Jeremia 29 | New International Reader’s Version

Jeremiah’s letter to the Jews in Babylon

1 Jeremiah the prophet sent a letter from Jerusalem to Babylon. It was for the Jewish elders still alive there. It was also for the priests and prophets in Babylon. And it was for all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem to Babylon.

2 It was sent to them after King Jehoiachin had been forced to leave Jerusalem. His mother and the court officials were taken with him. The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem had been forced to go to Babylon. All the skilled workers had also been forced to go.

3 Jeremiah gave the letter to Elasah and Gemariah. Elasah was the son of Shaphan. Gemariah was the son of Hilkiah. Zedekiah, the king of Judah, had sent Elasah and Gemariah to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. Here is what the letter said.

4 The LORD who rules over all is the God of Israel. He speaks to all those he forced to go from Jerusalem to Babylon. He says,

5 ‘Build houses and make your homes there. Plant gardens and eat what they produce.

6 Get married. Have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons. Give your daughters to be married. Then they too can have sons and daughters. Let there be many more of you and not fewer.

7 Also work for the success of the city I have sent you to. Pray to the LORD for that city. If it succeeds, you too will enjoy success.’

8 The LORD who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, ‘Do not let the prophets trick you. Do not be fooled by those who claim to have secret knowledge. Do not listen to people who try to explain their dreams to you.

9 All of them are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,’ announces the LORD.

10 The LORD says, ‘You will be forced to live in Babylon for 70 years. After they are over, I will come to you. My good promise to you will come true. I will bring you back home.

11 I know the plans I have for you,’ announces the LORD. ‘I want you to enjoy success. I do not plan to harm you. I will give you hope for the years to come.

12 Then you will call out to me. You will come and pray to me. And I will listen to you.

13 When you look for me with all your heart, you will find me.

14 I will be found by you,’ announces the LORD. ‘And I will bring you back from where you were taken as prisoners. I will gather you from all the nations. I will gather you from the places where I have forced you to go,’ announces the LORD. ‘I will bring you back to the place I sent you away from.’

15 You might say, ‘The LORD has given us prophets in Babylon.’

16 But here is what the LORD says about the king who now sits on David’s throne. He also says it about all the people who remain in this city. And he says it about all those who did not go with you to Babylon.

17 The LORD who rules over all says, ‘I will send war, hunger and plague against them. I will make them like bad figs. They are so bad they can’t be eaten.

18 I will hunt them down with war, hunger and plague. I will make all the kingdoms on earth displeased with them. They will use their name in a curse. All the nations where I drive them will be shocked at them. They will make fun of them. And they will bring shame on them.

19 That’s because they have not listened to my words,’ announces the LORD. ‘I sent messages to them again and again. I sent them through my servants the prophets. And you who were taken to Babylon have not listened either,’ announces the LORD.

20 So listen to the LORD’s message. Listen, all you whom he has sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

21 The LORD who rules over all is the God of Israel. He speaks about Ahab and Zedekiah. Ahab is the son of Kolaiah. Zedekiah is the son of Maaseiah. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. The LORD says about Ahab and Zedekiah, ‘I will hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. He will put them to death. You will see it with your own eyes.

22 Because of what happens to them, people will use their names when they curse someone. All those who have been taken from Judah to Babylon will use their names in that way. They will say, “May the LORD treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab. The king of Babylon burned them in the fire.”

23 That will happen because they have done awful things in Israel. They have committed adultery with their neighbours’ wives. They have spoken lies in my name. I did not give them the authority to speak those things. I know what they have done. And I am a witness to it,’ announces the LORD.

Shemaiah opposes Jeremiah

24 Tell Shemaiah, the Nehelamite,

25 ‘The LORD who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, “You sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem. You also sent them to Zephaniah the priest. He is the son of Maaseiah. And you sent them to all the other priests. You said to Zephaniah,

26 ‘The LORD has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada. He has put you in charge of the LORD’s house. You are supposed to arrest any crazy person who claims to be a prophet. You should put him in prison. You should put iron bands around his neck.

27 So why haven’t you punished Jeremiah from Anathoth? He claims to be a prophet among you.

28 He has sent a message to us in Babylon. It says, “You will be there a long time. So build houses and make your homes there. Plant gardens and eat what they produce.” ’ ” ’

29 But Zephaniah the priest read the letter to me.

30 Then a message from the LORD came to me. The LORD said,

31 ‘Send a message to all the people who were taken away. Tell them, “The LORD speaks about Shemaiah, the Nehelamite. He says, ‘Shemaiah has prophesied to you. But I did not send him. He has made you trust in lies.

32 So I say, “I will certainly punish Shemaiah, the Nehelamite. I will also punish his children after him. He will not have any children left among these people. I will do good things for my people. But he will not see them,” ’ ” ’ announces the LORD. ‘ “ ‘ “That’s because he has taught people to turn against me.” ’ ” ’

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English Standard Version

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles

1 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

2 This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem.

3 The letter was sent 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:

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 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce.

6 Take 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.

7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream,*

9 for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.

10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare* and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.

13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where 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,’

16 thus says the Lord concerning the 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 sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten.

18 I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence, and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them,

19 because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the Lord, that I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the Lord.’

20 Hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom 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, who 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 Because of them this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: “The Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,”

23 because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and they have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them. I am the one who knows, and I am witness, declares the Lord.’”

Shemaiah’s False Prophecy

24 To Shemaiah 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 Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

26 ‘The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to have charge in the house of the Lord over every madman who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and neck irons.

27 Now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who is prophesying to you?

28 For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, “Your exile will be long; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce.”’”

29 Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet.

30 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:

31 “Send to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because Shemaiah had prophesied to you when I did not send him, and has made you trust in a lie,

32 therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. He shall not have anyone living among this people, and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, declares the Lord, for he has spoken rebellion against the Lord.’”

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