Jeremiah 29

1 And these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah, the prophet, sent from Jerusalem to the remnant of the elders of the transmigration, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had led away from Jerusalem to Babylon,

Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the responsible men among those who had been taken away, and to the priests and the prophets and to all the rest of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken away prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylon;

2 after king Jeconiah, with the queen, and the eunuchs, and the leaders of Judah and of Jerusalem, and the craftsmen and engravers, had departed from Jerusalem.

(After Jeconiah the king and the queen-mother and the unsexed servants and the rulers of Judah and Jerusalem and the expert workmen and the metal-workers had gone away from Jerusalem; )

3 It was sent by the hand of Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and by Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, the king of Judah, sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, saying:

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

4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who have been taken away, whom I have caused to be transferred from Jerusalem to Babylon:

This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said to all those whom I have taken away prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylon:

5 Build houses and live in them. And plant gardens, and eat from their fruit.

Go on building houses and living in them, and planting gardens and using the fruit of them;

6 Take wives, and conceive sons and daughters. And give wives to your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, and let them bear sons and daughters. And be multiplied there, and do not choose to be few in number.

Take wives and have sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may have sons and daughters; and be increased in number there and do not become less.

7 And seek the peace of the city, to which I have caused you to be taken away, and pray to the Lord on its behalf. For your peace will be in its peace.

And be working for the peace of the land to which I have had you taken away prisoners, and make prayer to the Lord for it: for in its peace you will have peace.

8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not allow your prophets and your diviners, who are in your midst, to seduce you. And you should pay no attention to your dreams, which you are dreaming.

For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: Do not let yourselves be tricked by the prophets who are among you, and the readers of signs, and give no attention to their dreams which they may have;

9 For they prophesy falsely to you in my name, and I have not sent them, says the Lord.

For they are saying to you what is false in my name: I have not sent them, says the Lord.

10 For thus says the Lord: When the seventy years will begin to be completed in Babylon, I will visit you. And I will raise up over you my good word, so that I may lead you back to this place.

For this is what the Lord has said: When seventy years are ended for Babylon, I will have pity on you and give effect to my good purpose for you, causing you to come back to this place.

11 For I know the thoughts that I think over you, says the Lord: thoughts of peace and not of affliction, so that I may give you patience and an end.

For I am conscious of my thoughts about you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you hope at the end.

12 And you shall call upon me, and you shall go forth. And you shall pray to me, and I will heed you.

And you will go on crying to me and making prayer to me, and I will give ear to you.

13 You shall seek me. And you will find me, when you have sought me with your whole heart.

And you will be searching for me and I will be there, when you have gone after me with all your heart.

14 And I will be found by you, says the Lord. And I will lead you back from your captivity. And I will gather you from all the nations and all the places, to which I have expelled you, says the Lord. And I will return you from the place to which I sent you into captivity.

I will be near you again, says the Lord, and your fate will be changed, and I will get you together from all the nations and from all the places where I had sent you away, says the Lord; and I will take you back again to the place from which I sent you away prisoners.

15 For you have said: ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon.’

For you have said, The Lord has given us prophets in Babylon.

16 For thus says the Lord, to the king who sits upon the throne of David, and to all the people who live in this city, to your brothers who have not departed with you in the transmigration:

For this is what the Lord has said about the king who is seated on the seat of David's kingdom, and about all the people living in this town, your countrymen who have not gone out with you as prisoners;

17 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will send among them the sword, and famine, and pestilence. And I will make them like the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, because they are very bad.

This is what the Lord of armies has said: See, I will send on them the sword and need of food and disease, and will make them like bad figs, which are of no use for food, they are so bad.

18 And I will pursue them with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence. And I will give them over to affliction, amid all the kingdoms of the earth: as a curse, and in stupor, and with hissing, and as a disgrace among all the nations to which I have driven them out.

I will go after them, attacking them with the sword and with need of food and with disease, and will make them a cause of fear to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse and a wonder and a surprise and a name of shame among all the nations where I have sent them:

19 For they have not listened to my words, says the Lord, which I sent to them through my servants, the prophets, rising while it was still night, and sending. But you have not listened, says the Lord.

Because they have not given ear to my words, says the Lord, when I sent to them my servants the prophets, getting up early and sending them; but you did not give ear, says the Lord.

20 Therefore, listen to the word of the Lord, all you of the transmigration, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem into Babylon.

And now, give ear to the word of the Lord, all you whom I have sent away prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylon.

21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and to Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy falsely to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and he will strike them down before your eyes.

This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said about Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and about Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who are saying to you what is false in my name: See, I will give them up into the hands of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your eyes.

22 And a curse will be taken up about them, by all the captives of Judah that are in Babylon, saying: ‘May the Lord make you like Zedekiah, and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon fried in the fire!’

And their fate will be used as a curse by all the prisoners of Judah who are in Babylon, who will say, May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, who were burned in the fire by the king of Babylon;

23 For they have acted foolishly in Israel, and they have committed adultery with the wives of their friends, and they have spoken lying words in my name, which I did not command them. I am the Judge and the Witness, says the Lord.

Because they have done shame in Israel, and have taken their neighbours' wives, and in my name have said false words, which I did not give them orders to say; and I myself am the witness, says the Lord.

24 And to Shemaiah of Nehelam, you shall say:

About Shemaiah the Nehelamite.

25 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Similarly, you have sent letters in your name to all the people that are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying:

Shemaiah the Nehelamite sent a letter in his name to Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,

26 ‘The Lord has made you priest in place of Jehoiada, the priest, so that you would be the ruler in the house of the Lord over every man who raves and prophesies, to send him to the stocks and to prison.

The Lord has made you priest in place of Jehoiada the priest, to be an overseer in the house of the Lord for every man who is off his head and is acting as a prophet, to put such men in prison and in chains.

27 And now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who prophesies to you?

So why have you made no protest against Jeremiah of Anathoth, who is acting as a prophet to you?

28 For about this, he has sent to us in Babylon, saying: It is a long time. Build houses and live in them. And plant gardens, and eat from their fruits.’”

For he has sent to us in Babylon saying, The time will be long: go on building houses and living in them, and planting gardens and using the fruit of them.

29 Thus, Zephaniah, the priest, read this letter, in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet.

And Zephaniah the priest made clear to Jeremiah the prophet what was said in the letter, reading it to him.

30 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying:

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,

31 “Send to all those of the transmigration, saying: Thus says the Lord to Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, though I did not send him, and because he has caused you to trust in a lie:

Send to all those who have been taken away, saying, This is what the Lord has said about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has been acting as a prophet to you, and I did not send him, and has made you put your faith in what is false;

32 For this reason, thus says the Lord: Behold, I will visit upon Shemaiah of Nehelam, and upon his offspring. There will not be, for him, even one man sitting in the midst of this people. And he will not see the good that I will accomplish for my people, says the Lord. For he has spoken a betrayal against the Lord.”

For this cause the Lord has said, Truly I will send punishment on Shemaiah and on his seed; not a man of his family will have a place among this people, and he will not see the good which I am going to do to my people, says the Lord: because he has said words against the Lord.