ኤርምያስ የዕርሻ ቦታ መግዛቱ
1የይሁዳ ንጉሥ ሴዴቅያስ በነገሠ በዐሥረኛው ዓመት፣ ይኸውም በባቢሎን ንጉሥ በናቡከደነፆር ዐሥራ ስምንተኛ ዘመነ መንግሥት፣ ከእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ ወደ ኤርምያስ የመጣው ቃል ይህ ነው፤ 2በዚያን ጊዜም የባቢሎን ንጉሥ ሰራዊት ኢየሩሳሌምን ከብቦ ነበር፤ ነቢዩ ኤርምያስም በይሁዳ ንጉሥ ቤተ መንግሥት በዘብ ጠባቂዎች አደባባይ ተዘግቶበት ነበር።
3የይሁዳ ንጉሥ ሴዴቅያስም እንዲህ በማለት አሳስሮት ነበር፤ “እንዴት እንደዚህ ያለ ትንቢት ትናገራለህ? ‘እግዚአብሔር፤ “ይህችን ከተማ ለባቢሎን ንጉሥ አሳልፌ እሰጣታለሁ፤ እርሱም ይይዛታል። 4የይሁዳ ንጉሥ ሴዴቅያስም ለባቢሎን ንጉሥ ዐልፎ ይሰጣል፤ ፊት ለፊትም ያነጋግረዋል፤ በዐይኖቹም ያየዋል እንጂ ከባቢሎናውያን32፥4 ወይም ከለዳውያን፤ በ5፡24፡25፡28፡29 እና 43 ይመ። እጅ አያመልጥም። 5ሴዴቅያስንም ወደ ባቢሎን ይወስደዋል፤ በፍርዴ እስከምጐበኘውም ድረስ በዚያ ይቈያል፤ ይላል እግዚአብሔር፤ ከባቢሎናውያን ጋር ብትዋጉ አይሳካላችሁም” ይላል’ ትላለህ።”
6ኤርምያስም የእግዚአብሔር ቃል ወደ እኔ እንዲህ ሲል መጣ አለ፦ 7“የአጎትህ የሰሎም ልጅ አናምኤል ወደ አንተ መጥቶ፣ ‘የመቤዠት መብት የአንተ ስለሆነ፣ በዓናቶት ያለውን መሬቴን ግዛኝ’ ይልሃል።”
8እግዚአብሔርም እንደ ተናገረኝ፣ የአጎቴ ልጅ አናምኤል ወደ ዘብ ጠባቂዎቹ አደባባይ መጥቶ፣ “የመቤዠቱን ርስት የማድረጉ መብት የአንተ ስለሆነ፣ በብንያም አገር በዓናቶት ያለውን መሬቴን ለራስህ እንዲሆን ግዛው” አለኝ። ይህም የእግዚአብሔር ቃል እንደ ሆነ ዐወቅሁ፤ 9ስለዚህ በዓናቶት ያለውን መሬት ከአጎቴ ልጅ ከአናምኤል ገዛሁ፤ ዐሥራ ሰባት ሰቅል32፥9 200 ግራም ያህል ነው። ብር መዝኜ ሰጠሁት። 10በውሉም ሰነድ ላይ ፈረምሁ፤ አሸግሁትም። ብሩንም በምስክሮች ፊት በሚዛን መዘንሁለት። 11የስምምነቱ ዝርዝር ያለበትን፣ የታሸገውንና ያልታሸገውን የግዥውን የውል ሰነድ ወሰድሁ፤ 12በአጎቴም ልጅ በአናምኤልና በውሉ ላይ በፈረሙት ምስክሮች ፊት እንዲሁም በዘብ ጠባቂዎች አደባባይ ተቀምጠው በነበሩ አይሁድ ሁሉ ፊት ለመሕሤያ ልጅ ለኔርያ ልጅ ለባሮክ ሰጠሁት።
13በእነርሱ ፊት ለባሮክ እንዲህ የሚል ትእዛዝ ሰጠሁት፤ 14“የእስራኤል አምላክ የሰራዊት ጌታ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ ‘የታሸገውንና ያልታሸገውን፣ ሁለቱን የግዥ ውል ሰነዶች ለብዙ ጊዜ ሳይበላሹ እንዲቈዩ ወስደህ በሸክላ ዕቃ ውስጥ አኑራቸው። 15የእስራኤል አምላክ የሰራዊት ጌታ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላልና፤ ሰዎች በዚህ ምድር ቤት፣ የዕርሻ ቦታና የወይን አትክልት ስፍራ እንደ ገና ይገዛሉ።’
16“ለኔርያ ልጅ ለባሮክ የግዥ ውሉን ከሰጠሁ በኋላ፣ ወደ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ብዬ ጸለይሁ፤
17“አቤት፣ ጌታ እግዚአብሔር ሆይ፤ አንተ ሰማያትንና ምድርን በታላቅ ኀይልህና በተዘረጋች ክንድህ ፈጥረሃል፤ የሚሳንህም አንዳች ነገር የለም። 18ፍቅርና ቸርነትን ለእልፍ አእላፍ ታሳያለህ፤ ይሁን እንጂ የአባቶችን በደል ከእነርሱ በኋላ በሚነሡ ልጆቻቸው ጕያ ትመልሳለህ፤ ስምህ የሰራዊት ጌታ እግዚአብሔር የሆነ፣ ታላቅና ኀያል አምላክ ሆይ፤ 19ዕቅድህ ታላቅ፣ በሥራም ብርቱ ነህ፤ ዐይኖችህ የሰው ልጆችን መንገዶች ሁሉ ያያሉ፤ ለእያንዳንዱም እንደ መንገዱና እንደ ሥራው ትከፍለዋለህ። 20በግብፅ ታምራትንና ድንቆችን አደረግህ፤ እስከ ዛሬም ድረስ በእስራኤልና በሰው ልጆች ሁሉ መካከል እንደዚያው እያደረግህ ዛሬም ስምህ ገናና ነው። 21በታምራትና በድንቅ፣ በብርቱ እጅና በተዘረጋች ክንድ፣ እጅግ በሚያስፈራም ግርማ ሕዝብህን እስራኤልን ከግብፅ አወጣህ። 22ለአባቶቻችን ልትሰጣቸው የማልህላቸውን፣ ማርና ወተት የምታፈስሰውን ይህችን ምድር ሰጠሃቸው፤ 23ወደዚያም ገብተው ወረሷት፤ ነገር ግን አልታዘዙህም፤ ሕግህንም አልጠበቁም፤ እንዲያደርጉት ያዘዝሃቸውን ከቶ አላደረጉም፤ ስለዚህ ይህን ሁሉ ጥፋት በላያቸው አመጣህ።
