So I bought the shorts as the <sc>Lordsc> had told me to do<n id="1" /> and put them on.<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> told Jeremiah,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Go and buy a clay jar from a potter.<n id="2" /> Take with you<n id="3" /> some of the leaders of the people and some of the leaders<n id="4" /> of the priests.

&#8216;Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you soon. He will say to you, &#8220;Buy my field at Anathoth because you are entitled<n id="1" /> as my closest relative to buy it.&#8221;&#8217;<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> said to me, &#8220;Go and buy some linen shorts<n id="1" /> and put them on.<n id="2" /> Do not put them in water.&#8221;<n id="3" />

&#8220;Take the shorts that you bought and are wearing<n id="1" /> and go at once<n id="2" /> to Perath.<n id="3" /> Bury the shorts there<n id="4" /> in a crack in the rocks.&#8221;

So I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out seven ounces of silver and gave it to him to pay for it.<n id="1" />

For the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel who rules over all<n id="1" /> says, &#8220;Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.&#8221;&#8217;<n id="2" />p>

The city is sure to fall into the hands of the Babylonians.<n id="1" /> Yet, in spite of this,<n id="2" /> you, Lord <sc>Godsc>,<n id="3" /> have said to me, &#8220;Buy that field with silver and have the transaction legally witnessed.&#8221;&#8217;&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

You and your people<n id="1" /> are saying that this land will become desolate, uninhabited by either people or animals. You are saying that it will be handed over to the Babylonians.<n id="2" /> But fields<n id="3" /> will again be bought in this land.<n id="4" />

Now it happened just as the <sc>Lordsc> had said! My cousin Hanamel<n id="1" /> came to me in the courtyard of the guardhouse. He said to me, &#8216;Buy my field which is at Anathoth in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. Buy it for yourself since you are entitled as my closest relative to take possession of it for yourself.&#8217; When this happened, I recognized that the <sc>Lordsc> had indeed spoken to me.

Fields will again be bought with silver, and deeds of purchase signed, sealed, and witnessed. This will happen in the territory of Benjamin, the villages surrounding Jerusalem, the towns in Judah, the southern hill country, the western foothills, and southern Judah.<n id="1" /> For I will restore them to their land.<n id="2" /> I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!&#8217;&#8221;<n id="3" />p>