Zedekiah, king of Judah, had locked him up, complaining, "How dare you preach, saying, 'GOD says, I'm warning you: I will hand this city over to the king of Babylon and he will take it over.
Zedekiah king of Judah will be handed over to the Chaldeans right along with the city. He will be handed over to the king of Babylon and forced to face the music.
He'll be hauled off to Babylon where he'll stay until I deal with him. GOD's Decree. Fight against the Babylonians all you want--it won't get you anywhere.'"
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.'
"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.
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.
'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.
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."'
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,
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.
"'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.
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.
"'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!
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.'"
The attacking Chaldeans will break through and burn the city down: All those houses whose roofs were used as altars for offerings to Baal and the worship of who knows how many other gods provoked me.
It isn't as if this were the first time they had provoked me. The people of Israel and Judah have been doing this for a long time--doing what I hate, making me angry by the way they live." GOD's Decree.
at the wicked lives of the people of Israel and Judah, deliberately making me angry, the whole lot of them--kings and leaders and priests and preachers, in the country and in the city.
They've turned their backs on me--won't even look me in the face!--even though I took great pains to teach them how to live. They refused to listen, refused to be taught.
And then they went out and built shrines to the god Baal in the valley of Hinnom, where they burned their children in sacrifice to the god Molech--I can hardly conceive of such evil!--turning the whole country into one huge act of sin.
"But there is also this Message from me, the GOD of Israel, to this city of which you have said, 'In killing and starvation and disease this city will be delivered up to the king of Babylon':
"'Watch for this! I will collect them from all the countries to which I will have driven them in my anger and rage and indignation. Yes, I'll bring them all back to this place and let them live here in peace.
What's more, I'll make a covenant with them that will last forever, a covenant to stick with them no matter what, and work for their good. I'll fill their hearts with a deep respect for me so they'll not even think of turning away from me.
"Yes, this is GOD's Message: 'I will certainly bring this huge catastrophe on this people, but I will also usher in a wonderful life of prosperity. I promise.
Fields are going to be bought here again, yes, in this very country that you assume is going to end up desolate--gone to the dogs, unlivable, wrecked by the Babylonians.
Yes, people will buy farms again, and legally, with deeds of purchase, sealed documents, proper witnesses--and right here in the territory of Benjamin, and in the area around Jerusalem, around the villages of Judah and the hill country, the Shephelah and the Negev. I will restore everything that was lost.' GOD's Decree."