Jeremiah 29–31

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Jews in Babylonia

29^*I wrote a letter to the priests, the prophets, the leaders of the people, and to all the others whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken away as prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylonia. ^2*I wrote it after King Jehoiachin, his mother, the palace officials, the leaders of Judah and of Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the skilled workmen had been taken into exile. ³I gave the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom King Zedekiah of Judah was sending to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. It said:

⁴“The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those people whom he allowed Nebuchadnezzar to take away as prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylonia: ⁵‘Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what you grow in them. ⁶Marry and have children. Then let your children get married, so that they also may have children. You must increase in numbers and not decrease. ⁷Work for the good of the cities where I have made you go as prisoners. Pray to me on their behalf, because if they are prosperous, you will be prosperous too. ⁸I, the Lord, the God of Israel, warn you not to let yourselves be deceived by the prophets who live among you or by any others who claim they can predict the future. Do not pay any attention to their^j dreams. ⁹They are telling you lies in my name. I did not send them. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken.’

^10*“The Lord says, ‘When Babylonia’s seventy years are over, I will show my concern for you and keep my promise to bring you back home. ¹¹I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for.^{k 12}Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will answer you. ^13*You will seek me, and you will find me because you will seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴Yes, I say, you will find me, and I will restore you to your land. I will gather you from every country and from every place to which I have scattered you, and I will bring you back to the land from which I had sent you away into exile. I, the Lord, have spoken.’

¹⁵“You say that the Lord has given you prophets in Babylonia. ¹⁶Listen to what the Lord says about the king who rules the kingdom that David ruled and about the people of this city, that is, your relatives who were not taken away as prisoners with you. ¹⁷The Lord Almighty says, ‘I am bringing war, starvation, and disease on them, and I will make them like figs that are too rotten to be eaten. ¹⁸I will pursue them with war, starvation, and disease, and all the nations of the world will be horrified at what they see. Everywhere I scatter them, people will be shocked and terrified at what has happened to them. People will mock them and use their name as a curse. ¹⁹This will happen to them because they did not obey the message that I kept on sending to them through my servants the prophets. They refused to listen. ²⁰All of you whom I sent into exile in Babylonia, listen to what I, the Lord, say.’

²¹“The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, has spoken about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are telling you lies in his name. He has said that he will hand them over to the power of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, who will put them to death before your eyes. ²²When the people who were taken away as prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylonia want to bring a curse on someone, they will say, ‘May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylonia roasted alive!’ ²³This will be their fate because they are guilty of terrible sins—they have committed adultery and have told lies in the Lord’s name. This was against the Lord’s will; he knows what they have done, and he is a witness against them.^l The Lord has spoken.”

The Letter of Shemaiah

^24–25The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, gave me a message for Shemaiah of Nehelam, who had sent a letter in his own name to all the people of Jerusalem and to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah and to all the other priests. In this letter, Shemaiah wrote to Zephaniah:

²⁶“The Lord made you a priest in place of Jehoiada, and you are now the chief officer^m in the Temple. It is your duty to see that every madman who pretends to be a prophet is placed in chains with an iron collar round his neck. ²⁷Why haven’t you done this to Jeremiah of Anathoth, who has been speaking as a prophet to the people? ²⁸He must be stopped because he told the people in Babylonia that they would be prisoners there a long time and should build houses, settle down, plant gardens, and eat what they grow.”

²⁹Zephaniah read the letter to me, ³⁰and then the Lord told me ^31–32to send to all the prisoners in Babylon this message about Shemaiah: “I, the Lord, will punish Shemaiah and all his descendants. I did not send him, but he spoke to you as if he were a prophet, and he made you believe lies. He will have no descendants among you. He will not live to see the good things that I am going to do for my people, because he told them to rebel against me. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

The ’s Promises to His People

30The Lord, the God of Israel, ²said to me: “Write down in a book everything that I have told you, ³because the time is coming when I will restore my people, Israel and Judah. I will bring them back to the land that I gave their ancestors, and they will take possession of it again. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

⁴The Lord says to the people of Israel and Judah:

⁵“I heard a cry of terror,

a cry of fear and not of peace.