24“እነሆ፤ ከተማዪቱን ለመያዝ የዐፈር ድልድል በዙሪያዋ ተሠርቷል፤ ከሰይፍ፣ ከራብና ከቸነፈር የተነሣ ከተማዪቱን ለሚወጓት ለባቢሎናውያን ዐልፋ ልትሰጥ ነው፤ እንደምታየውም የተናገርኸው እየተፈጸመ ነው። 25አንተ ግን ጌታ እግዚአብሔር ሆይ፤ ከተማዪቱ ለባቢሎናውያን ዐልፋ እየተሰጠች፣ ‘መሬቱን በብር ግዛ፤ ግዥውንም በምስክሮች ፊት ፈጽም’ ትለኛለህ።”
26ከዚያም በኋላ የእግዚአብሔር ቃል ወደ ኤርምያስ እንዲህ ሲል መጣ፤ 27“እነሆ፤ እኔ የሰው ልጆች ሁሉ አምላክ እግዚአብሔር ነኝ፤ በውኑ የሚያቅተኝ ነገር አለን? 28ስለዚህ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ እነሆ፤ ይህችን ከተማ ለባቢሎናውያንና ለባቢሎን ንጉሥ ለናቡከደነፆር አሳልፌ እሰጣታለሁ፤ እርሱም ይይዛታል። 29ከተማዪቱን የሚወጓት ባቢሎናውያን ወደ ውስጥ ይገባሉ፤ በእሳትም ያቃጥሏታል፤ ያስቈጡኝ ዘንድ ሕዝቡ በየሰገነቱ ላይ ለበኣል ያጠኑባቸውንና ለሌሎችም አማልክት የመጠጥ ቍርባን ያቀረቡባቸውን ቤቶች ጭምር ያነድዳሉ።
30“የእስራኤል ሕዝብና የይሁዳ ሕዝብ ከታናሽነታቸው ጀምሮ ከክፉ ነገር በቀር በፊቴ አንዳች በጎ ነገር አልሠሩም፤ በርግጥም የእስራኤል ሕዝብ በእጃቸው ሥራ አስቈጡኝ፤ ይላል እግዚአብሔር። 31ይህች ከተማ፣ ከተመሠረተችበት ጊዜ አንሥቶ እስከ ዛሬ ድረስ ከፊቴ እንዳስወግዳት ቍጣዬንና መዓቴን አነሣሥታለች፤ 32የእስራኤልና የይሁዳ ሕዝብ፣ እነርሱ፣ ነገሥታታቸው፣ ባለሥልጣኖቻቸው፣ ካህናታቸው፣ ነቢያታቸው፣ የይሁዳ ሰዎችና የኢየሩሳሌም ነዋሪዎች ባደረጉት ክፋት ሁሉ አስቈጡኝ። 33ፊታቸውን ሳይሆን ጀርባቸውን ሰጡኝ፤ ደጋግሜ ባስተምራቸውም አይሰሙም፤ ተግሣጽም አይቀበሉም። 34ስሜ በተጠራበት ቤት አስጸያፊ ጣዖታቸውን አቆሙ፤ አረከሱትም። 35ወንዶችና ሴቶች32፥35 ወይም ወንዶችና ሴቶች ልጆቻቸውን በእሳት ያሳልፉ ዘንድ ልጆቻቸውን ለሞሎክ ይሠዉ ዘንድ በሄኖም ሸለቆ ለበኣል መስገጃ ኰረብቶችን ሠሩ፤ ነገር ግን ይሁዳን ኀጢአት ለማሠራት እንደዚህ ያለውን አስጸያፊ ተግባር እንዲፈጽሙ እኔ አላዘዝሁም፤ ከቶም አላሰብሁም።
36“ ‘በሰይፍ፣ በራብና በቸነፈር ለባቢሎን ንጉሥ ዐልፋ ትሰጣለች’ ስላልሃት ስለዚህች ከተማ፣ የእስራኤል አምላክ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ 37‘በጽኑ ቍጣዬና በታላቅ መቅሠፍቴ እነርሱን ካሳደድሁበት ምድር ሁሉ በእውነት እሰበስባቸዋለሁ፤ ወደዚህም ስፍራ እመልሳቸዋለሁ፤ በሰላምም እንዲቀመጡ አደርጋቸዋለሁ። 38እነርሱ ሕዝብ ይሆኑኛል፤ እኔም አምላክ እሆናቸዋለሁ። 39ለእነርሱና ከእነርሱም በኋላ ለልጆቻቸው መልካም እንዲሆንላቸው ዘወትር ይፈሩኝ ዘንድ፣ አንድ ልብ አንድም ሐሳብ እሰጣቸዋለሁ። 40መልካምን ነገር ለእነርሱ ከማድረግ እንዳልቈጠብና ከእኔም ፈቀቅ እንዳይሉ መፈራቴን በውስጣቸው ላኖር ከእነርሱ ጋር የዘላለም ቃል ኪዳን እገባለሁ። 41ለእነርሱ መልካም በማድረግ ደስ ይለኛል፤ በፍጹም ልቤና በፍጹም ነፍሴ በእውነት በዚህች ምድር እተክላቸዋለሁ።’
42“እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ ‘በዚህ ሕዝብ ላይ ይህን ሁሉ ታላቅ ጥፋት እንዳመጣሁ እንደዚሁ ቃል የገባሁላቸውን መልካም ነገር ሁሉ እሰጣቸዋለሁ። 43እናንተም፣ “ለባቢሎናውያን ዐልፋ ስለ ተሰጠች፣ ሰውና እንስሳ የማይኖሩባት ባድማ ናት” ባላችኋት በዚህች ምድር እንደ ገና መሬት ይገዛል። 44ምርኳቸውን ስለምመልስላቸው32፥44 ወይም ከምርኮ ስለምመልሳቸው በብንያም አገር፣ በኢየሩሳሌም ዙሪያ ባሉ መንደሮች፣ በይሁዳ ከተሞችና በተራራማው አገር ከተሞች፣ በምዕራብ ተራሮች ግርጌና በኔጌብ ባሉ ከተሞች፣ መሬት በጥሬ ብር ይገዛል፤ ውሉም ተፈርሞ፤ በምስክሮች ፊት ይታሸጋል፤’ ይላል እግዚአብሔር።”
Jeremiah buys a field
1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace of Judah.
3Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him there, saying, ‘Why do you prophesy as you do? You say, “This is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. 4Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape the Babylonians32:4 Or Chaldeans; also in verses 5, 24, 25, 28, 29 and 43 but will certainly be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes. 5He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will remain until I deal with him, declares the Lord. If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed.” ’
