1Jehovah spoke his word to Jeremiah during Zedekiah's tenth year as king of Judah. This was Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year as king. 2At that time the army of the king of Babylon was blockading Jerusalem. The prophet Jeremiah was locked up in the courtyard of the prison. This prison was in the palace of the king of Judah. 3When King Zedekiah of Judah locked up Jeremiah, Zedekiah asked him: »Why are you prophesying? You are saying, ‘this is what Jehovah says: »I am going to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. 4»King Zedekiah of Judah will not escape from the Babylonians. He will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon. He will talk to Nebuchadnezzar in person and look him in the eye. 5»Nebuchadnezzar will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and Zedekiah will stay there until I deal with him,« declares Jehovah. »When you fight the Babylonians, you will not win.« ’« 6Jeremiah said: »The word of Jehovah came to me. He said: 7‘Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you. He says: »Buy for yourself my field at Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy it.’« 8»Then Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of Jehovah and said to me: ‘Buy my field, please, that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin. You have the right of possession and the redemption is yours;. Buy it for yourself.’ »Then I knew that this was the word of Jehovah. 9»I bought the field at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle's son. I weighed out the silver for him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10»I signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. 11»I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions and the open copy. 12»I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle's son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard. 13»I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying: 14‘Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel says: »Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may be preserved a long time.« 15‘Jehovah of Host, the God of Israel says: »Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’« 16»After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah I prayed to Jehovah: 17‘Ah Lord Jehovah! You have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for you. 18»You show loving kindness to thousands, but repay the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them. O great and mighty God. Jehovah of Hosts is his name. 19»You are great in counsel and mighty in deed. Your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men. You give to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds. 20»You set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. Even to this day both in Israel and among mankind you have made a name for yourself. 21»You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt using signs and wonders. You did this with a strong hand, with an outstretched arm and with great terror. 22»You gave them this land. You swore to their forefathers to give them a land flowing with milk and honey. 23»They came in and took possession of it. But they did not obey your voice or walk in your Law. They have done nothing of all that you commanded them to do. Therefore you made this calamity come upon them. 24»The siege ramps have reached the city to take it. The city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, the famine and the pestilence. You brought all this disaster on them. 25»Yet you, Lord Jehovah, told me to buy a field with money and get witnesses to confirm it, although the city was handed over to the Babylonians.« 26Jehovah continued to speak his word to Jeremiah: 27»Behold! I am Jehovah the God of all humanity. Nothing is too hard for me. 28»This is what Jehovah says: ‘I am going to hand this city over to the Babylonians and King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. They will capture it. 29‘The Babylonians who are attacking this city will break in, set this city on fire, and burn it down. They will burn down the houses of people who made me furious by going up to the roofs to burn incense to Baal and to pour out wine offerings to other gods.’ 30»‘Ever since they were young, the people of Israel and Judah have done what I consider evil. The people of Israel have made me furious by what they have done,’ says Jehovah. 31‘The people in this city have made me so angry and furious from the day they built it to this day. So now I must remove this city from my presence. 32The people of Israel and Judah have made me furious because they are evil. The people, their kings and officials, their priests and prophets, and the Judeans and those who live in Jerusalem 33have turned their backs, not their faces to me. I taught them again and again, but they refused to listen and learn. 34They set up their detestable idols in the Temple that is called by my name, and they dishonored it. 35In the valley of Ben Hinnom they built worship sites for Baal to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech. I did not ask them to do this. It never entered my heart mind. I did not make Judah sin.’ 36»You have said this about the city: Because of wars, famines, and plagues it will be handed over to the king of Babylon. Jehovah the God of Israel says: 37‘I am going to gather the people from all the lands where I scattered them in my anger, fury, and terrifying wrath. I will bring them back to this place and make them live here securely. 38»They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39»I will give them the same attitude and the same purpose so that they will respect and reverence me as long as they live. This will be for their good and for the good of their children. 40»I will make an eternal promise to them that I will never stop blessing them. I will make them respect me so that they will never turn away from me. 41»I will enjoy blessing them. With all my heart and all my being I will faithfully plant them in this land.’« 42»This is what Jehovah says: ‘As I brought all these disasters on these people, so I will bring on them all these blessings that I have promised them. 43»Fields will be bought in this land of which you say: It is desolation, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.« ’ 44»‘Men will buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of 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 Negev. I will restore their prosperity,« declares Jehovah.