Jeremiah Buys a Field

32 This is the word the Lord spoke to Jeremiah in the tenth year Zedekiah was king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar [^C587 bc; 52:4–5]. ² At that time the army of the king of Babylon was ·surrounding [besieging] Jerusalem. Jeremiah the prophet was ·under arrest [imprisoned; confined] in the courtyard of the guard, which was at the ·palace [^Lhouse] of the king of Judah.

³ Zedekiah king of Judah had ·put Jeremiah in prison there [confined; imprisoned him]. Zedekiah had asked, “Why have you prophesied the things you have?” (Jeremiah had said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I will soon hand this city [^CJerusalem] over to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. ⁴ Zedekiah king of Judah will not ·escape [be rescued] from the ·Babylonian [^LChaldean] army, but he will surely be handed over to the king of Babylon. And he will speak to him [^Cthe king of Babylon] face to face and see him with his own eyes. ⁵ The king will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will stay until I have punished him,’ says the Lord. ‘If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed.’”)

⁶ Jeremiah said [^Cwhile still in prison], “The Lord spoke this word to me: ⁷ Hanamel, son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you soon. Hanamel will say to you, ‘Buy my field near the town of Anathoth [^CJeremiah’s hometown; 1:1]. It is your right and your duty to buy that field [^Cbecause he is a near relative; Lev. 25:23–25].’

⁸ “Then it happened just as the Lord had said. ·My cousin [^LThe son of my uncle] Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said to me, ‘Buy for yourself my field near Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. It is your right and duty to buy it and own it.’ So I knew this was a ·message [^Lword] from the Lord.

⁹ “I bought the field at Anathoth from ·my cousin [^Lthe son of my uncle] Hanamel, weighing out ·seven ounces [^Lseventeen shekels] of silver for him. ¹⁰ I ·signed the record [^Lwrote in a scroll] and sealed it and had some people witness it. I also weighed out the silver on the scales. ¹¹ Then I took both copies of the ·record [scroll] of ·ownership [purchase]—the one that was sealed that had the demands and ·limits of ownership [terms], and the one that was ·not sealed [^Lexposed]. ¹² And I gave them to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah [36; 43:3, 6; 45:1–2]. My cousin Hanamel, the other witnesses who signed the ·record [scroll] of ·ownership [purchase], and many ·Jews [^LJudeans] sitting in the courtyard of the guard saw me give the ·record [scroll] of ·ownership [purchase] to Baruch.

¹³ “·With all the people watching [^LBefore their eyes], I ·told [^Lcommanded] Baruch, ¹⁴ ‘This is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts], the God of Israel, says: Take both copies of the ·record [scroll] of ·ownership [purchase]—the sealed copy and the copy that was ·not sealed [^Lexposed]—and put them in a clay jar so they will ·last [endure; stand] ·a long time [^Lfor many days]. ¹⁵ This is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts], the God of Israel, says: In the future my people will once again buy houses and fields and vineyards in this land [^CIsrael].’