Jer 29 | NASB1995 | STEP | Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile , the priests , the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon .

Jeremiah 29

Message to the Exiles

1 Now these are the words of the ^aletter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 (This was after King ^bJeconiah and the ^cqueen mother, the court officials, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.) 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of ^dHilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying, 4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have ^esent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, 5 ‘ ^fBuild houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their ^{▼▼ Lit fruit}produce. 6 ‘Take ^hwives and ^{▼▼ Lit beget}become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. 7 ‘ ^jSeek the ^{▼▼ Or peace}welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and ^lpray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its ^{▼▼ Or peace}welfare you will have ^{▼▼ Or peace}welfare.’ 8 “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your ^oprophets who are in your midst and your diviners ^pdeceive you, and do not listen to ^{▼▼ Lit your
,} ^rthe dreams which ^{▼▼ Lit you}they dream. 9 ‘For they ^tprophesy falsely to you in My name; ^uI have not sent them,’ declares the Lord.

10 “For thus says the Lord, ‘When ^vseventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My ^wgood word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11 ‘For I know the ^xplans that I ^{▼▼ Lit am planning}have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for ^zwelfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a ^aahope. 12 ‘Then you will ^abcall upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will ^aclisten to you. 13 ‘You will ^adseek Me and find Me when you ^aesearch for Me with all your heart. 14 ‘I will be ^affound by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will ^agrestore your ^{▼▼ Or captivity}fortunes and will ^aigather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will ^ajbring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’

15 “Because you have said, ‘The Lord has raised up ^akprophets for us in Babylon’— 16 for 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 brothers who did ^alnot go with you into exile— 17 thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold, I am sending upon them the ^amsword, famine and pestilence, and I will make them like ^ansplit-open figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness. 18 ‘I will pursue them with the sword, with famine and with pestilence; and I will ^aomake them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a ^apcurse and a horror and a ^aqhissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, 19 because they have ^arnot listened to My words,’ declares the Lord, ‘which I sent to them again and again by ^asMy servants the prophets; but you did not listen,’ declares the Lord. 20 “You, therefore, hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles, whom I have ^atsent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

21 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are ^auprophesying to you falsely in My name, ‘Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will slay them before your eyes. 22 ‘Because of them a ^avcurse will be ^{▼▼ Lit taken}used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, “May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon ^axroasted in the fire, 23 because they have ^ayacted foolishly in Israel, and ^azhave committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have ^baspoken words in My name falsely, which I did not command them; and I am He who ^bbknows and am a witness,” declares the Lord.’”

24 To ^bcShemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying, 25 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have sent ^bdletters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to ^beZephaniah 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 be the ^{▼▼ Lit overseers
,} ^bgoverseer in the house of the Lord over every ^bhmadman who ^biprophesies, to ^bjput him in the stocks and in the iron collar, 27 now then, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of ^bkAnathoth who prophesies to you? 28 “For he has ^blsent to us in Babylon, saying, ‘The exile will be ^bmlong; ^bnbuild houses and live in them and plant gardens and eat their ^{▼▼ Lit fruit}produce.’”’”

29 ^bpZephaniah the priest read this letter ^{▼▼ Lit in the ears of}to Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, saying, 31 “Send to ^brall the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord concerning ^bsShemaiah the Nehelamite, “Because Shemaiah has ^btprophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has ^bumade you trust in a lie,” 32 therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to ^bvpunish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his ^{▼▼ Lit seed}descendants; he will ^bxnot have anyone living among this people, ^byand he will not see the good that I am about to do to My people,” declares the Lord, “because he has ^{▼▼ Lit spoken
,} ^capreached rebellion against the Lord.”’”