29:1 This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
29:2 (This was after King Jehoiachin and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.)
29:3 He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said:
29:4 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:
29:5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.
29:6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.
29:7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
29:8 Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have.
29:9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the LORD.
29:10 This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.
29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
29:12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
29:14 I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
29:15 You may say, “The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,”
29:16 but this is what the LORD says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your countrymen who did not go with you into exile–
29:17 yes, this is what the LORD Almighty says: “I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like poor figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten.
29:18 I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth and an object of cursing and horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them.
29:19 For they have not listened to my words,” declares the LORD, “words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,” declares the LORD.
29:20 Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.
29:21 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you in my name: “I will hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your very eyes.
29:22 Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘The LORD treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.’
29:23 For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and in my name have spoken lies, which I did not tell them to do. I know it and am a witness to it,” declares the LORD.
29:24 Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite,
29:25 “This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem, to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the other priests. You said to Zephaniah,
29:26 ‘The LORD has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada to be in charge of the house of the LORD; you should put any madman who acts like a prophet into the stocks and neck-irons.
29:27 So why have you not reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you?
29:28 He has sent this message to us in Babylon: It will be a long time. Therefore build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.’”
29:29 Zephaniah the priest, however, read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet.
29:30 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
29:31 “Send this message to all the exiles: ‘This is what the LORD says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send him, and has led you to believe a lie,
29:32 this is what the LORD says: I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good things I will do for my people, declares the LORD, because he has preached rebellion against me.’”
29:1 And these are the words of the letter which the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile and to the priests and to the prophets and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon
29:2 (After King Jeconiah and the queen mother and the eunuchs, and the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen and the smiths had gone out from Jerusalem),
29:3 By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah the king of Judah sent to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon at Babylon, saying:
29:4 Thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon,
29:5 Build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce.
29:6 Take wives and beget sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters, and multiply there and do not become few.
29:7 And seek the peace of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to Jehovah for it; for in its peace you will have peace.
29:8 For thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Do not let your prophets, who are in your midst, and your diviners deceive you; and do not listen to your dreams, which you cause to be dreamed.
29:9 For they prophesy to you falsely in My name; and I have not sent them, declares Jehovah.
29:10 For thus says Jehovah, When seventy years are fulfilled for Babylon, I will visit you and establish My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.
29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think about you, declares Jehovah, thoughts of peace and not for evil, to give you a latter end and a hope.
29:12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you;
29:13 And you will seek Me and find Me if you search for Me with all your heart;
29:14 And I will be found by you, declares Jehovah. And I will turn your captivity and gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, declares Jehovah, and bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.
29:15 If you say, Jehovah has raised up for us prophets in Babylon,
29:16 Indeed thus says Jehovah concerning the king who sits on the throne of David and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who did not go out with you into exile:
29:17 Thus says Jehovah of hosts, I am about to send upon them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs, which cannot be eaten because of rottenness.
29:18 And I will pursue them with sword, with famine, and with pestilence, and I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth to be a curse and an astonishment and a hissing and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them;
29:19 Because they have not listened to My words, declares Jehovah, which I sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending; but you did not listen, declares Jehovah.
29:20 Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.
29:21 Thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you falsehood in My name, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, and he will strike them before your eyes.
29:22 And because of them a curse will be taken up by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, May Jehovah make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;
29:23 Because they have committed folly in Israel and have committed adultery with their neighbors wives and have spoken a word of falsehood in My name, which I did not command them to do; indeed I am the One who knows and am witness, declares Jehovah.
29:24 And you shall speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,
29:25 Thus speaks Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,
29:26 Jehovah has made you a priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, that there should be officers in the house of Jehovah over every madman who prophesies so that you might put him in the stocks and in the iron collar.
29:27 And now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who prophesies to you?
29:28 For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, It will be a long time; build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce.
29:29 And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.
29:30 Then the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying,
29:31 Send word to all the exiles, saying, Thus says Jehovah concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite, Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, when I did not send him, and has made you trust in falsehood,
29:32 Therefore thus says Jehovah, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his seed: He will not have anyone living among this people and will not see the good that I am about to do to My people, declares Jehovah, because he has spoken rebellion against Jehovah.