Jeremiah 29

¹These are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezʹzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ²This was after King Jeconiʹah, and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem. ³The letter was sent by the hand of Elaʹsah the son of Shaphan and Gemariʹah the son of Hilkiʹah, whom Zedekiʹah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezʹzar king of Babylon. It said: ⁴“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. ⁶Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. ⁷But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. ⁸For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream, ⁹for it is a lie which they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, says the Lord.

¹⁰“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfil to you my promise and bring you back to this place. ¹¹For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹²Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. ¹³You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, ¹⁴I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

¹⁵“Because you have said, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,’—¹⁶Thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile: ¹⁷‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, Behold, I am sending on them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs which are so bad they cannot be eaten. ¹⁸I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence, and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, ¹⁹because they did not heed my words, says the Lord, which I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, says the Lord.’—²⁰Hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon: ²¹‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiʹah and Zedekiʹah the son of Ma-aseiʹah, who are prophesying a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezʹzar king of Babylon, and he shall slay them before your eyes. ²²Because of them this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: “The Lord make you like Zedekiʹah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,” ²³because they have committed folly in Israel, they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and they have spoken in my name lying words which I did not command them. I am the one who knows, and I am witness, says the Lord.’ ”

²⁴To Shemaiʹah of Nehelʹam you shall say: ²⁵“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniʹah the son of Ma-aseiʹah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, ²⁶‘The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiʹada the priest, to have charge in the house of the Lord over every madman who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and collar. ²⁷Now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anʹathoth who is prophesying to you? ²⁸For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, “Your exile will be long; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce.” ’ ”

²⁹Zephaniʹah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. ³⁰Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ³¹“Send to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiʹah of Nehelʹam: Because Shemaiʹah had prophesied to you when I did not send him, and has made you trust in a lie, ³²therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will punish Shemaiʹah of Nehelʹam and his descendants; he shall not have any one living among this people to see the good that I will do to my people, says the Lord, for he has talked rebellion against the Lord.’ ”