Jeremiah and the Meaning of Wonder in a Politics of Hope

(1) The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. (2) At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the prison compound attached to the palace of the king of Judah. (3) For King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him, saying, “How dare you prophesy: ‘Thus said the LORD: I am delivering this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it. (4) And King Zedekiah of Judah shall not escape from the Chaldeans; he shall be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak to him face to face and see him in person. (5) And Zedekiah shall be brought to Babylon, there to remain until I take note of him—declares the LORD. When you wage war against the Chaldeans, you shall not be successful.’”

(6) Jeremiah said: The word of the LORD came to me: (7) Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you and say, “Buy my land in Anathoth, for you are next in succession to redeem it by purchase.” (8) And just as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the prison compound and said to me, “Please buy my land in Anathoth, in the territory of Benjamin; for the right of succession is yours, and you have the duty of redemption. Buy it.” Then I knew that it was indeed the word of the LORD.

(9) So I bought the land in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. (10) I wrote a deed, sealed it, and had it witnessed; and I weighed out the silver on a balance. (11) I took the deed of purchase, the sealed text and the open one according to rule and law, (12) and gave the deed to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah in the presence of my kinsman Hanamel, of the witnesses who were named in the deed, and all the Judeans who were sitting in the prison compound. (13) In their presence I charged Baruch as follows: (14) Thus said the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: “Take these documents, this deed of purchase, the sealed text and the open one, and put them into an earthen jar, so that they may last a long time.” (15) For thus said the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: “Houses, fields, and vineyards shall again be purchased in this land.” (16)

But after I had given the deed to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD: (17) “Ah, Lord GOD! You made heaven and earth with Your great might and outstretched arm. Nothing is too wondrous for You! (18) You show kindness to the thousandth generation, but visit the guilt of the fathers upon their children after them. O great and mighty God whose name is LORD of Hosts, (19) wondrous in purpose and mighty in deed, whose eyes observe all the ways of men, so as to repay every man according to his ways, and with the proper fruit of his deeds! (20) You displayed signs and marvels in the land of Egypt with lasting effect, and won renown in Israel and among mankind to this very day. (21) You freed Your people Israel from the land of Egypt with signs and marvels, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror. (22) You gave them this land that You had sworn to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey, (23) and they came and took possession of it. But they did not listen to You or follow Your Teaching; they did nothing of what You commanded them to do. Therefore you have caused all this misfortune to befall them. (24) Here are the siegemounds, raised against the city to storm it; and the city, because of sword and famine and pestilence, is at the mercy of the Chaldeans who are attacking it. What You threatened has come to pass—as You see. (25) Yet You, Lord GOD, said to me: Buy the land for money and call in witnesses—when the city is at the mercy of the Chaldeans!”

(26) Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: (27) “Behold I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too wondrous for Me? (28) Assuredly, thus said the LORD: I am delivering this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, and he shall capture it. (29) And the Chaldeans who have been attacking this city shall come and set this city on fire and burn it down—with the houses on whose roofs they made offerings to Baal and poured out libations to other gods, so as to vex Me. (30) For the people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in My sight since their youth; the people of Israel have done nothing but vex Me by their conduct—declares the LORD. (31) This city has aroused My anger and My wrath from the day it was built until this day; so that it must be removed from My sight (32) because of all the wickedness of the people of Israel and Judah who have so acted as to vex Me—they, their kings, their officials, their priests and prophets, and the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (33) They turned their backs to Me, not their faces; though I have taught them persistently, they do not give heed or accept rebuke. (34) They placed their abominations in the House which bears My name and defiled it; (35) and they built the shrines of Baal which are in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, where they offered up their sons and daughters to Molech—when I had never commanded, or even thought [of commanding], that they should do such an abominable thing, and so bring guilt on Judah.

(36) But now, assuredly, thus said the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, “It is being delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon through the sword, through famine, and through pestilence”: (37) See, I will gather them from all the lands to which I have banished them in My anger and wrath, and in great rage; and I will bring them back to this place and let them dwell secure. (38) They shall be My people, and I will be their God. (39) I will give them a single heart and a single nature to revere Me for all time, and it shall be well with them and their children after them. (40) And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them and that I will treat them graciously; and I will put into their hearts reverence for Me, so that they do not turn away from Me. (41) I will delight in treating them graciously, and I will plant them in this land faithfully, with all My heart and soul.

(42) For thus said the LORD: As I have brought this terrible disaster upon this people, so I am going to bring upon them the vast good fortune which I have promised for them. (43) And fields shall again be purchased in this land of which you say, “It is a desolation, without man or beast; it is delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans.” (44) Fields shall be purchased, and deeds written and sealed, and witnesses called in the land of Benjamin and in the environs of Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah; the towns of the hill country, the towns of the Shephelah, and the towns of the Negeb. For I will restore their fortunes—declares the LORD.

Nothing is too wondrous. Nothing is hidden; and you know that in the end we will be exiled; so why have you told me to buy a field?

Ah! You made heaven and earth. And since you made them, it cannot be that anything that takes place in them, whether in heaven or on earth, may be too wondrous or hidden from you; and if the city is to be given into the hands of the Chaldeans, you know it! And Jeremiah thought that perhaps God had relented from his anger with them, in his great compassion, and had remembered in support of them his compassion toward their first ancestors. Therefore he said, "You show kindness to the thousandth generation," for if that had not been the case, why would he tell him to buy a field when the city was so close to capture?? and that is the point of his prayer.

Behold, is anything too wondrous. In truth it is not too wondrous. And I know that the city will be given into the hands of the Chaldeans, because I have not relented my anger toward them, because their many wickednesses have angered me. Nonetheless I have told you to buy a field to comfort them, that they will return from the exile and will buy fields and houses in this land.

(8) If a case is too baffling for you to decide, be it a controversy over homicide, civil law, or assault—matters of dispute in your courts—you shall promptly repair to the place that the LORD your God will have chosen,

(11) Surely, this Instruction which I enjoin upon you this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. (12) It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?” (13) Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who among us can cross to the other side of the sea and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?” (14) No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it.

(5) For a child has been born to us, A son has been given us. And authority has settled on his shoulders. He has been named “The Mighty God is planning grace; The Eternal Father, a peaceable ruler”— (6) In token of abundant authority And of peace without limit Upon David’s throne and kingdom, That it may be firmly established In justice and in equity Now and evermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts Shall bring this to pass.

(26) I grieve for you, My brother Jonathan, You were most dear to me. Your love was wonderful to me More than the love of women.