Jeremiah 29
โ Jeremiah 28 | Jeremiah | Jeremiah 30 โ
v1
Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon,
v2
(after Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths, had departed from Jerusalem),
v3
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). It said:
v4
Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon:
v5
โBuild houses and dwell in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit.
v6
Take wives and father sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there, and donโt be diminished.
v7
Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yahweh for it; for in its peace you will have peace.โ
v8
For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: โDonโt let your prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you. Donโt listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.
v9
For they prophesy falsely to you in my name. I have not sent them,โ says Yahweh.
v10
For Yahweh says, โAfter seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
v11
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,โ says Yahweh, โthoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future.
v12
You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
v13
You shall seek me, and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.
v14
I will be found by you,โ says Yahweh, โand I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says Yahweh. I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.โ
v15
Because you have said, โYahweh has raised us up prophets in Babylon;โ
v16
Yahweh says concerning the king who sits on Davidโs throne, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who havenโt gone with you into captivity;
v17
Yahweh of Armies says: โBehold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like rotten figs that canโt be eaten, they are so bad.
v18
I will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an object of horror, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them,
v19
because they have not listened to my words,โ says Yahweh, โwith which I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear,โ says Yahweh.
v20
Hear therefore Yahwehโs word, all you captives, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.
v21
Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in my name: โBehold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he will kill them before your eyes.
v22
A curse will be taken up about them by all the captives of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, โYahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;โ
v23
because they have done foolish things in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighborsโ wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I didnโt command them. I am he who knows, and am witness,โ says Yahweh.
v24
Concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying,
v25
โYahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, โBecause you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,
v26
โYahweh has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be officers in Yahwehโs house, for every man who is crazy, and makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in the stocks and in shackles.
v27
Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who makes himself a prophet to you,
v28
because he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, The captivity is long. Build houses, and dwell in them. Plant gardens, and eat their fruit?โโโ
v29
Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet.
v30
Then Yahwehโs word came to Jeremiah, saying,
v31
โSend to all of the captives, saying, โYahweh says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: โBecause Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I didnโt send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie;โ
v32
therefore Yahweh says, โBehold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his offspring. He will not have a man to dwell among this people. He wonโt see the good that I will do to my people,โ says Yahweh, โbecause he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh.โโโ