Jeremiah 29
29
1Jeremiah the prophet wrote this letter and sent it from Jerusalem to the elders who were left among the exiles, to the priests, the prophets, and everyone else who had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. 2This was after King Jehoiachin, the queen mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metals-workers had been exiled from Jerusalem. 3Elasah, son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, son of Hilkiah, took the letter with them when Zedekiah king of Judah sent them to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. In the letter Jeremiah wrote:
4This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles who were taken from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5Build yourselves houses there to live in. Plant gardens and grow food to eat. 6Get married and have children. Arrange for your children to get married so they can have children too. Increase in number, don't decrease. 7Help make the city where I've exiled you more prosperous. Pray to the Lord for it, since as it prospers, so will you.
8This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Don't be fooled by your prophets and fortune-tellers, and don't listen to any dreams they interpret for you. 9They are prophesying lies to you in my name; I have not sent them, declares the Lord.
10This is what the Lord says: When the seventy years exile in Babylon is over, I will see to you and keep my promise to bring you back to Jerusalem. 11I know what I intend to do for you, declares the Lord. I plan good things for you and not bad. I'm going to give you a future and a hope. 12Then you will call for my help, you will come and pray to me, and I will answer you. 13You will look for me and you will find me when you're completely committed to looking for me. 14I will let you find me, declares the Lord. I will end your captivity, gathering you from all the nations and places where I scattered you, declares the Lord. I will bring you back home to the place from where I sent you into exile.
15But if you argue, “The Lord has provided prophets for us in Babylon,” 16this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David's throne and everyone who's left in Jerusalem, your fellow citizens who weren't taken with you into exile. 17This is what the Lord Almighty says: I'm going to send war and famine and disease against them. I'll make them like rotten figs, so bad that they can't be eaten. 18I will chase them down with war and famine and disease. I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified by them. They will become a curse word, totally ruined, people to be mocked and criticized among all the nations where I scatter them. 19I'm going to do this because they haven't obeyed my words, declares the Lord, which I sent to them time and again through my servants the prophets. You exiles haven't obeyed me either, declares the Lord.
20So listen to the word of the Lord, all you exiles I sent from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you in my name. I'm going to hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them right before your eyes. 22Because of what happens to them, all the exiles of Judah in Babylon will curse others like this: “May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, burned alive by the king of Babylon!” 23They did outrageous things in Israel—they committed adultery with their neighbors' wives and told lies in my name. I didn't tell them to say anything. I am the one who knows what they did, and I can witness to it, declares the Lord.
24Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite 25that this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: On your own authority you sent out letters to all the people of Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests, saying, 26“Zephaniah,#29:26. Name supplied for clarity. the Lord has chosen you as priest to replace Jehoiada, to be in charge of the Lord's Temple. In that capacity you are required to put in the stocks and neck irons any crazy person who claims to be a prophet. 27So why haven't you punished Jeremiah of Anathoth, who claims to be a prophet among you? 28You should have done this because#29:28. “You should have done this because”: supplied for clarity. he has sent a letter to us here in Babylon, stating, ‘The exile will last a long time. So build yourselves houses there to live in. Plant gardens and grow food to eat.’”
29However, Zephaniah the priest read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet.
30Then the Lord told Jeremiah: 31Send this message to all the exiles: This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Since Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I didn't send him, and has convinced you to believe in a lie, 32this is what the Lord says: I'm going to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He won't have any family left among this people, and he won't experience the good things that I'm going to do for my people, declares the Lord, for he has promoted rebellion against the Lord.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Jeremiah 29
29
Jeremiah's Letter to the Captives
1 #
2 Kgs 24.12-16; 2 Chr 36.10. Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnez´zar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon; 2(after that Jeconi´ah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;) 3by the hand of Ela´sah the son of Shaphan, and Gemari´ah the son of Hilki´ah, (whom Zedeki´ah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnez´zar king of Babylon) saying, 4Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; 5Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; 6take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. 7And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. 8For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. 9For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord.
10 #
2 Chr 36.21; Jer 25.11; Dan 9.2. For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13#Deut 4.29. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 14And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
15Because ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon; 16know that thus saith the Lord of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity; 17thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. 18And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them: 19because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord. 20Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon: 21Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolai´ah, and of Zedeki´ah the son of Ma-asei´ah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrez´zar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes; 22and of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The Lord make thee like Zedeki´ah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire; 23because they have committed villainy in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the Lord.
24 Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemai´ah the Nehel´amite, saying, 25Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephani´ah the son of Ma-asei´ah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, 26The Lord hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoi´ada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the Lord, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks. 27Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of An´athoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you? 28For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
29And Zephani´ah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet. 30Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, 31Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the Lord concerning Shemai´ah the Nehel´amite; Because that Shemai´ah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie: 32therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will punish Shemai´ah the Nehel´amite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the Lord; because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord.
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.