Jeremiah 29

1 And these [are] the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remnant of [the] elderly of the expulsion, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people—whom Nebuchadnezzar removed from Jerusalem to Babylon,

THUS SAITH THE LORD AGAINST THE PHILISTINES;

2 after the going forth of Jeconiah the king, and the mistress, and the officers, heads of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsman, and the smith, from Jerusalem—

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,

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

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,

4 “Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel, to all the expulsion that I removed from Jerusalem to Babylon:

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.

5 Build houses and abide; and plant gardens and eat their fruit;

Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ascalon is cast away, and the remnant of the Enakim.

6 take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, and they bear sons and daughters; and multiply there, and you are not few;

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.

7 and seek the peace of the city to where I have removed you, and pray to YHWH for it, for in its peace you have peace.

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,

8 For thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: Do not let your prophets who [are] in your midst, and your diviners, lift you up, nor listen to their dreams, that you are causing [them] to dream;

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.

9 for they are prophesying with falsehood to you in My Name; I have not sent them, a declaration of YHWH.

For grape gatherers are come, who shall not leave you a remnant; as thieves by night, they shall lay their hand upon [your possessions].

10 For thus said YHWH: Surely at the fullness of Babylon—seventy years—I inspect you, and have established My good word toward you, to bring you back to this place.

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 neighbour, and it is impossible

11 For I have known the thoughts that I am thinking toward you—a declaration of YHWH; thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give posterity and hope to you.

for your fatherless one to be left to live, but I shall live, and the widows trust in me.

12 And you have called Me, and have gone, and have prayed to Me, and I have listened to you,

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:

13 and you have sought Me, and have found, for you seek Me with all your heart;

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.

14 and I have been found by you—a declaration of YHWH; and I have turned back [to] your captivity, and have gathered you out of all the nations, and out of all the places to where I have driven you—a declaration of YHWH—and I have brought you back to the place from where I removed you.

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.

15 Because you have said, YHWH has raised up prophets to us in Babylon,

I have made you small amongst the nations, utterly contemptible amongst men.

16 surely thus said YHWH concerning the king who is sitting on the throne of David, and concerning all the people that are dwelling in this city, your brothers who did not go forth with you in the expulsion—

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.

17 thus said YHWH of Hosts: Behold, I am sending the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, and I have given them up as figs that [are] vile, that are not eaten because of badness.

And Idumea shall be a desert: every one that passes by shall hiss at it.

18 And I have pursued after them with sword, with famine, and with pestilence, and have given them for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth, for a curse and for an astonishment, and for a hissing, and for a reproach among all the nations to where I have driven them,

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.

19 because that they have not listened to My words—a declaration of YHWH—that I sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising early and sending, and you did not listen—a declaration of YHWH.

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?

20 And you, hear a word of YHWH, all you of the captivity that I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon—

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.

21 thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel, concerning Ahab son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying falsehood to you in My Name: Behold, I am giving them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he has struck them before your eyes,

For at the sound of their fall the earth was scared, and the cry of the sea was not heard.

22 and because of them a reviling has been taken by all the expulsion of Judah that [are] in Babylon, saying, YHWH sets you as Zedekiah, and as Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted with fire;

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.

23 because that they have done folly in Israel, and commit adultery with the wives of their neighbors, and falsely speak a word in My Name that I have not commanded them, and I [am] He who knows and a witness—a declaration of YHWH.

24 And you speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,

25 Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel, saying, Because that you have sent letters in your name to all the people who [are] in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

26 YHWH has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, for there being inspectors of the house of YHWH over every man [who] is mad and making himself a prophet, and you have put him in the stocks and in the pillory.

27 And now, why have you not pushed against Jeremiah of Anathoth, who is making himself a prophet to you?

28 Because that he has sent to us [in] Babylon, saying, It [is] long, build houses and abide; and plant gardens and eat their fruit.”

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

30 And there is a word of YHWH to Jeremiah, saying,

31 “Send to all the expulsion, saying, Thus said YHWH concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because that Shemaiah prophesied to you, and I have not sent him, and he causes you to trust on falsehood,

32 therefore, thus said YHWH: Behold, I am seeing after Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and after his seed, he has none dwelling in the midst of this people, nor does he look on the good that I am doing to My people,” a declaration of YHWH, “for he has spoken apostasy against YHWH.”