¹² and gave the purchase agreement to Baruch^(A) son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah. I did this in the sight of my cousin^[a] Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the purchase agreement, and all the Judeans sitting in the guard’s courtyard.

¹³ ‘I charged Baruch in their sight, ¹⁴ “This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Take these scrolls – this purchase agreement with the sealed copy and this open copy – and put them in an earthen storage jar so that they will last a long time. ¹⁵ For this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”^(B)

¹⁶ ‘After I had given the purchase agreement to Baruch, son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord:^(C)

³ Rather, Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Chaldeans to put us to death or to deport us to Babylon! ’

⁶ They led away the men, women, children, king’s daughters, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan, captain of the guards, had allowed to remain with Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan.^(A) They also led the prophet Jeremiah and Baruch son of Neriah away.

The Lord’s Message to Baruch

45 This is the word that the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Baruch son of Neriah^(A) when he wrote these words on a scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation^[a](B) in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:^{(C) 2} ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: