Jeremiah 29–31

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles in Babylon

29And these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the exiles,^a and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had deported from Jerusalem to Babylon, ²after the going out of Jeconiah the king, and the queen mother, and the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, and the artisans,^b and the smiths^c from Jerusalem, ³by the hand of Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, the king of Judah, sent to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to Babylon, saying,^{d 4}“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles^e whom I have deported from Jerusalem to Babylon, ⁵‘Build houses and live in them,^f and plant gardens and eat their fruit. ⁶Take wives and father sons and daughters, and take for your sons wives, and give your daughters to men that they may bear sons and daughters, and multiply there, and you must not be few. ⁷And seek the prosperity of the city where I have deported you, and pray on behalf of it to Yahweh, for in its prosperity you will have prosperity.’

⁸For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst, and your diviners, deceive you, and you must not listen to your dreams that you are causing them to dream. ⁹For they are prophesying falsely^g to you in my name; I have not sent them,’ declares^h Yahweh. ¹⁰For thus says Yahweh, ‘As soon as the time has passed,ⁱ seventy years^j for Babylon, I will attend to you, and I will fulfill my good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ¹¹For I know the plans that I am planning concerning you,’ declares^k Yahweh, ‘plans for prosperity and not for harm, to give to you a future and a hope. ¹²Then when you call me, and you come and pray to me, then I will listen to you. ¹³When you search for me, then you will find me, if you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴And I will let myself be found by you,’ declares^l Yahweh, ‘and I will restore your fortunes,^m and I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places to which I have driven you,’ declaresⁿ Yahweh, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from which I deported you.’

¹⁵Because you have said, ‘Yahweh has raised up prophets for us in Babylon’— ¹⁶for thus says Yahweh concerning the king who sits on the throne of David and concerning all the people who live in this city, your fellow kinsmen who did not go with you into the exile— ¹⁷thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Look, I am going to send among them the sword, the famine, and the plague, and I will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten because of their bad quality. ¹⁸And I will pursue them with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague, and I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse, and a horror, and an object of hissing, and a disgrace among all the nations to which I have driven them, ¹⁹because they did not listen to my words,’ declares^o Yahweh, ‘when I sent to them my servants the prophets, sending over and over again,^p and they would not listen,’ declares^q Yahweh.

²⁰And you, hear the word of Yahweh, all you exiles^r whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. ²¹Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you in my name a lie, ‘Look, I am going to give them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and he will strike them before your eyes. ²²And a curse will be taken up because of them by all the exiles^s of Judah who are in Babylon, saying,^t “May Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,” ²³because they have done a disgraceful thing in Israel, and they have committed adultery with the wives of their neighbors, and they have spoken words^u in my name, lies^v that I have not commanded them, and I am he who knows, and I am a witness,’ declares^w Yahweh.”

Shemaiah’s Letter to Zephaniah the Priest

²⁴And to Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall say, saying,^{x 25}“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying,^y ‘Because you yourself sent a letter^z 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,^{a 26}“Yahweh made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, so that there are overseers in the house of Yahweh over any mad man who exhibits the behavior of a prophet, and you must put him into the stocks and into the neck iron, ²⁷and so then why have you not rebuked Jeremiah the Anathothite who exhibits the behavior of a prophet for you? ²⁸Because^b he has sent to us in Babylon, saying,^c ‘It will be a long time, build houses and live in them,^d and plant gardens and eat their fruit.’ ” ’ ” ²⁹And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing^e of Jeremiah the prophet.

Jeremiah’s Response to Shemaiah’s Letter

³⁰And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,^{f 31}“Send to all the exiles,^g saying,^h ‘Thus says Yahweh concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah prophesied to you, though I have not sent him, and he has made you trust in a lie,” ³²thereforeⁱ thus says Yahweh, “Look, I am going to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his offspring. There will not be for him a man who lives in the midst of this people, and he will not see the good that I am going to do to my people,” declares^j Yahweh, “For he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh.” ’ ”

Israel and Judah Will Be Delivered from Their Distress

30The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,^{a 2}“Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, saying,^b ‘Write for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you in a scroll. ³For look, days are coming,’ declares^c Yahweh, ‘when I will restore the fortunes^d of my people Israel and Judah,’ says Yahweh, ‘and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestors^e and they will take possession of it.’ ”

⁴Now these are the words that Yahweh spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah. ⁵“For thus says Yahweh:

‘We have heard a sound of trembling,

terror, and there is no peace.

