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. While Jeremiah was in prison, he said, “The Lord spoke this word to me:
7. Your cousin Hanamel, son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you soon. Hanamel will say to you, ‘Jeremiah, you are my nearest relative, so buy my field near the town of Anathoth. It is your right and your duty to buy that field.’
8. “Then it happened just as the Lord had said. My cousin 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 from the Lord.
9. “I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, weighing out seven ounces of silver for him.
10. I signed the record 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 of ownership—the one that was sealed that had the demands and limits of ownership, and the one that was not sealed.
12. And I gave them to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah. My cousin Hanamel, the other witnesses who signed the record of ownership, and many Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard saw me give the record of ownership to Baruch.
13. “With all the people watching, I told Baruch,
14. ‘This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: Take both copies of the record of ownership—the sealed copy and the copy that was not sealed—and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time.
15. This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: In the future my people will once again buy houses and fields for grain and vineyards in the land of Israel.’
16. “After I gave the record of ownership to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord,
17. Oh, Lord God, you made the skies and the earth with your very great power. There is nothing too hard for you to do.
18. You show love and kindness to thousands of people, but you also bring punishment to children for their parents’ sins. Great and powerful God, your name is the Lord All-Powerful.
19. You plan and do great things. You see everything that people do, and you reward people for the way they live and for what they do.
20. You did miracles and wonderful things in the land of Egypt. You have continued doing them in Israel and among the other nations even until today. So you have become well known.
21. You brought your people, the Israelites, out of Egypt using signs and miracles and your great power and strength. You brought great terror on everyone.