Yahweh responded with a word for the men of Anathoth who wanted to take my life and who said to me, “You must no longer prophesy in the name of Yahweh, or we will certainly kill you.”
For I heard them whispering behind my back: “Terror everywhere! That’s all he prophesies.” All my close friends watch for me to fall. “Let’s turn him in to the authorities,” they say. “Perhaps we can set a trap for him. Finally, we will prevail over him and take our revenge on him.”
They say to the seers: “Stop seeing your visions.” They say to the prophets: “Stop prophesying to us about what is right. Prophesy only pleasant things to us, even if they’re illusions!
When Jeremiah had finished speaking the message Yahweh had ordered him to give to the people, all the priests, prophets, and people forcefully seized him and said, “You ought to be killed for this!
“Your cousin Hanamel, son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you and say: ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to purchase it.’ ”