Jeremiah 29

Modern

Literal

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles

¹This is the text of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets, and all the others Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

¹And these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders of the captivity, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had removed from Jerusalem to Babylon

²(This was after King Jeconiah,^a the queen mother, the court officials, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalsmiths had been exiled from Jerusalem.)

²(after the going forth of Jeconiah the king, and the queen mother, and the eunuchs, and the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, and the smiths, from Jerusalem).

³The letter was entrusted to Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It stated:

³By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to Babylon, saying:

⁴This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles who were carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:

⁴Thus says YHWH of Hosts, the God of Israel, to all the captive ones, whom I caused to be removed from Jerusalem to Babylon:

⁵“Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat their produce.

⁵“Build houses and dwell, and plant gardens and eat their fruit.

⁶Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease.

⁶Take wives and beget sons and daughters, and take for your sons wives, and your daughters give to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters and multiply there, so that you shall not decrease.

⁷Seek the prosperity of the city to which I have sent you as exiles. Pray to the LORD on its behalf, for if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

⁷And seek the peace of the city to which I have caused you to be removed, and pray on its behalf to YHWH for in its peace, there shall be unto you peace.”

⁸For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Do not be deceived by the prophets and diviners among you, and do not listen to the dreams you elicit from them.

⁸For thus says YHWH of Hosts, the God of Israel: “Do not let your prophets and your diviners that are among you deceive you, and do not listen to your dreams that you cause to be dreamed.

⁹For they are falsely prophesying to you in My name; I have not sent them, declares the LORD.”^a

⁹For falsely they prophesy to you in My name; I have not sent them, a declaration of YHWH.”

¹⁰For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place.

¹⁰For thus says YHWH: “Surely after seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word over you, to make you return to this place.

¹¹For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.

¹¹For I know the plans that I think toward you, a declaration of YHWH, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give to you a future and a hope.

¹²Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

¹²And you will call Me and will go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

¹³You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

¹³And you will seek Me and you will find, when you search for Me with all your heart.

¹⁴I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore you from captivity^a and gather you from all the nations and places to which I have banished you, declares the LORD. I will restore you to the place from which I sent you into exile.”

¹⁴And I will be found by you, a declaration of YHWH, and I will turn back your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places to which I have driven you there, a declaration of YHWH, and I will bring you to the place from which I caused you to be carried away captive from there.

¹⁵Because you may say, “The LORD has raised up for us prophets in Babylon,”

¹⁵Because you have said, “YHWH has raised up for us prophets in Babylon,

¹⁶this is what the LORD says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your brothers who did not go with you into exile—

¹⁶surely thus says YHWH concerning the king sitting on the throne of David, and concerning all the people dwelling in this city and your brothers who have not gone out with you into captivity—

¹⁷this is what the LORD of Hosts says:

“I will send against them sword and famine and plague, and I will make them like rotten figs, so bad they cannot be eaten.

¹⁷thus says YHWH of Hosts: “Behold, I am sending upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and I will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten for badness.

¹⁸I will pursue them with sword and famine and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth—a curse, a desolation, and an object of scorn and reproach among all the nations to which I banish them.

¹⁸And I will pursue after them with the sword, with famine, and with the pestilence, and I will deliver them to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and as a horror, and as a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations to which I have driven them there.

¹⁹I will do this because they have not listened to My words, declares the LORD, which I sent to them again and again through My servants^a the prophets. And neither have you exiles listened, declares the LORD.”

¹⁹Because that they did not listen to My words, a declaration of YHWH, Which I sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending, and you would not listen! A declaration of YHWH.”

²⁰So hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

²⁰And you, hear the word of YHWH, all of the captivity whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

²¹This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you lies in My name: “I will deliver them to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your very eyes.

²¹Thus says YHWH of Hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, those prophesying to you a lie in My name: “Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will strike them before your eyes!

²²Because of them, all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire!’

²²And because of them shall be taken up a curse for all the captivity of Judah who are in Babylon, saying: ‘May YHWH make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire!

²³For they have committed an outrage in Israel by committing adultery with the wives of their neighbors and speaking lies in My name, which I did not command them to do. I am He who knows, and I am a witness, declares the LORD.”

²³Because that they have done folly in Israel and have committed adultery with the wives of their neighbors, and have spoken false words in My name, which I have not commanded them. And I am the One knowing, and a witness, a declaration of YHWH.”

The Message to Shemaiah

²⁴You are to tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite that

²⁴And to Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying:

²⁵this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “In your own name you have sent out letters to all the people of Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests. You said to Zephaniah:^a

²⁵Thus says YHWH of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying: “Because that you have sent letters in your name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

²⁶‘The LORD has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada, to be the chief officer in the house of the LORD, responsible for any madman who acts like a prophet—you must put him in stocks and neck irons.

²⁶‘YHWH has made you priest in place of Jehoiada the priest, that you should be officers in the house of YHWH over every man who is mad and makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in prison and in the stocks.

²⁷So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you?

²⁷And now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah the Anathothite, who is making himself a prophet to you?

²⁸For he has sent to us in Babylon, claiming: Since the exile will be lengthy, build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat their produce.’”

²⁸For upon thus he has sent to us in Babylon, saying it is long, build houses and dwell, and plant gardens and eat their fruit.’”

²⁹(Zephaniah the priest, however, had read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet.)

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

³⁰Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

³⁰And the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah, saying:

³¹“Send a message telling all the exiles what the LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you—though I did not send him—and has made you trust in a lie,

³¹“Send to all those of the captivity, saying, thus says YHWH concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I have not send him, and he has made you trust in a lie,

³²this is what the LORD says: ‘I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good that I will bring to My people, declares the LORD, for he has preached rebellion against the LORD.’”

³²therefore thus says YHWH: ‘Behold, I will attend to Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his family. There shall not be unto him a man dwelling in the midst of this people, and he shall not see the good that I am going to do for My people, a declaration of YHWH, because he has spoken rebellion against YHWH.