Jeremiah 29

29^*Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of ^athe elders which were carried away captives, and ^bto the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon; ²(After that ^cdJeconiah the king, and ^cethe queen, and ^cthe ^||eunuchs, ^dthe princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and ^dthe carpenters, and ^dthe smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;) ³By the hand of Elasah the son of ^fShaphan, and Gemariah the son of ^gHilkiah, ^h(whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying,

⁴Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; ⁵ⁱBuild ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; ⁶Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. ⁷And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and ^kpray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. ⁸For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and ^lyour diviners, that be in the midst of you, ^mdeceive you, neither hearken to ^lyour dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. ^9n*For they prophesy ^†falsely unto you in my name: ⁿI have not sent them, saith the Lord. ¹⁰For thus saith the Lord, That ^oafter seventy years be accomplished at Babylon ^pI will visit you, and ^qperform my good word toward you, ^pqin causing you to return to this place. ¹¹For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, ^rto give you an ^†expected end. ¹²Then ^sshall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. ¹³And ^stvye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me ^uwith all your heart. ¹⁴And ^vI will be found of you, saith the Lord: and ^wI will turn away your captivity, and ^xI will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places ^ywhither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

¹⁵Because ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon; ¹⁶Know that thus saith the Lord of the king ^zthat sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity; ¹⁷Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, ^aI will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them ^blike vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. ¹⁸And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and ^cwill deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, ^†to be ^dea curse, and ^dfgan astonishment, and ^gan hissing, and ^da reproach, ^hamong all the nations ⁱwhither I have driven them: ¹⁹Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, ^krising up early and sending them; ^lbut ye would not hear, saith the Lord. ²⁰Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord, all ye of the captivity, ^mwhom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon: ²¹Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, ⁿwhich prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes; ²²And ^oof them shall be taken up ^pa curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, ^qwhom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire; ²³Because they have ^rcommitted villany in Israel, and ^shave committed adultery with their neighbours’ wives, and ^nshave spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and ^tam a witness, saith the Lord.

^24*Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the ^||Nehelamite, saying, ²⁵Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to ^uZephaniah the son of ^uuMaaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, ²⁶The Lord hath made thee priest in the stead of ^vJehoiada the priest, that ye should be ^wofficers in the house of the Lord, for every man ^xthat is mad, and ^ymaketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in ^zthe stocks. ²⁷Now therefore why hast thou not reproved ^aJeremiah of Anathoth, ^ywhich maketh himself a prophet to you? ²⁸For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: ^bbuild ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them. ²⁹And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet. ³⁰Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, ³¹Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the Lord concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and ^cdI sent him not, and ^che caused you to trust in a lie: ³²Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither ^eshall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the Lord; ^fbecause he hath taught ^†rebellion against the Lord.