Jeremiah
Chapter 29
1 This is the message from the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders who were taken as captives, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem to Babylon as prisoners.
2 After Jeconiah the king, the queen, the officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the carpenters, and the metalworkers left Jerusalem;
3 Through Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, (sent by Zedekiah king of Judah to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) it said,
4 God, the ruler of all, the God of Israel, says to everyone who was taken as prisoners – whom I sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:
5 Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit.
6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons, and give your daughters to men, so they too can have sons and daughters; this way you will grow in number there, not become fewer.
7 Look for the good of the city where I have sent you as prisoners, and pray to God for it, because if it has peace, you will have peace too.
8 God, the God of Israel, says: Don’t let the prophets and fortune-tellers among you trick you, and don’t listen to the dreams you encourage them to have.
9 They are falsely claiming to speak for me; I did not send them, says God.
10 God says that after seventy years in Babylon, I will come to see you and make my promise come true by bringing you back here.
11 I know the plans I have for you, says God, plans for peace and not for harm, to give you a hopeful future.
12 You will call to me, go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
13 You will look for me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.
14 I will let you find me, says God. I will end your captivity and bring you together from all the nations and places where I sent you, says God. I will take you back to where you were taken from.
15 Because you have said, “God has given us prophets in Babylon.”
16 Understand that this is what God says about the king sitting on David’s throne, about all the people living in this city, and about your relatives who have not been taken away with you as captives.
17 God says: I will send them war, hunger, and disease, and I will make them like bad figs that are so rotten they can’t be eaten.
18 I will chase them with war, hunger, and disease, and will make them be scattered to all kingdoms of the earth, to become a curse, a shock, and an object of scorn among all the nations where I have sent them.
19 Because they did not listen to my words, says God, which I sent to them through my prophets, who I sent early and often, but you did not want to listen, says God.
20 Listen to God’s message, all of you who were taken from Jerusalem to Babylon.
21 God, the God of Israel, says this about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who tell lies in my name: I will hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them while you watch.
22 People from Judah who are captives in Babylon will use this curse, saying, “May God make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.”
23 They have done bad things in Israel, been unfaithful with their neighbors’ wives, and lied using my name, which I never told them to do. I know and am a witness, says God.
24 You should also tell Shemaiah from Nehelam:
25 God of Israel says, because you sent letters in your name to everyone in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,
26 God has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, so you can be an officer in God’s house. If anyone acts crazy and claims to be a prophet, you must put him in jail and in restraints.
27 So why haven’t you corrected Jeremiah from Anathoth, who claims to be a prophet to you?
28 So he sent a message to us in Babylon, saying, “This captivity will last a long time: build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit.”
29 The priest Zephaniah read the letter to the prophet Jeremiah.
30 God spoke to Jeremiah, saying,
31 Tell all the captives, “God says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Since Shemaiah has been prophesying to you without being sent by me and has made you believe a lie:
32 So God says, “Look, I will punish Shemaiah from Nehelam and his descendants. He will not have a family member to live among the people, nor will he see the good things I will do for my people, says God, because he encouraged rebellion against me.”