⁶Ask please and see whether a male can bear a child.

Why do I see every strong man

with his hands on his loins like a woman giving birth?

And why are all their faces changed to paleness?

⁷Alas! For that day is great,

there is none like it.^f

And it is a time of distress for Jacob,

yet from it he will be delivered.

⁸And it will happen on that day,’ declares^g Yahweh of hosts,

‘I will break his yoke from your neck

and your bonds I will tear to pieces.

And strangers will no longer let him work as a slave.

⁹But they will serve Yahweh their God,

and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

¹⁰But you must not fear, my servant Jacob,’ declares^h Yahweh,

‘and you must not be dismayed, Israel,

for look, I am going to save you from far,

and your offspring from the land of their captivity.

And Jacob will return,

and he will be at rest,

and he will be at ease,

and there will be no one who makes himⁱ afraid.

¹¹For I am with you,’ declares^j Yahweh, ‘to save you.

For I will make a complete destruction

of all the nations to which I scattered you,

but you I will not make a complete destruction.

And I will chastise you to the measure,

and I will not leave you entirely unpunished.’

¹²For thus says Yahweh,

‘Your injury is incurable,

your wound is overcome by sickness.

¹³There is no one who pleads your cause,

for your boil there is no healing for you.

¹⁴All your lovers have forgotten you,

they do not care for you.

I have struck you with the blow of an enemy,

the punishment of the cruel,

because of the greatness of your guilt,

your sins are numerous.

¹⁵Why do you cry because of your wound?

Your pain is incurable.

Because of the greatness of your guilt—your sins are vast—

I have done these things to you.

¹⁶Therefore^k all those who devour you will be devoured,

and all your foes, all of them will go into captivity,

and those who plunder you will be as plunder,

and all those who plunder you I will make as plunder.

¹⁷For I will present healing to you,

and I will heal you of your wounds,’ declares^l Yahweh.

‘Because they have called you an outcast, saying,

“It is Zion, there is no one who cares for her.” ’

¹⁸Thus says Yahweh:

‘Look, I will restore the fortunes^m of the tents of Jacob,

and I will have compassion on his dwellings,

and the city will be rebuilt upon its mound,

and the citadel fortress will stand on its rightful site.

¹⁹And thanksgiving and the sound of merrymakers

will come out from them,

and I will make them numerous,

and they will not be few.

And I will make them honored,

and they will not be lowly.

²⁰And their children will be as of old,

and their community will be established before me.ⁿ

And I will punish all their oppressors.

²¹And their noble will be from them,

and their ruler will come out from their midst.

And I will bring him near and he will approach me.

For who is he that would pledge his heart to approach me?’ declares^o Yahweh.

²²‘And you will be to me a people,

and I will be to you God.’ ”

²³Look, the storm of Yahweh!

Wrath has gone forth,

a whirling tempest.

It will whirl upon the head of the wicked.

²⁴The burning anger of Yahweh^p will not turn back until his doing,

and until his accomplishing the plans of his mind.^q

In the last of the days you will understand it.

31“At that time,” declares^a Yahweh,

“I will be the God of all the clans^b of Israel,

and they will be to me a people.”

²Thus says Yahweh:

“The people of the survivors of the sword found grace in the desert;^c

Israel going to find their rest.”

³From afar Yahweh appeared to me, saying,

“I have loved you with an everlasting love.

Therefore^d I have drawn you with loyal love.

⁴I will again build you,

and you will be built, O virgin Israel.

You will again adorn yourself with your tambourines,

and you will go forth in the dancing in a ring of the merrymakers.

⁵You…