Jeremiah 29
29
A Letter to the Captives in Babylon
1This is the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the elders who were among the captives, the priests, and the prophets. He sent it to all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had taken as captives from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2(This letter was sent after all these people were taken away: Jehoiachin the king and the queen mother; the officers and leaders of Judah and Jerusalem; and the craftsmen and metalworkers from Jerusalem.) 3Zedekiah king of Judah sent Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. So Jeremiah gave them this letter to carry to Babylon:
4This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says to all those people I sent away from Jerusalem as captives to Babylon: 5“Build houses and settle in the land. Plant gardens and eat the food they grow. 6Get married and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons, and let your daughters be married so they also may have sons and daughters. Have many children in Babylon; don’t become fewer in number. 7Also do good things for the city where I sent you as captives. Pray to the Lord for the city where you are living, because if good things happen in the city, good things will happen to you also.” 8The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: “Don’t let the prophets among you and the people who do magic fool you. Don’t listen to their dreams. 9They are prophesying lies to you, saying that their message is from me. But I did not send them,” says the Lord.
10This is what the Lord says: “Babylon will be powerful for seventy years. After that time I will come to you, and I will keep my promise to bring you back to Jerusalem. 11I say this because I know what I am planning for you,” says the Lord. “I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future. 12Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13You will search for me. And when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me! 14I will let you find me,” says the Lord. “And I will bring you back from your captivity. I forced you to leave this place, but I will gather you from all the nations, from the places I have sent you as captives,” says the Lord. “And I will bring you back to this place.”
15You might say, “The Lord has given us prophets here in Babylon.”
16But the Lord says this about the king who is sitting on David’s throne now and all the other people still in Jerusalem, your relatives who did not go as captives to Babylon with you. 17The Lord All-Powerful says: “I will soon send war, hunger, and terrible diseases against those still in Jerusalem. I will make them like bad figs that are too rotten to eat. 18I will chase them with war, hunger, and terrible diseases. I will make them hated by all the kingdoms of the earth. People will curse them and be shocked and will use them as a shameful example wherever I make them go. 19This is because they have not listened to my message,” says the Lord. “I sent my message to them again and again through my servants, the prophets, but they did not listen,” says the Lord.
20You captives, whom I forced to leave Jerusalem and go to Babylon, listen to the message from the Lord. 21The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says this about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah: “These two men have been prophesying lies to you, saying that their message is from me. But soon I will hand over those two prophets to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them in front of you. 22Because of them, all the captives from Judah in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.’ 23They have done evil things among the people of Israel. They are guilty of adultery with their neighbors’ wives. They have also spoken lies and said those lies were a message from me. I did not tell them to do that. I know what they have done; I am a witness to it,” says the Lord.
24Also give a message to Shemaiah from the Nehelamite family. 25The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: “Shemaiah, you sent letters in your name to all the people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests. 26You said to Zephaniah, ‘The Lord has made you priest in place of Jehoiada. You are to be in charge of the Temple of the Lord. You should arrest any madman who acts like a prophet. Lock his hands and feet between wooden blocks, and put iron rings around his neck. 27Now Jeremiah from Anathoth is acting like a prophet. So why haven’t you arrested him? 28Jeremiah has sent this message to us in Babylon: You will be there for a long time, so build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they grow.’ ”
29Zephaniah the priest read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet. 30Then the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah: 31“Send this message to all the captives in Babylon: ‘This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Shemaiah has prophesied to you, but I did not send him. He has made you believe a lie. 32So the Lord says, I will soon punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his family. He will not see the good things I will do for my people, says the Lord. None of his family will be left alive among the people, because he has taught the people to turn against me.’ ”
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Jeremiah 29: NCV
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 29
29
1And these [are] words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the remnant of the elders of the removal, and unto the priests, and unto the prophets, and unto all the people — whom Nebuchadnezzar removed from Jerusalem to Babylon,
2After the going forth of Jeconiah the king, and the mistress, and the officers, heads of Judah and Jerusalem, and the artificer, and the smith, from Jerusalem —
3By the hand of Eleasah son of Shaphan, and Gemariah son of Hilkijah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon — to Babylon, saying,
4‘Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, to all the removal that I removed from Jerusalem to Babylon,
5Build ye houses, and abide; and plant ye gardens, and eat their fruit;
6Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take for your sons wives, and your daughters give to husbands, and they bear sons and daughters; and multiply there, and ye are not few;
7And seek the peace of the city whither I have removed you, and pray for it unto Jehovah, for in its peace ye have peace.