6Jeremiah said, ‘The word of the Lord came to me: 7Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, “Buy my field at Anathoth, because as nearest relative it is your right and duty to buy it.”
8‘Then, just as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, “Buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.”
‘I knew that this was the word of the Lord; 9so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels32:9 That is, about 200 grams of silver. 10I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver on the scales. 11I took the deed of purchase – the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy – 12and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.
13‘In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions: 14“This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so that they will last a long time. 15For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”
16‘After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord:
17‘Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. 18You show love to thousands but bring the punishment for the parents’ sins into the laps of their children after them. Great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord Almighty, 19great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds. Your eyes are open to the ways of all mankind; you reward each person according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve. 20You performed signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day, in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown that is still yours. 21You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror. 22You gave them this land you had sworn to give to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23They came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey you or follow your law; they did not do what you commanded them to do. So you brought all this disaster on them.
24‘See how the siege ramps are built up to take the city. Because of the sword, famine and plague, the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians who are attacking it. What you said has happened, as you now see. 25And though the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians, you, Sovereign Lord, say to me, “Buy the field with silver and have the transaction witnessed.” ’
26Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 27‘I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? 28Therefore this is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it. 29The Babylonians who are attacking this city will come in and set it on fire; they will burn it down, along with the houses where the people aroused my anger by burning incense on the roofs to Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.
30‘The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth; indeed, the people of Israel have done nothing but arouse my anger with what their hands have made, declares the Lord. 31From the day it was built until now, this city has so aroused my anger and wrath that I must remove it from my sight. 32The people of Israel and Judah have provoked me by all the evil they have done – they, their kings and officials, their priests and prophets, the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem. 33They turned their backs to me and not their faces; though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline. 34They set up their vile images in the house that bears my Name and defiled it. 35They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molek, though I never commanded – nor did it enter my mind – that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.
36‘You are saying about this city, “By the sword, famine and plague it will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon”; but this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 37I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. 38They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. 40I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. 41I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.
42‘This is what the Lord says: as I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them. 43Once more fields will be bought in this land of which you say, “It is a desolate waste, without people or animals, for it has been given into the hands of the Babylonians.” 44Fields will be bought for silver, and deeds will be signed, sealed and witnessed in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, because I will restore their fortunes,32:44 Or will bring them back from captivity declares the Lord.’
