Jeremiah 29
29
Disturbing hope: Settle down in Babylon
1The prophet Jeremiah sent a letter from Jerusalem to the few surviving elders among the exiles, to the priests and the prophets, and to all the people Nebuchadnezzar had taken to Babylon from Jerusalem. 2The letter was sent after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the court officials, the government leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen and smiths had left Jerusalem. 3It was delivered to Babylon by Elasah, Shaphan’s son, and Gemariah, Hilkiah’s son—two men dispatched to Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar by King Zedekiah.
4The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims to all the exiles I have carried off from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5Build houses and settle down; cultivate gardens and eat what they produce. 6Get married and have children; then help your sons find wives and your daughters find husbands in order that they too may have children. Increase in number there so that you don’t dwindle away. 7Promote the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because your future depends on its welfare.
8The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: Don’t let the prophets and diviners in your midst mislead you. Don’t pay attention to your dreams. 9They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I didn’t send them, declares the LORD.
10The LORD proclaims: When Babylon’s seventy years are up, I will come and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the LORD; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope. 12When you call me and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. 13When you search for me, yes, search for me with all your heart, you will find me. 14I will be present for you, declares the LORD, and I will end your captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have scattered you, and I will bring you home after your long exile,#29.14 Or I will restore you to the place from which I exiled you. declares the LORD.
15Yet you say, The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon:
16This is what the LORD proclaims concerning the king sitting on David’s throne and all the people who live in this city, that is, those among you who didn’t go into exile: 17The LORD of heavenly forces proclaims: I’m going to send the sword, famine, and disease against them. I will make them like rotten figs that are too spoiled to eat. 18I will pursue them with the sword, famine, and disease; and I will make them an object of horror to all nations on earth and an object of cursing, scorn, shock, and disgrace among all the countries where I have scattered them, 19because they wouldn’t listen to my words, declares the LORD, which I sent them time and again through my servants the prophets. They#29.19 Syr; MT you wouldn’t listen, declares the LORD.
20But now, all you exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon, listen to the LORD’s word. 21This is what the LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims concerning Ahab, Kolaiah’s son, and Zedekiah, Maaseiah’s son, who are prophesying lies to you in my name: I will hand them over to Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar, and he will slay them before your very eyes. 22Because of them, all the Judean exiles in Babylon will use this curse: “The LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, who were burned alive by the king of Babylon.” 23They committed a horrible scandal in Israel—adultery with their neighbors’ wives and deceit spoken in my name, with which I had nothing to do. Yet I’m still aware of it and am witness to it, declares the LORD.
24Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite, 25This is what the LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims:#29.25 Or because you sentYou sent letters on your own accord to all the people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah, Maaseiah’s son, and to the rest of the priests. 26You said to Zephaniah:#29.26 Heb lacks You said to Zephaniah. The LORD has appointed you priest in charge of the LORD’s temple instead of Jehoiada. You are responsible for putting every madman who prophesies into stocks and neck irons. 27So why haven’t you threatened Jeremiah of Anathoth, who pretends to be a prophet among you? 28He has sent a letter telling those of us in Babylon: “You are going to be there a long time, so build houses and settle down, plant gardens and eat what they produce.”
29The priest Zephaniah read this letter to the prophet Jeremiah. 30Then the LORD’s word came to Jeremiah: 31Send word to all the exiles: The LORD proclaims concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah prophesied to you when I didn’t send him, and because he convinced you to believe a lie, 32I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants, declares the LORD. Not one member of this people will be around to see the good that I have in store for my people, declares the LORD, for he incited rebellion against me.
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Jeremiah 29: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 29
29
Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles
1These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to #Ezek. 8:1 the surviving elders of the exiles, and to #[ch. 23:33]the priests, #[ch. 23:33]the prophets, and #[ch. 23:33]all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2This was after #ch. 24:1; 2 Kgs. 24:12, 14King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. 3The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of #2 Chr. 34:8 Shaphan and Gemariah the son of #1 Chr. 6:13Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said: 4“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5#ver. 28Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and #[Ezra 6:10; 1 Tim. 2:1, 2]pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. 8For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: #[ch. 5:31; 6:14] Do not let your prophets and #ch. 27:9, 15your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream,#29:8 Hebrew your dreams, which you cause to dream 9for #See ch. 5:31 it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; #ver. 31I did not send them, declares the Lord.
10“For thus says the Lord: #See ch. 25:12 When seventy years are completed for Babylon, #ch. 27:22 I will visit you, #ch. 33:14; [ch. 24:6]and I will fulfill to you my promise #ch. 33:14; [ch. 24:6]and bring you back to this place. 11#[Isa. 55:8, 9] For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare#29:11 Or peace and not for evil, #ch. 31:17to give you a future and a hope. 12#ch. 33:3; Dan. 9:3Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, #ch. 33:3; Dan. 9:3and I will hear you. 13#2 Chr. 15:2; Ps. 32:6; 78:34; Prov. 8:17; Isa. 55:6; Hos. 3:5; See Lev. 26:39-42; Deut. 30:1-3 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me #ch. 24:7; Deut. 4:29with all your heart. 14I will be found by you, declares the Lord, #ch. 30:3 and I will restore your fortunes and #See ch. 23:3 gather you from all the nations and all the places #See ch. 8:3where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
15“Because you have said, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,’ 16thus says the Lord concerning #See ch. 22:2the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile: 17‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, behold, I am sending on them #See ch. 24:10 sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like #ch. 24:8vile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. 18I will pursue them with #[See ver. 17 above] sword, famine, and pestilence, #See ch. 15:4 and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, #ch. 18:16; 42:18; See ch. 24:9 to be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations #[See ver. 14 above]where I have driven them, 19because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the Lord, #See ch. 25:4that I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the Lord.’ 20Hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles #ch. 24:5whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 21‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, #ver. 9; See ch. 14:14who are prophesying a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall strike them down before your eyes. 22#See Isa. 65:15 Because of them #See ch. 24:9 this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: “The Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, #[Dan. 3:6]whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,” 23because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, #ch. 23:14 they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and #ch. 23:14 they have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them. #Mal. 3:5I am the one who knows, #Mal. 3:5and I am witness, declares the Lord.’”
Shemaiah’s False Prophecy
24To #ver. 31, 32Shemaiah of Nehelam you shall say: 25“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to #ch. 21:1; 2 Kgs. 25:18 Zephaniah the son of #ch. 35:4Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, 26‘The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to have #[ch. 20:1] charge in the house of the Lord #[2 Kgs. 9:11; Acts 26:24] over every madman who prophesies, to put him in #ch. 20:2the stocks and neck irons. 27Now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah #ch. 1:1; 32:7of Anathoth who is prophesying to you? 28For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, “Your exile will be long; #ver. 5build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce.”’”
29 # [See ver. 25 above] Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. 30#ver. 1, 20Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 31“Send to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord concerning #ver. 24 Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because #ver. 24 Shemaiah had prophesied to you #ver. 9; See ch. 5:31when I did not send him, and has made you trust in a lie, 32therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will punish #[See ver. 31 above] Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. He shall not have anyone living among this people, #See ch. 17:6 and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, declares the Lord, #ch. 28:16for he has spoken rebellion against the Lord.’”
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