8‘For thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, Let not your prophets who [are] in your midst, and your diviners, lift you up, nor hearken ye unto their dreams, that ye are causing [them] to dream;
9For with falsehood they are prophesying to you in My name; I have not sent them, an affirmation of Jehovah.
10‘For thus said Jehovah, Surely at the fulness of Babylon — seventy years — I inspect you, and have established towards you My good word, to bring you back unto this place.
11For I have known the thoughts that I am thinking towards you — an affirmation of Jehovah; thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give to you posterity and hope.
12‘And ye have called Me, and have gone, and have prayed unto Me, and I have hearkened unto you,
13And ye have sought Me, and have found, for ye seek Me with all your heart;
14And I have been found of you — an affirmation of Jehovah; and I have turned back [to] your captivity, and have gathered you out of all the nations, and out of all the places whither I have driven you — an affirmation of Jehovah — and I have brought you back unto the place whence I removed you.
15‘Because ye have said, Jehovah hath raised up to us prophets in Babylon,
16Surely thus said Jehovah concerning the king who is sitting on the throne of David, and concerning all the people that is dwelling in this city, your brethren who went not forth with you in the removal;
17Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, Lo, I am sending among them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and I have given them up as figs that [are] vile, that are not eaten for badness.
18And I have pursued after them with sword, with famine, and with pestilence, and have given them for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth, for a curse and for an astonishment, and for a hissing, and for a reproach among all the nations whither I have driven them,
19Because that they have not hearkened unto My words — an affirmation of Jehovah — that I sent unto them by My servants the prophets, rising early and sending, and ye hearkened not — an affirmation of Jehovah.
20‘And ye, hear ye a word of Jehovah, all ye of the captivity that I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon,
21Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, concerning Ahab son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you in My name falsehood: Lo, I am giving them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he hath smitten them before your eyes,
22And taken from them hath been a reviling by all the removed of Judah that [are] in Babylon, saying, Jehovah doth set thee as Zedekiah, and as Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted with fire;
23Because that they have done folly in Israel, and commit adultery with the wives of their neighbours, and speak a word in My name falsely that I have not commanded them, and I [am] He who knoweth and a witness — an affirmation of Jehovah.
24‘And unto Shemaiah the Nehelamite thou dost speak, saying,
25Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, saying, Because that thou hast sent in thy name letters unto all the people who [are] in Jerusalem, and unto Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, and unto all the priests, saying,
26 Jehovah hath made thee priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, for there being inspectors of the house of Jehovah, for every one mad and making himself a prophet, and thou hast put him unto the torture and unto the stocks.
27And now, why hast thou not pushed against Jeremiah of Anathoth, who is making himself a prophet to you?
28Because that he hath sent unto us to Babylon, saying, It [is] long, build ye houses, and abide; and plant ye gardens, and eat their fruit.’
29And Zephaniah the priest readeth this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.
30And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah, saying,
31‘Send unto all the removal, saying, Thus said Jehovah concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite, Because that Shemaiah prophesied to you, and I — I have not sent him, and he doth cause you to trust on falsehood,
32Therefore, thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am seeing after Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and after his seed, he hath none dwelling in the midst of this people, nor doth he look on the good that I am doing to My people — an affirmation of Jehovah — for apostasy he hath spoken against Jehovah.’
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