I signed the deed of purchase,<n id="1" /> sealed it, and had some men serve as witnesses to the purchase.<n id="2" /> I weighed out the silver for him on a scale.

&#8216;The <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel who rules over all<n id="1" /> says, &#8220;Take these documents, both the sealed copy of the deed of purchase and the unsealed copy. Put them in a clay jar so that they may be preserved for a long time to come.&#8221;&#8217;<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">Zephaniah the priest read that letter to the prophet Jeremiah.<n id="1" />

There were two copies of the deed of purchase. One was sealed and contained the order of transfer and the conditions of purchase.<n id="1" /> The other was left unsealed.

<p class="bodytext">Micaiah, who was the son of Gemariah and the grandson of Shaphan, heard Baruch read from the scroll everything the <sc>Lordsc> had said.<n id="1" />

I took both copies of the deed of purchase<n id="1" /> and gave them to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah. I gave them to him in the presence<n id="2" /> of my cousin<n id="3" /> Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the deed of purchase, and all the Judeans who were housed in the courtyard of the guardhouse.

&#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel says,<n id="1" /> &#8216;Write everything that I am about to tell you in a scroll.<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;After I had given the copies of the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the <sc>Lordsc>,

<p class="bodytext">So Baruch son of Neriah did exactly what the prophet Jeremiah had told him to do. He read what the <sc>Lordsc> had said from the scroll in the temple of the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="1" />

Micaiah told them everything he had heard Baruch read from the scroll in the hearing of the people.<n id="1" />

Baruch answered, &#8220;Yes, they came from his own mouth. He dictated all these words to me and I wrote them down in ink on this scroll.&#8221;<n id="1" />

When you finish reading this scroll aloud, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River.<n id="1" />

She also saw<n id="1" /> that I gave wayward Israel her divorce papers and sent her away because of her adulterous worship of other gods.<n id="2" /> Even after her unfaithful sister Judah had seen this,<n id="3" /> she still was not afraid, and she too went and gave herself like a prostitute to other gods.<n id="4" />

I will bring on that land everything that I said I would. I will bring on it everything that is written in this book. I will bring on it everything that Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.<n id="1" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">The prophet Jeremiah sent a letter to the exiles Nebuchadnezzar had carried off from Jerusalem<n id="1" /> to Babylon. It was addressed to the elders who were left among the exiles, to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the other people who were exiled in Babylon.<n id="2" />

that the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel who rules over all<n id="1" /> has a message for him.<n id="2" /> Tell him,<n id="3" /> &#8216;On your own initiative<n id="4" /> you sent a letter<n id="5" /> to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah<n id="6" /> and to all the other priests and to all the people in Jerusalem.<n id="7" /> In your letter you said to Zephaniah,<n id="8" />

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>

&#8220;Get a scroll.<n id="1" /> Write on it everything I have told you to say<n id="2" /> about Israel, Judah, and all the other nations since I began to speak to you in the reign of Josiah until now.<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">So Jeremiah summoned Baruch son of Neriah. Then Jeremiah dictated to Baruch everything the <sc>Lordsc> had told him to say and Baruch wrote it all down in a scroll.<n id="1" />

At that time Baruch went into the temple of the <sc>Lordsc>. He stood in the entrance of the room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan who had been the royal secretary.<n id="1" /> That room was in the upper court<n id="2" /> near the entrance of the New Gate.<n id="3" /> There, where all the people could hear him, he read from the scroll what Jeremiah had said.<n id="4" />p>