1 This is the Lord's message that came to Jeremiah in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah's reign, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign. 2 This was when the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem. Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the guard's courtyard, part of the king of Judah's palace.

3 Zedekiah king of Judah had put him in prison, telling him: “Why do you have to prophesy like this? You say the Lord is saying, ‘Look, I'm going to hand over this city to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. 4 Zedekiah king of Judah won't escape from the Babylonians. He will be captured and taken to the king of Babylon to speak with him personally and see him face to face. 5 He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he'll remain until I deal with him, declares the Lord. You won't be successful if you fight against the Babylonians.’ ”

6 Jeremiah answered, “The Lord gave me a message, saying: 7 Your cousin Hanamel, son of Shallum, is coming to tell you, ‘Why don't you buy my field in Anathoth because you have the right to redeem it and buy it?’

8 Just as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel arrived to see me in the guard's courtyard and asked me, ‘Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin because you have the right of family ownership to redeem it.* In order to keep land ownership in the family, relatives had the right of “first refusal” when another family member was forced to sell their land. See Leviticus 25:25-28. You should buy it for yourself.’ ” This convinced me that this was a message from the Lord.

9 So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out seventeen shekels of silver to pay him. 10 I signed the deed and sealed it, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver using the scales. 11 Then I took the deed of sale, both the sealed original containing the terms and conditions, and the unsealed copy, 12 and handed them to Baruch son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah. I did this in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the deed of sale, and all the people of Judah who were sitting there in the guard's courtyard.

13 I gave Baruch these instructions in front of them, 14 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Put these deeds of sale, the sealed original and the open copy, in a clay jar so they can be kept safe for a long time. 15 For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: The time will come when once again houses, fields, and vineyards will be bought in this country.”

16 After I had given the deed of sale to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord: 17 “Ah, Lord God! You created the heavens and the earth by your great strength and power. Nothing is too hard for you! 18 You give your trustworthy love to thousands, but you punish the sins of the fathers the consequences affect their children too., Great and powerful God whose name is the Lord Almighty, 19 you are the one who is supremely wise and who does incredible things. You watch what everyone does, and you reward them according to the way they live and what their actions deserve.

20 You carried out signs and miracles in Egypt, and you still do so today, both here in Israel and among all people everywhere. As a result you gained a great reputation, and this is still true today. 21 You led your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and miracles, with your great power and strength that terrified people. 22 You gave them this land that you had promised to give their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.

23 They came and took it over, but they didn't do what you said or follow your laws. They didn't do everything you ordered them to do, which is why you've brought all this disaster down on them. 24 Look at the siege ramps piled up against the city to capture it! Through war and famine and disease, the city will be taken by the Babylonians who are attacking it. You can see that everything you said would happen has happened.

25 Yet, Lord God, you have told me, ‘Buy yourself the field with silver in front of witnesses, even though the city has been handed over to the Babylonians!’ ”

26 Then Lord gave Jeremiah this message: 27 Look! I am the Lord, the God of everyone. Is anything too hard for me to do?

28 So this is what the Lord says: Listen! I'm going to hand over this city to the king of Babylon and the Babylonians, and they will capture it. 29 The Babylonians who are attacking the city are going to come and set fire to it. They will burn it down, including the houses belonging to the people who made me angry by burning incense to Baal on their rooftops, and by pouring out drink offerings in worship of other gods.

30 From their earliest days all the people of Israel and of Judah have ever done has been evil in my sight. In fact all they've even done is to make me angry through their actions, declares the Lord. 31 This city has been such a source of anger and frustration from the time it was built right up till now. So I'm going to get rid of it, 32 because of all the evil things the people of Israel and Judah did that made me angry—their kings, and officials, their priests and prophets, all of those living in Judah and Jerusalem, everyone 33 They have turned their backs on me. They wouldn't even look at me. Even though I kept on trying to teach them, they refused to listen or accept instruction.

34 They have put their disgusting idols in my Temple, making it unclean. 35 They have built pagan shrines to Baal in the Valley of Hinnom so they could sacrifice their sons and daughters by burning them in the fire. This is something I never commanded. I never even thought of such a thing—doing something so awful and making the people of Judah guilty of sin.

36 Now about this city. You are correctly saying, “It's going be handed over to the king of Babylon through war and famine and disease.” However, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 37 I promise to gather my people from all the lands where I exiled them because they made me so very angry. I will bring them back here and they will live in safety. 38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will make sure they think the same way and act in harmony, so that they will always honor me so all will be good for them and their descendants.

40 I will make an everlasting agreement with them: I'm never going to stop doing them good and I will help them to respect me so that they won't ever abandon me. 41 I will be delighted to treat them well, and I will commit myself with the whole of my being to helping them to grow as a nation in this land.

42 This is what the Lord says: Just as certainly as I have brought this whole disaster down on my people, so I'm going to give to them all the good things I have promised. 43 Fields will once again be bought in this country that you're describing, saying, “It's been completely destroyed—no people or animals are left. It's been handed over to the Babylonians.” 44 People will buy fields with silver again, deeds will be signed, sealed, and witnessed. This will happen here in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in all the towns of Judah—including the towns of the hill country, the foothills, and the Negev—because I will bring the people back from exile, declares the Lord.