Jeremias 29
1 THUS SAITH THE LORD AGAINST THE PHILISTINES;
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 Behold, waters come up from the north, and shall become a sweeping torrent, and it shall sweep away the land, and its fulness; the city, and them that dwell in it: and men shall cry and all that dwell in the land shall howl,
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 at the sound of his rushing, at [the sound of] his hoofs, and at the rattling of his chariots, at the noise of his wheels: the fathers turned not to their children because of the weakness of their hands,
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 in the day that is coming to destroy all the Philistines: and I will utterly destroy Tyre and Sidon and all the rest of their allies: for the Lord will destroy the remaining [inhabitants] of the islands.
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 Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ascalon is cast away, and the remnant of the Enakim.
Build ye houses and dwell in them; and plant gardens and eat the fruit of them.
6 How long will you strike, O sword of the Lord? how long will it be ere you are quiet? return into your sheath, rest, and be removed.
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 How shall it be quiet, whereas the Lord has given it a commission against Ascalon, and against the regions on the sea-coast, to awake against the remaining [countries]! CONCERNING IDUMEA, thus says the Lord; There is no longer wisdom in Thaeman, counsel has perished from the wise ones, their wisdom is gone,
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 their place has been deceived. Dig deep for a dwelling, you that inhabit Daedam, for he has wrought grievously: I brought trouble upon him in the time at which I visited him.
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 grape gatherers are come, who shall not leave you a remnant; as thieves by night, they shall lay their hand upon [your possessions].
For they prophesy falsely to you in my name; I have not sent them, saith Jehovah.
10 For I have stripped Esau, I have uncovered their secret places; they shall have no power to hide themselves, they have perished [each] by the hand of his brother, my neighbor, and it is impossible
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 your fatherless one to be left to live, but I shall live, and the widows trust in me.
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 For thus says the Lord; They who were not appointed to drink the cup have drunk [it]; and you shall by no means be cleared:
Then ye shall call upon me, and go in peace; ye shall pray to me, and I will hear you;
13 for by myself I have sworn, says the Lord, that you shall be in the midst of her an impassable [land], and a reproach, and a curse; and all her cities shall be desert for ever.
ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye search for me with all your heart.
14 I have heard a report from the Lord, and he has sent messengers to the nations, [saying, ]Assemble yourselves, and come against her; rise you up to war.
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 I have made you small among the nations, utterly contemptible among men.
Since ye say, Jehovah hath raised us up prophets in Babylon,
16 Your insolence has risen up against you, the fierceness of your heart has burst the holes of the rocks, it has seized upon the strength of a lofty hill; for as an eagle he set his nest on high: thence will I bring you down.
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 And Idumea shall be a desert: every one that passes by shall hiss at it.
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 As Sodom was overthrown and Gomorrha and they that sojourned in her, says the Lord Almighty, no man shall dwell there, nor shall any son of man inhabit there.
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 Behold, he shall come up as a lion out of the midst of Jordan to the place of Aetham: for I will speedily drive them from it, and do you set the young men against her: for who is like me? and who will withstand me? and who [is] this shepherd, who shall confront me?
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 Therefore hear you the counsel of the Lord, which he has framed against Idumea; and his device, which he has devised against the inhabitants of Thaeman: surely the least of the sheep shall be swept off; surely their dwelling shall be made desolate for them.
Hear ye, therefore, the word of Jehovah, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon.
21 For at the sound of their fall the earth was scared, and the cry of the sea was not heard.
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 Behold, he shall look [upon her] as an eagle, and spread forth [his] wings over her strongholds; and the heart of the mighty men of Idumea shall be in that day as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
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!”
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.
And to Shemaiah, the Nehelamite, shalt thou say,
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,
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;
now, therefore, why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, who prophesieth to you?
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.
And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.
Then came the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah, saying:
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,
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.
