1 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, and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had
carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon, 2 (after that Jeconiah the
king, and the queen-mother, and the eunuchs, and the princes of Judah
and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, and the smiths, were departed from
Jerusalem,) 3 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,) saying, 4 Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the
God of Israel, to all the captivity, whom I have caused to be carried away
captive from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build you houses, and dwell in
them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 6 Take wives, and
father sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your
daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply
you there, and don’t be diminished. 7 Seek the peace of the city
where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yahweh for
it; for in the peace of it shall you have peace. 8 For thus says
Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: Don’t let your prophets who are in the
midst of you, and your diviners, deceive you; neither listen you to your
dreams which you cause to be dreamed. 9 For they prophesy falsely to
you in my name: I have not sent them, says Yahweh. 10 For thus says
Yahweh, After 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.
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says Yahweh, thoughts
of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope in your latter end.
12 You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I
will listen to you. 13 You shall seek me, and find me, when you
shall search for me with all your heart. 14 I will be found of you, says
Yahweh, and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all
the nations, and from all the places wither I have driven you, says Yahweh;
and I will bring you again to the place whence I caused you to be carried
away captive. 15 Because you have said, Yahweh has raised us up
prophets in Babylon; 16 thus says Yahweh concerning the king who sits on
the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city,
your brothers who haven’t gone forth with you into captivity; 17 thus says
Yahweh of Hosts; Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the
pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that can’t be eaten, they are
so bad. 18 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, and an
astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations where I
have driven them; 19 because they have not listened to my words, says
Yahweh, with which I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising up early
and sending them; but you would not hear, says Yahweh. 20 Hear
you therefore the word of Yahweh, all you of the captivity, whom I
have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21 Thus says Yahweh of Hosts,
the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning
Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in my name: Behold, I
will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he
shall kill them before your eyes; 22 and of them shall be taken up a curse
by all the captives of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, Yahweh make you like
Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;
23 because they have worked folly in Israel, and have committed adultery
with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which
I didn’t command them; and I am he who knows, and am witness, says Yahweh.
24 Concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying, 25 Thus
speaks Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because 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,
26 Yahweh has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, that
there may be officers in the house of Yahweh, for every man who is mad, and
makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in the stocks and in
shackles. 27 Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth,
who makes himself a prophet to you, 28 because he has sent to us in
Babylon, saying, The captivity is long: build you houses, and
dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them? 29 Zephaniah
the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then
came the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah, saying, 31 Send to all them of the
captivity, saying, Thus says Yahweh concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite:
Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I didn’t send him, and he has
caused you to trust in a lie; 32 therefore thus says Yahweh, Behold, I
will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed; he shall not have a man to
dwell among this people, neither shall he see the good that I will do to my
people, says Yahweh, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh.
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