Jeremiah 29

Revised Geneva Translation

29 Now these are the words of the Book that Jeremiah the Prophet, sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders who were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the Prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babel

² (after Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and of Jerusalem, and the workmen, and cunning men had departed from Jerusalem)

³ by the hand of Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah, king of Judah, sent to Babel to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel) saying,

⁴ “Thus has the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, spoken to all who are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away captives from Jerusalem to Babel:

⁵ ‘Build yourselves houses to dwell in. And plant yourselves gardens and eat the fruits of them.

⁶ ‘Take wives for yourselves and beget sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters, so 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 captives. And pray to the LORD for it. For in its peace shall you have peace.’

⁸ “For thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Do not let your prophets and your soothsayers who are among you, deceive you or listen to your dreams which you dream.

⁹ ‘For they prophesy a lie to you in My Name. I have not sent them,” says the LORD.

¹⁰ ‘But thus says the LORD: that after seventy years are completed at Babel, I will attend to you, and perform My good promise toward you, and cause you to return to this place.

¹¹ ‘For I know the thoughts that I have thought towards you,’ says the LORD, ‘the thoughts of peace and not of trouble, to give you a future and hope.

¹² ‘Then you shall cry to Me. And you shall go and pray to Me. And I will hear you.

¹³ ‘And you shall seek Me, and find, because you shall seek Me with all your heart.

¹⁴ ‘And I will be found by you,’ says the LORD, ‘and I will turn away your captivity. And I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have cast you,’ says the LORD, ‘and will bring you back to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive

¹⁵ ‘because you have said, “The LORD has raised up Prophets for us in Babel.”’

¹⁶ “Therefore thus says the LORD of the king who sits upon the throne of David, and of all the people who dwell in this city, your brethren, who have not gone forth with you into captivity,

¹⁷ “thus says the LORD of Hosts: ‘Behold, I will send the sword upon them, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.

¹⁸ ‘And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence. And I will make them a terror to all kingdoms of the Earth, a curse and astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have cast them,

¹⁹ ‘because they have not heard My Words’ says the LORD, ‘which I sent to them by My servants, the Prophets, rising up early and sending. But you would not hear,’ says the LORD.

²⁰ “Therefore, hear the Word of the LORD, all you of the captivity whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babel.

²¹ “Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, about Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and about Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy lies to you in My Name: ‘Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel. And he shall kill them before your eyes.

²² ‘And all those from Judah among the captivity, who are in Babel, shall take up this curse against them, and say, “The LORD make you like Zedekiah, and like Ahab, whom the king of Babel burnt in the fire,”

²³ ‘Because they have committed villainy in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbor’s wives, and have spoken lying words in My Name, which I have not Commanded them. I know it, and testify it,’ says the LORD.

²⁴ ‘You shall also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,

²⁵ “Thus speaks the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying: ‘Because 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, so that there should be an officer in the House of the LORD for every man who raves and makes himself a prophet, to put him in prison and in the stocks.”

²⁷ ‘Now, therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who prophesies to you?

²⁸ ‘Because, for this reason he sent to us in Babel, saying, “This captivity is long. Build houses to dwell in, and plant gardens, and eat the fruits of them.”’”

²⁹ And Zephaniah the Priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the Prophet.

³⁰ Then the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

³¹ “Send to all them of the captivity, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I did not send him, and he caused you to trust in a lie,

³² “therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will reckon with Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his seed. He shall not have a man to dwell among this people, nor shall he behold the good that I will do for My people,” says the LORD, “because he has spoken rebelliously against the LORD.”’”