²⁴Tell Shemaiah, the Nehelamite, ²⁵“The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, ‘You sent letters in your own name to all of the people in Jerusalem. You also sent them to the priest Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah. And you sent them to all of the other priests.

“ ‘You said to Zephaniah, ²⁶“The Lord has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada. He has put you in charge of the Lord’s house. You are supposed to arrest any crazy person who claims to be a prophet. You should put him in prison. You should put iron bands around his neck.

²⁷“ ‘ “So why haven’t you punished Jeremiah from Anathoth? He claims to be a prophet among you. ²⁸He has sent a message to us in Babylon. It says, ‘You will be there a long time. So build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce.’ ” ’ ”

²⁹But the priest Zephaniah read the letter to me. ³⁰Then a message came to me from the Lord. He said, ³¹“Send a message to all of the people who were taken away. Tell them, ‘The Lord speaks about Shemaiah, the Nehelamite. He says, “Shemaiah has prophesied to you. But I did not send him. He has made you believe a lie.

³²“ ‘ “So I say, ‘I will certainly punish Shemaiah, the Nehelamite. I will also punish his children after him. He will not have any children left among these people. I will do good things for my people. But he will not see them,’ ” ’ ” announces the Lord. “ ‘ “ ‘That is because he has taught people to turn against me.’ ” ’ ”

Read in Logos