Yet you, Lord Yahweh, are the one who told me: ‘Buy the field, pay for it, and get witnesses,’ even though the Babylonians are about to capture the city.”
Look! The Babylonians have already set up siege ramps to take the city! Jerusalem is now within their clutches. The people will suffer from war, food shortages, and disease when they attack the city. What you prophesied has now come true, as you see.
And it happened just as Yahweh had said. My cousin Hanamel came to me in the palace guardhouse and said, “Buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. As my nearest relative, you have the right of possession and redemption, so buy it.” Then I knew that this was Yahweh’s plan.
“So, I, Yahweh, say you have disobeyed me by failing to grant freedom to your fellow Jews. Very well then. I, Yahweh, declare that I will give you freedom—the freedom to die by the sword, disease, and starvation. And I will make you a disgusting sight to every nation in the world.