Jeremiah 29

1 Now these [are] the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders who 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;

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 Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, had departed 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 the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to 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 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;

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 gardens, and eat the fruit of them;

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 give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.

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 peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray to the LORD for it: for in the peace of it ye shall have peace.

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 the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that [are] in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.

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 they prophesy falsely to you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.

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

10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years shall be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word towards you, in causing you to return to 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 thoughts that I think towards you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

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 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray to me, and I will hearken to you.

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

13 And ye shall seek me, and find [me], when ye shall search for 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 by you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD: and I will bring you again into the place whence I 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, The LORD hath raised up for us prophets in Babylon;

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

16 [Know] that thus saith the LORD concerning the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and concerning all the people that dwelleth in this city, [and] concerning your brethren that are 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 the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.

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 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 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 have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent to them by my servants the prophets, rising early and sending [them]; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD.

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 Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, 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 the LORD 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 Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay 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 And concerning them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah who [are] in Babylon, saying, The LORD 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 villainy in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbor's wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and [am] a witness, saith the LORD.

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 [Thus] shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,

Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite

25 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, 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,

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 The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the LORD, for every man [that is] mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks.

“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 reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, who maketh himself a prophet to you?

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

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

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 read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.

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

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

Then the Lord told Jeremiah:

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

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 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, saith the LORD; because he hath taught rebellion against the LORD.

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.