Jeremiah’s Letter to the Captives
1 Now thesearethe words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who werecarried away captive—to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon.
2 (This happened afterJeconiah the king, thequeen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.)
3 Theletterwassentby the hand of Elasah the son ofShaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying,
4 Thus says theLordof hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:
5 Build houses and dwellinthem;plant gardens and eat their fruit.
6 Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished.
7 And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive,and pray to theLordfor it; for in its peace you will have peace.
8 For thus says theLordof hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midstdeceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.
9 For they prophesyfalsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says theLord.
10 For thus says theLord: Afterseventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you toreturn to this place.
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says theLord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
12 Then you willcall upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I willlisten to you.
13 Andyou will seek Me and findMe,when you search for Mewith all your heart.
14 I will be found by you, says theLord, and I will bring you back from your captivity;I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says theLord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
15 Because you have said, “TheLordhas raised up prophets for us in Babylon”—
16 therefore thus says theLordconcerning the king who sits on the throne of David, concerning all the people who dwell in this city, and concerning your brethren who have not gone out with you into captivity—
17 thus says theLordof hosts: Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them likerotten figs that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.
18 And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence; and Iwill deliver them to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth—to bea curse, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them,
19 because they have not heeded My words, says theLord, whichI sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sendingthem;neither would you heed, says theLord.
20 Therefore hear the word of theLord, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon.
21 Thus says theLordof hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy alie to you in My name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall slay them before your eyes.
22 And because of them a curse shall be taken up by all the captivity of Judah whoarein Babylon, saying, “TheLordmake you like Zedekiah and Ahab,whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire”;
23 becausethey have done disgraceful things in Israel, have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken lying words in My name, which I have not commanded them. Indeed Iknow, andama witness, says theLord.
24 You shall also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,
25 Thus speaks theLordof hosts, the God of Israel, saying: You have sent letters in your name to all the people whoareat Jerusalem,to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,
26 “TheLordhas made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, so that there should beofficersinthe house of theLordover every manwhoisdemented and considers himself a prophet, that you shouldput him in prison and in the stocks.
27 Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who makes himself a prophet to you?
28 For he has sent to usinBabylon, saying, ‘Thiscaptivityislong; build houses and dwellinthem,and plant gardens and eat their fruit.’ ”
29 Now Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet.
30 Then the word of theLordcame to Jeremiah, saying:
31 Send to all those in captivity, saying, Thus says theLordconcerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you,and I have not sent him, and he has caused you to trust in alie—
32 therefore thus says theLord: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his family: he shall not have anyone to dwell among this people, nor shall he see the good that I will do for My people, says theLord,because he has taught rebellion against theLord.