⁶Now stop and think!

Can a man give birth to a child?

Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach

like a woman in labour?

Why is everyone so pale?

⁷A terrible day is coming;

no other day can compare with it—

a time of distress for my people,

but they will survive.”

⁸The Lord Almighty says: “When that day comes, I will break the yoke that is round their necks and remove their chains, and they will no longer be the slaves of foreigners. ⁹Instead, they will serve me, the Lord their God, and a descendant of David, whom I will enthrone as king.

^10*“My people, do not be afraid;

people of Israel, do not be terrified.

I will rescue you from that distant land,

from the land where you are prisoners.

You will come back home and live in peace;

you will be secure, and no one will make you afraid.

^11*I will come to you and save you.

I will destroy all the nations

where I have scattered you,

but I will not destroy you.

I will not let you go unpunished;

but when I punish you, I will be fair.

I, the Lord, have spoken.”

¹²The Lord says to his people,

“Your wounds are incurable,

your injuries cannot be healed.

¹³There is no one to take care of you,

no remedy for your sores,

no hope of healing for you.

¹⁴All your lovers have forgotten you;

they no longer care about you.

I have attacked you like an enemy;

your punishment has been harsh

because your sins are many

and your wickedness is great.

¹⁵Complain no more about your injuries; there is no cure for you.

I punished you like this because your sins are many and your wickedness is great.

¹⁶But now, all who devour you will be devoured,

and all your enemies will be taken away as prisoners.

All who oppress you will be oppressed,

and all who plunder you will be plundered.

¹⁷I will make you well again;

I will heal your wounds, though your enemies say,

‘Zion is an outcast;

no one cares about her.’

I, the Lord, have spoken.”

¹⁸The Lord says,

“I will restore my people to their land

and have mercy on every family;

Jerusalem will be rebuilt,

and its palace restored.

¹⁹The people who live there will sing praise;

they will shout for joy.

By my blessing they will increase in numbers;

my blessing will bring them honour.

²⁰I will restore the nation’s ancient power

and establish it firmly again;

I will punish all who oppress them.

^21–22Their ruler will come from their own nation,

their prince from their own people.

He will approach me when I invite him,

for who would dare come uninvited?

They will be my people,

and I will be their God.

I, the Lord, have spoken.”

^23–24The Lord’s anger is a storm, a furious wind that will rage over the heads of the wicked. It will not end until he has done all that he intends to do. In days to come his people will understand this clearly.

Israel’s Return Home

31The Lord says, “The time is coming when I will be the God of all the tribes of Israel, and they will be my people. ²In the desert I showed mercy to those people who had escaped death. When the people of Israel longed for rest, ³I appeared to themⁿ from far away. People of Israel, I have always loved you, so I continue to show you my constant love. ⁴Once again I will rebuild you. Once again you will take up your tambourines and dance joyfully. ⁵Once again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria, and those who plant them will eat what the vineyards produce. ⁶Yes, the time is coming when watchmen will call out on the hills of Ephraim, ‘Let’s go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.’ ”

⁷The Lord says,

“Sing with joy for Israel,

the greatest of the nations.

Sing your song of praise,

‘The Lord has saved his^o people;

he has rescued all who are left.’

⁸I will bring them from the north

and gather them from the ends of the earth.

The blind and the lame will come with them,

pregnant women and those about to give birth.

They will come back a great nation.

⁹My people will return weeping,

praying as I lead them back.

I will guide them to streams of water,

on a smooth road where they will not stumble.

I am like a father to Israel,

and Ephraim is my eldest son.”

¹⁰The Lord says,

“Nations, listen to me,

and proclaim my words on the far-off shores.

I scattered my people, but I will gather them

and guard them as a shepherd guards his flock.

¹¹I have set Israel’s people free

and have saved them from a mighty nation.

¹²They will come and sing for joy on Mount Zion

and be delighted with my gifts—

gifts of corn and wine and olive oil,

gifts of sheep and cattle.

They will be like a well-watered garden;

they…