Jeremiah 29

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

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.

2 after that Jeconiah the king and the queen-mother and the eunuchs the princes of Judah and Jerusalem and the craftsmen and the smiths, had gone forth from Jerusalem; —

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.

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

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:

4 Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, Unto all the captivity whom I have suffered to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon:

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

5 Build ye houses and dwell in them, —And plant ye gardens and eat the fruit thereof;

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

6 Take ye wives and beget sons and daughters, And take wives, for your sons, and, your daughters, give ye to husbands, That they may bear sons and daughters, —And so become ye many there and do not become few;

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

7 And seek the welfare of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray for her unto Yahweh, —For in her welfare, shall ye have welfare.

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

8 For Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts God of Israel, Let not your prophets that are in your midst nor your diviners beguile you, —Neither hearken ye unto your dreams which ye are dreaming;

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.

9 For falsely, are they prophesying unto you in my name, —I have not sent them, Declareth Yahweh.

They are prophesying lies to you in my name; I have not sent them, declares the Lord.

10 For, thus, saith Yahweh, —That as soon as there are fulfilled to Babylon seventy years, I will visit you, —and establish for you my good word, by causing you to return unto this place.

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.

11 For, I, know the plans which I am planning for you Declareth Yahweh, —Plans of welfare and not of calamity, To give you a future and a hope.

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.

12 So shall ye call upon me, —And go and pray unto me, —And I will hearken unto you;

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

13 So shall ye seek me and find, For ye will enquire after me with all your heart;

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

14 And I will be found of you, Declareth Yahweh, And will turn back your captivity, And will gather you out of all the nations and out of all the places whither I have driven you, Declareth Yahweh, And will bring you back into the place whence I had caused you to be carried away captive:

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.

15 Because ye have said, —Yahweh hath raised us up prophets in Babylon.

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

16 For, thus, saith Yahweh Against the king who is sitting on the throne of David, and Against all the people who are remaining in this city, —your brethren who have not gone forth with you into captivity:

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.

17 Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Behold me! sending upon them sword famine, and pestilence, —So will I make them like the horrid figs, that cannot be eaten for badness;

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.

18 Therefore will I pursue them with sword with famine and with pestilence, —And will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth A curse and an astonishment and a hissing and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them:

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.

19 Because they hearkened not unto my words Declareth Yahweh, —which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, betimes, sending them yet hearkened they not Declareth Yahweh.

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.

20 Ye, therefore, hear ye the word of Yahweh, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:

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

21 Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel Concerning Ahab son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you in my name, a falsehood, Behold me! delivering them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he will smite them before your eyes:

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.

22 So shall there be taken up—from them—a curse, by all of the captivity of Judah who are in Babylon saying, —Yahweh make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, Whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire!

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!”

23 Because they have committed vileness in Israel And have committed adultery with the wives of their neighbours, And have spoken as a word in my name a falsehood, which I commanded them not, —And, I, am one who knoweth—and a witness Declareth Yahweh.

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.

24 Also unto Shemaiah the Nehelamite, shalt thou speak, saying:

Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite

25 Thus, speaketh Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, saying, —Because, thou, hast sent in, thine own name, letters, unto all the people who are in Jerusalem, and unto Zephaniah son, of Maaseiah the priest, and unto all the priests saying:

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,

26 Yahweh, hath made thee priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be deputies in the house of Yahweh, to any man who is raving and prophesying, so shalt thou put him into the stocks and into the pillory:

“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.

27 Now, therefore, why, hast thou not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who is prophesying unto you?

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

28 For, on this account, hath he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, —’Tis, long! Build ye houses and dwell in them, And plant gardens and eat the fruit thereof.

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.’”

29 And Zephaniah the priest hath read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet,

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

30 Therefore hath the word of Yahweh come unto Jeremiah, saying:

Then the Lord told Jeremiah:

31 Send thou unto all them of the captivity, saying, Thus, saith Yahweh, Concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite, —Because Shemaiah, hath prophesied to you, when, I, had not sent him, And hath caused you to trust in falsehood,

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,

32 Therefore Thus, saith Yahweh, —Behold me! bringing punishment upon Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and upon his seed, He shall have no man to dwell in the midst of this people, Nor shall he see the good that I am about to do for my people, Declareth Yahweh; Because revolt, hath he spoken against Yahweh.

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.