Jeremiah 29

1 Jeremiah the prophet wrote this letter and sent it from Jerusalem to the elders who were left among the exiles, to the priests, the prophets, and everyone else who had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar.

Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, 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 Jehoiachin, the queen mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metals-workers had been exiled from Jerusalem.

(After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem; )

3 Elasah, son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, son of Hilkiah, took the letter with them when Zedekiah king of Judah sent them to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. In the letter Jeremiah wrote:

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 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles who were taken from Jerusalem to Babylon:

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon;

5 Build yourselves houses there to live in. Plant gardens and grow food to eat.

Build you houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;

6 Get married and have children. Arrange for your children to get married so they can have children too. Increase in number, don't decrease.

Take you 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; that you may be increased there, and not diminished.

7 Help make the city where I've exiled you more prosperous. Pray to the Lord for it, since as it prospers, so will you.

And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray to the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall you have peace.

8 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Don't be fooled by your prophets and fortune-tellers, and don't listen to any dreams they interpret for you.

For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the middle of you, deceive you, neither listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.

9 They are prophesying lies 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, says the LORD.

10 This is what the Lord says: When the seventy years exile in Babylon are over, I will see to you and keep my promise to bring you back to Jerusalem.

For thus says the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

11 I know what I intend to do for you, declares the Lord. I plan good things for you and not bad. I'm going to give you a future and a hope.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

12 Then you will call for my help, you will come and pray to me, and I will answer you.

Then shall you call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

13 You will look for me and you will find me when you're completely committed to looking for me.

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

14 I will let you find me, declares the Lord. I will end your captivity, gathering you from all the nations and places where I scattered you, declares the Lord. I will bring you back home to the place from where I sent you into exile.

And I will be found of you, said the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.

15 But if you argue, “The Lord has provided prophets for us in Babylon,”

Because you have said, The LORD has raised us up prophets in Babylon;

16 this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David's throne and everyone who's left in Jerusalem, your fellow citizens who weren't taken with you into exile.

Know that thus says the LORD of the king that sits on the throne of David, and of all the people that dwells in this city, and of your brothers that are not gone forth with you into captivity;

17 This is what the Lord Almighty says: I'm going send war and famine and disease against them. I'll make them like rotten figs, so bad that they can't be eaten.

Thus says the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.

18 I will chase them down with war and famine and disease. I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified by them. They will become a curse word, totally ruined, people to be mocked and criticized among all the nations where I scatter them.

And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations where I have driven them:

19 I'm going to do this because they haven't obeyed to my words, declares the Lord, which I sent to them time and again through my servants the prophets. You exiles haven't obeyed me either, declares the Lord.

Because they have not listened to my words, says the LORD, which I sent to them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear, said the LORD.

20 So listen to the word of the Lord, all you exiles I sent from Jerusalem to Babylon.

Hear you therefore the word of the LORD, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:

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'm going to hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them right before your eyes.

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie to you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes;

22 Because of what happens to them, all the exiles of Judah in Babylon will curse others like this: “May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, burned alive by the king of Babylon!”

And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;

23 They did outrageous things in Israel—they committed adultery with their neighbor's wives and told lies in my name. I didn't tell them to say anything. I am the one who knows what they did, and I can witness to it, declares the Lord.

Because they have committed villainy in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, says the LORD.

24 Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite

Thus shall you also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,

25 that this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: On your own authority you sent out letters to all the people of Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests, saying,

Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because you have sent letters in your 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 “Zephaniah, the Lord has chosen you as priest to replace Jehoiada, to be in charge of the Lord's Temple. In that capacity you are required to put in the stocks and neck irons any crazy person who claims to be a prophet.

The LORD has made you priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that you should be officers in the house of the LORD, for every man that is mad, and makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in prison, and in the stocks.

27 So why haven't you not punished Jeremiah of Anathoth, who claims to be a prophet among you?

Now therefore why have you not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which makes himself a prophet to you?

28 You should have done this because he has sent a letter to us here in Babylon, stating, ‘The exile will last a long time. So build yourselves houses there to live in. Plant gardens and grow food to eat.’”

For therefore he sent to us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build you houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

29 However, Zephaniah the priest read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet.

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

30 Then the Lord told Jeremiah:

Then came the word of the LORD to Jeremiah, saying,

31 Send this message to all the exiles: This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Since Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I didn't send him, and has convinced you to believe in a lie,

Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie:

32 this is what the Lord says: I'm going to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He won't have any family left among this people, and he won't experience the good things that I'm going to do for my people, declares the Lord, for he has promoted rebellion against the Lord.

Therefore thus says the LORD; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, said the LORD; because he has taught rebellion against the LORD.