Jeremiah 32:6-25

⁶ Jeremiah said, "God's Message came to me like this: ⁷ Prepare yourself! Hanamel, your uncle Shallum's son, is on his way to see you. He is going to say, 'Buy my field in Anathoth. You have the legal right to buy it.' ⁸ "And sure enough, just as God had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me while I was in jail and said, 'Buy my field in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin, for you have the legal right to keep it in the family. Buy it. Take it over.' "That did it. I knew it was God's Message. ⁹ "So I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I paid him seventeen silver shekels. ¹⁰ I followed all the proper procedures: In the presence of witnesses I wrote out the bill of sale, sealed it, and weighed out the money on the scales. ¹¹ Then I took the deed of purchase - the sealed copy that contained the contract and its conditions and also the open copy - ¹² and gave them to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah. All this took place in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and the witnesses who had signed the deed, as the Jews who were at the jail that day looked on. ¹³ "Then, in front of all of them, I told Baruch, ¹⁴ 'These are orders from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel: Take these documents - both the sealed and the open deeds - and put them for safekeeping in a pottery jar. ¹⁵ For God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, says, "Life is going to return to normal. Homes and fields and vineyards are again going to be bought in this country."'

¹⁶ "And then, having handed over the legal documents to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to God, ¹⁷ 'Dear God, my Master, you created earth and sky by your great power - by merely stretching out your arm! There is nothing you can't do. ¹⁸ You're loyal in your steadfast love to thousands upon thousands - but you also make children live with the fallout from their parents' sins. Great and powerful God, named God-of-the-Angel-Armies, ¹⁹ determined in purpose and relentless in following through, you see everything that men and women do and respond appropriately to the way they live, to the things they do. ²⁰ "'You performed signs and wonders in the country of Egypt and continue to do so right into the present, right here in Israel and everywhere else, too. You've made a reputation for yourself that doesn't diminish. ²¹ You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders - a powerful deliverance! - by merely stretching out your arm. ²² You gave them this land and solemnly promised to their ancestors a bountiful and fertile land. ²³ But when they entered the land and took it over, they didn't listen to you. They didn't do what you commanded. They wouldn't listen to a thing you told them. And so you brought this disaster on them. ²⁴ "'Oh, look at the siege ramps already set in place to take the city. Killing and starvation and disease are on our doorstep. The Babylonians are attacking! The Word you spoke is coming to pass - it's daily news! ²⁵ And yet you, God, the Master, even though it is certain that the city will be turned over to the Babylonians, also told me, Buy the field. Pay for it in cash. And make sure there are witnesses.'"