Jeremiah_Chapter 29

The prophet Jeremiah sent letters from Jerusalem to the exiled priests, prophets, and all the people, as well as the living elders, who Nebuchadnezzar had taken captive from Jerusalem to Babylon.

(After King Jeconiah, Queen Mother, eunuchs, leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, as well as craftsmen and blacksmiths, left Jerusalem.)

He sent it by the hands of Eliasah, the son of Shaphan, and Kemali, the son of Hilkiah. They were sent by King Zedekiah of Judah to Babylon to meet King Nebuchadnezzar.

In the letter it is said, ‘This is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says to all those who have been taken captive, whom I have taken from Jerusalem to Babylon.’,

Build houses and live in them. Plant the countryside and eat the produce from it.

Take a wife and have children, take a wife for your sons, and have your daughters marry and have children to take care of. There are many children born and raised there, not to be reduced.

Seek peace for the city to which I have taken you captive, and pray to the Lord for it. Because the city is at peace, and you also have peace along with it.

This is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: Do not be tempted by prophets or diviners among you, and do not believe in your own dreams.

Because they prophesied falsely to you in my name, and I did not send them. This is what the Lord has said.

This is what the Lord has said: After the seventy years that have been set for Babylon have come to an end, I will visit you and fulfill my word of kindness to you, so that you may return to this place.

The Lord said, I know that my thoughts towards you are thoughts of peace, not thoughts of disaster, to give you hope in the end.

Call upon me, pray to me, and I will answer you.

If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me.

The Lord said, I will be found by you, and I will bring back your captives. I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, and bring you back to the place where I have taken you captive. This is what the Lord has said.

You say, The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon.

Therefore the Lord speaks of the king who sits on the throne of David and all the people who live in this city, even the brothers who have not been taken captive with you,

This is what the Lord of hosts says: “See, I will bring the sword, famine, and plague upon them, making them like extremely bad figs, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”.

I will pursue them with the sword, famine, and plague, causing them to be thrown back and forth among all the nations under heaven, and to be cursed, astonished, ridiculed, and humiliated among the nations to which I have driven them.

The Lord said, ‘This is because they did not listen to my words, which I sent my servants the prophets to speak, but they did not listen.’. This is what the Lord has said.

So all you who have been taken captive, those whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon, listen to the word of the Lord.

This is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says about Ahab the son of Koraiah and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah: They prophesied falsely to you in my name, and I will deliver them into the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He will kill them in front of you.

All the exiles of Judah living in Babylon will curse through these two, saying, May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.

These two have committed disgraceful acts in Israel, engaging in adultery with their neighbor’s wife, and falsely claiming in my name that I did not command them. It is me who knows, and it is also me who bears witness. This is what the Lord has said.

As for Shemaiah the Nehemian, say,

This is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, has said: You have sent letters in your own name to all the people of Jerusalem, to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

The Lord has appointed you as a priest, Zephaniah, in place of the priest Jehoiada, to have officials in the temple of the Lord, so that all those who arrogantly claim to be prophets may be bound with shackles and chains.

Why did you not rebuke Jeremiah the Anathoth, who now claims to be a prophet to you?

Because he sent a letter to us in Babylon, saying, The captivity will last long. Build houses and live in them. Plant the countryside and eat the produce from it.

The priest Zephaniah gave this belief to the prophet Jeremiah.

So the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

Send a letter to all those who have been taken captive, saying, The Lord has spoken of Shemaiah the Nehemiah, saying, Because Shemaiah prophesied to you, I did not send him; he made you trust lies.

Therefore thus says the Lord, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehemiah and his descendants, and he will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good that I will give to my people, because he has spoken rebellious words to the Lord. This is what the Lord has said.