo ñaa be a kaŋ ne. 25 Hani wo, ite Yaawe Alla le ko n ye ko, “Kenoo ñiŋ saŋ i ye seedoolu ke a la, saatewo be duŋ na Babiloninkoolu bulu ñaa-wo-ñaa.”
26 Yaawe la kumoo naata n kaŋ ko: 27 “A juubee, nte le mu Yaawe ti, hadamadiŋolu bee la Alla. Fo feŋ si koleyaa noo nte fee baŋ? 28 Nte Yaawe le ye ñiŋ fo ko: A fele, m be ñiŋ saatewo duŋ na Babiloninkoolu le bulu, ka a duŋ mansakewo Nebukanesa bulu, a ye a taa. 29 Itolu Babiloninkoolu mennu be ñiŋ saatewo kele kaŋ, ì be dimbaa le duŋ na a la ka a jani. A buŋolu be jani la le, ì ka cuuraayoo siisindi mennu santo teruriŋolu to, Baali* jalaŋo ye, ì ka miŋ feŋ sadaalu* boŋ jalaŋ koteŋolu ye daamennu to, ka n kamfandi. 30 Banisirayilankoolu, ì niŋ Yahuuda moolu maŋ feŋ-wo-feŋ ke n ñaa koto niŋ a maŋ ke kuu jawoo doroŋ ti, kabiriŋ ì dindiŋ. Ì maŋ feŋ-wo-feŋ ke niŋ a maŋ ke ka n kamfandi niŋ ì kekuwolu la. Nte Yaawe le ye a fo. 31 Ñiŋ saatewo moolu ye n kamfandi le ka n jusoo kandindi, ka bo luŋo meŋ na a loota ka naa bula bii la. Wo kamma la m be a bondi la n ñaa koto le. 32 M be wo le ke la, ñiŋ kamma la Banisirayilankoolu niŋ Yahuuda moolu ye kuu jawoo meŋ bee ke ka n kamfandi. Ì niŋ ì la mansoolu kafuriŋo le mu, ì la maralilaalu, ì la piriisoolu*, ì la annabiyomoolu, ka taa Yahuuda niŋ Yerusalaamu saatewo moolu. 33 Ì ye ì koo dii n na le, ì ye ì ñaa bali tiliŋ na n na. N tuta ì karandi la ñaa-wo-ñaa, ì maŋ i lamoyi waraŋ ka soŋ n na kuluuroo la. 34 Ì ye ì la jalaŋ ñewundiŋolu londi Batudulaa Buŋo* kono le n too be meŋ kunna, ka jee kosondi. 35 Ì ye batudulaa tintiŋolu* loo Baali jalaŋo ye Beni-Hinnomu Wulumbaŋo kono le ka ì dinkewolu niŋ ì dimmusoolu jani sadaa ti dimbaa kono Moleki jalaŋo ye. Nte maŋ ì yaamari wo la, aduŋ wo nene maŋ bula n kono, meŋ si a tinna ì ye ñiŋ kuu ñewundiŋo ke ka Yahuuda dundi junube kewo to.”
Alla ye a la moolu laahidi ka ì murundi ì la bankoo kaŋ
36 Yaawe ko: “Ali ka a fo ñiŋ saatewo ma le ko, a be duŋ na Babiloni mansakewo bulu le ka bo niŋ hawusaroo* la, konkoo, aniŋ alibalaa kuuraŋo. Bari saayiŋ, nte Yaawe, Banisirayila la Alla ye ñiŋ ne fo ko: 37 A be koyiriŋ ne ko, m be ì kafu la ñoo ma le ka bo bankoolu bee kaŋ, ŋa ì bayi daamennu to, n na jusukandoo, diminnaa, aniŋ kamfaa baa kono. M be ì murundi la naŋ ñiŋ dulaa to le, ŋa ì sabatindi tankoo kono. 38 Ì be ke la n na moolu le ti, ŋa ke ì la Alla ti. 39 M be ì ke la sondome kiliŋ ne ti, aniŋ ka tara sila kiliŋ, fo n ñaasilaŋo si tara ì kono fo abadaa. Wo be ke la ì faŋolu la nafaa le ti, aniŋ ì koomalankoolu la nafaa. 40 M be badaa-badaa kambeŋo le siti la n niŋ ì teema ko: N nene te m foño la kuu kendoo ke la ì ye, aduŋ m be n ñaasilaŋo dundi la ì sondomoolu kono le, ñiŋ kamma ì kana jenke n na karoo la kotenke. 41 M be seewoo la le ka kuu kendoo ke ì ye, aduŋ m be ì tutukuu la ñiŋ bankoo kaŋ tooñaake le, n sondomoo niŋ n niyo la.
42 “Nte Yaawe ye ñiŋ ne fo ko: Ko ŋa ñiŋ kasaara kuwo meŋ bee naati ñiŋ moolu kaŋ, m be kuu kendoo fanaa bee naati la ì kaŋ wo le ñaama, ŋa meŋ laahidi ì ye. 43 Moolu be kenoolu saŋ na le kotenke ñiŋ bankoo kaŋ, ali ka a fo meŋ na ko, tumbuŋo le mu, moo te daameŋ sako beeyaŋ, bayiri a dunta Babiloninkoolu bulu le. 44 Ì be kenoolu saŋ na kodiforoo la le, aduŋ ì be seedeyaa kayitoolu tampu la le, ka ì noto, aniŋ ka seedoolu ke ì la. Wo be ke la Benjamini tundoo kaŋ ne, Yerusalaamu dandanna saateeriŋolu to, Yahuuda saatewolu to, saatewolu mennu be konkotundoo* to, ka taa saatewolu mennu be Sefela* tundoo la, aniŋ Nekefu* tundoo saatewolu bulubaa kara maafaŋo la. M be ì la firiŋo murundi la ì kaŋ ne.” Yaawe le ye a fo.
