4. Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the Chaldeans; indeed, he will certainly be handed over to Babylon’s king. They will speak face to face and meet eye to eye.
5. He will take Zedekiah to Babylon where he will stay until I attend to him’ — this is the Lord’s declaration. ‘You will fight the Chaldeans, but you will not succeed’? ”
6. Jeremiah replied, “The word of the Lord came to me:
7. Watch! Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, is coming to you to say, ‘Buy my field in Anathoth for yourself, for you own the right of redemption to buy it.’
8. “Then my cousin Hanamel came to the guard’s courtyard as the Lord had said and urged me, ‘Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for you own the right of inheritance and redemption. Buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.
9. So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and I weighed out to him the money — 17 shekels of silver.
10. I recorded it on a scroll, sealed it, called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver in the scales.
11. I took the purchase agreement — the sealed copy with its terms and conditions and the open copy —
12. and gave the purchase agreement to Baruch son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah. I did this in the sight of my cousin Hanamel, the witnesses who were signing the purchase agreement, and all the Judeans sitting in the guard’s courtyard.
13. “I instructed Baruch in their sight,
14. ‘This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Take these scrolls — this purchase agreement with the sealed copy and this open copy — and put them in an earthen storage jar so they will last a long time.
15. For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’
16. “After I had given the purchase agreement to Baruch, son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord:
17. Oh, Lord God! You Yourself made the heavens and earth by Your great power and with Your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!
18. You show faithful love to thousands but lay the fathers’ sins on their sons’ laps after them, great and mighty God whose name is Yahweh of Hosts,