1. The Lord spoke to me in the tenth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylonia.
2. At that time, the Babylonian army had surrounded Jerusalem, and I was in the prison at the courtyard of the palace guards.
3. Zedekiah had ordered me to be held there because I told everyone that the Lord had said:I am the Lord, and I am about to let the king of Babylonia conquer Jerusalem.
4. King Zedekiah will be captured and taken to King Nebuchadnezzar, who will speak with him face to face.
5. Then Zedekiah will be led away to Babylonia, where he will stay until I have finished with him. So, if you people of Judah fight against the Babylonians, you will lose. I, the Lord, have spoken.
6. Later, when I was in prison, the Lord said:
7. Jeremiah, your cousin Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, will visit you. He must sell his field near the town of Anathoth, and because you are his nearest relative, you have the right and the responsibility to buy it and keep it in the family.