Jer 29 | ABEn | STEP | And these are the words of the book which [ 3 sent 1 Jeremiah 2 the prophet] from Jerusalem to the elders of the resettlement, and to the priests, and to the false prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar resettled from Jerusalem unto Babylon,

Jeremiah 29

CHAPTER 29 Jeremiah's Letter to the Captives

1 And these are the words of the book which [³sent ¹Jeremiah ²the prophet] from Jerusalem to the elders of the resettlement, and to the priests, and to the false prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar resettled from Jerusalem unto Babylon, 2 (after the coming forth of Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, and every free man, and bondman, and craftsman from out of Jerusalem;) 3 by the hand of Elasah son of Shaphan, and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom [⁴sent ¹Zedekiah ²king ³of Judah] to the king of Babylon into Babylon, saying, 4 Thus said the lord of the forces, the God of Israel, unto the resettlement which he resettled from Jerusalem to Babylon; 5 Build houses, and dwell, and plant gardens, and eat of their fruits! 6 And take wives, and produce children, sons and daughters! And take for your sons wives, and for your daughters give husbands! and they shall bear sons and daughters, and they shall be multiplied, and shall not be diminished. 7 And seek for peace of the land into which I resettled you there! And pray for them to the lord! for in their peace there will be peace to you. 8 For thus said the lord of the forces, the God of Israel, Let not dissuade you the false prophets among you! And let not dissuade you your clairvoyants! And hearken not to your dreams which you dream! 9 For by wrongdoing they prophesy to you in my name, and [³not ¹I sent ²them], says the lord. 10 For thus said the lord, Whenever [³is about ⁴to be filled ⁵in ⁶Babylon ¹seventy ²years], I will visit you, and I will set my words upon you, to return your people unto this place. 11 And I will devise for you a device of peace, and not evils, to give to you these things. 12 And pray to me! and I will hearken to you. 13 And seek after me! and you shall find me. For whenever you should seek after me with [²entire ³heart ¹your], 14 then I shall appear unto you. 15 For you said, [²placed ⁴to us ¹The lord ³prophets] in Babylon. 16 Thus says the lord to the king, the one sitting upon the throne of David, and to all the people, the one dwelling in this city, to your brethren, the ones not going forth with you into captivity. 17 Thus says the lord of the forces, Behold, I shall send to them a sword, and famine, and pestilence. And I shall establish them as [²fig ¹a bad] which one shall not [²to eat ¹be able] because of the badness. 18 And I shall pursue them with a sword, and famine, and pestilence. And I shall give them for movement in all the kingdoms of the earth, and for a curse, and for perplexity, and for a hissing, and for scorning to all the nations to whom I cast them. 19 For they hearkened not to my words, says the lord, which I sent to them through my servants the prophets, rising early and sending; and they hearkened not, says the lord. 20 You then hearken to the words of the lord! even all the displacement which I sent from Jerusalem into Babylon. 21 Thus said the lord against Ahab son of Kolaiah, and against Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, the ones prophesying to you [²in ³my name ¹lies]. Behold, I give them into the hands of the king of Babylon. And he shall strike them before your eyes. 22 And they shall take from them a curse in all the resettlement of Judah in Babylon, saying, Let [²do ³to you ¹the lord] as [²to Zedekiah ¹he did], and as Ahab! whom [³fried ¹the king ²of Babylon] in fire. 23 Because of [²which ³they did ¹the lawlessness] in Jerusalem, and they committed adultery with the women of their fellow-countrymen, and [²a word ¹they executed] by my name which I did not order to them; and I am witness, says the lord. 24 And to Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall say, 25 I did not send you in my name. And to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest he said, 26 The lord appointed you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to become supervisor in the house of the lord to every man prophesying, and to every man being maniacal, and you shall put him in the prison, and in the dungeon. 27 And now, why did you not join in reviling Jeremiah, the one from Anathoth, the one prophesying to you? 28 For on account of this, he sent to us in Babylon, saying, Freedom is far off -- build houses, and inhabit them, and plant gardens, and eat their fruit! 29 And Zephaniah read the scroll into the ears of Jeremiah the prophet. 30 And came to pass the word of the lord to Jeremiah, saying, 31 Send to all the resettlement, saying, Thus said the lord against Shemaiah the Nehelamite, Since [²prophesied ³to you ¹Shemaiah], and I did not send him, and [³rely ¹he made ²you] upon wrongdoing; 32 on account of this, thus said the lord, Behold, I shall visit against Shemaiah, and against his kind; and there will not be to him a man in the midst of you to behold the good things which I shall do to you, says the lord; for [²defection ¹he spoke] against the lord.