Jeremiah 29

1 This is the text of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets, and all the others Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon,

2 (This was after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the court officials, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalsmiths had been exiled from Jerusalem.)

after the departure of Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, and the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the artificers, and the smiths, from Jerusalem,

3 The letter was entrusted to Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It stated:

by the hand of Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah, the king of Judah, sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, ) saying: —

4 This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles who were carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:

Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the captives whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:

5 “Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat their produce.

Build ye houses and dwell in them; and plant gardens and eat the fruit of them.

6 Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease.

Take ye wives, and have sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and increase ye there, and be not diminished.

7 Seek the prosperity of the city to which I have sent you as exiles. Pray to the LORD on its behalf, for if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

And seek ye the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray for it to Jehovah, for in its peace shall be your peace.

8 For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Do not be deceived by the prophets and diviners among you, and do not listen to the dreams you elicit from them.

For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Let not your prophets and your diviners, who are in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.

9 For they are falsely prophesying to you in My name; I have not sent them, declares the LORD.”

For they prophesy falsely to you in my name; I have not sent them, saith Jehovah.

10 For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place.

For thus saith Jehovah: Surely, when seventy years shall be completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will perform for you my good promise, that I would bring you again to this place.

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.

For I know the designs which I have in mind concerning you, designs of good and not of evil, to give you a happy end, and fulfill your hopes.

12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

Then ye shall call upon me, and go in peace; ye shall pray to me, and I will hear you;

13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye search for me with all your heart.

14 I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore you from captivity and gather you from all the nations and places to which I have banished you, declares the LORD. I will restore you to the place from which I sent you into exile.”

And I will be found by you, saith Jehovah, and I will bring you back from captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith Jehovah; and I will bring you again to the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

15 Because you may say, “The LORD has raised up for us prophets in Babylon,”

Since ye say, Jehovah hath raised us up prophets in Babylon,

16 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 brothers who did not go with you into exile—

behold, thus saith Jehovah concerning the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and concerning all the people that dwell in this city, your brethren that went not forth with you into captivity, —

17 this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I will send against them sword and famine and plague, and I will make them like rotten figs, so bad they cannot be eaten.

thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs, which cannot be eaten for badness.

18 I will pursue them with sword and famine and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth—a curse, a desolation, and an object of scorn and reproach among all the nations to which I banish them.

And I will persecute them with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence, and I will give them up to oppression in all kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I drive them;

19 I will do this because they have not listened to My words, declares the LORD, which I sent to them again and again through My servants the prophets. And neither have you exiles listened, declares the LORD.”

because they have not hearkened to my words, saith Jehovah, when I sent to them my servants, the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith Jehovah.

20 So hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

Hear ye, therefore, the word of Jehovah, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon.

21 This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you lies in My name: “I will deliver them to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your very eyes.

Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he shall slay them before your eyes.

22 Because of them, all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire!’

And from them shall be taken a curse among all the captives of Judah that are at Babylon, so that they shall say, “Jehovah make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire!”

23 For they have committed an outrage in Israel by committing adultery with the wives of their neighbors and speaking lies in My name, which I did not command them to do. I am He who knows, and I am a witness, declares the LORD.”

because they have practised villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I commanded them not. But I know it, and am a witness, saith Jehovah.

24 You are to tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite that

And to Shemaiah, the Nehelamite, shalt thou say,

25 this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “In your own name you have sent out letters to all the people of Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests. You said to Zephaniah:

Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Because thou hast sent letters in thy name to all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

26 ‘The LORD has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada, to be the chief officer in the house of the LORD, responsible for any madman who acts like a prophet—you must put him in stocks and neck irons.

Jehovah hath made thee priest in the room of Jehoiada the priest, that there should be officers in the house of Jehovah against every one that is mad and prophesieth, and that thou shouldst put him into the stocks, and into prison;

27 So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you?

now, therefore, why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, who prophesieth to you?

28 For he has sent to us in Babylon, claiming: Since the exile will be lengthy, build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat their produce.’”

For he hath sent to us at Babylon, saying, This captivity is long. Build ye houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

29 (Zephaniah the priest, however, had read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet.)

And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.

30 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

Then came the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah, saying:

31 “Send a message telling all the exiles what the LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you—though I did not send him—and has made you trust in a lie,

Send to all those of the captivity, saying, Thus saith Jehovah concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah the prophet hath prophesied to you, and I sent him not, and he hath caused you to trust in a lie,

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 that I will bring to My people, declares the LORD, for he has preached rebellion against the LORD.’”

therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah, the Nehelamite, and his offspring. There shall descend from him not a man to dwell among this people, and he shall not behold the good which I will do for my people, saith Jehovah; for he hath spoken rebellion against Jehovah.