“See!
The siege ramps
Have been cast up
Against the city
To take it.
The city is faced
With sword,
With famine,
With pestilence.
The city has been
Given into the hands
Of the Chaldeans
Who are fighting against it.
What you spoke
Has happened.
As you yourself can see.
Yet you!
O Lord God!
You have said to me.
‘Buy the field
For money!
Get witnesses!’
Even though the city has been
Given into the hands
Of the Chaldeans.’”
The prayer of Jeremiah continued as he came to the present day situation of the attack by the Chaldeans, a Semitic people from the southeastern section of Babylon on the Euphrates River. The siege ramps were already in place against Jerusalem. The Chaldeans had come to take this city by sword, famine, or pestilence. What Yahweh had predicted, has happened. The Chaldeans have already taken over this city, as anyone can see with their own eyes. Yahweh had told Jeremiah to buy a field with money and witnesses, even though the city was in the hands of the Chaldeans. This purchase was a sign of hope for the future.
