Behar

Behar Posted On Jan 1, 1980 | Haftarah Reading

This translation was taken from the JPS Tanakh

Jeremiah 32:6-27

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, (some congregations end here23 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?


Taken from Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures, (Philadelphia, Jerusalem: Jewish Publication Society) 1985.
Used by permission of The Jewish Publication Society. Copyright © 1962, 1992
Third Edition by the Jewish Publication Society.
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