Jeremiah 29–31

¹And these are words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the remnant of the elders of the removal, and unto the priests, and unto the prophets, and unto all the people—whom Nebuchadnezzar removed from Jerusalem to Babylon, ²After the going forth of Jeconiah the king, and the mistress, and the officers, heads of Judah and Jerusalem, and the artificer, and the smith, from Jerusalem— ³By the hand of Eleasah son of Shaphan, and Gemariah son of Hilkijah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon—to Babylon, saying, ⁴‘Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, to all the removal that I removed from Jerusalem to Babylon, ⁵Build ye houses, and abide; and plant ye gardens, and eat their fruit; ⁶Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take for your sons wives, and your daughters give to husbands, and they bear sons and daughters; and multiply there, and ye are not few; ⁷And seek the peace of the city whither I have removed you, and pray for it unto Jehovah, for in its peace ye have peace.

⁸‘For thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, Let not your prophets who are in your midst, and your diviners, lift you up, nor hearken ye unto their dreams, that ye are causing them to dream; ⁹For with falsehood they are prophesying to you in My name; I have not sent them, an affirmation of Jehovah.

¹⁰‘For thus said Jehovah, Surely at the fulness of Babylon—seventy years—I inspect you, and have established towards you My good word, to bring you back unto this place. ¹¹For I have known the thoughts that I am thinking towards you—an affirmation of Jehovah; thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give to you posterity and hope.

¹²‘And ye have called Me, and have gone, and have prayed unto Me, and I have hearkened unto you, ¹³And ye have sought Me, and have found, for ye seek Me with all your heart; ¹⁴And I have been found of you—an affirmation of Jehovah; and I have turned back to your captivity, and have gathered you out of all the nations, and out of all the places whither I have driven you—an affirmation of Jehovah—and I have brought you back unto the place whence I removed you.

¹⁵‘Because ye have said, Jehovah hath raised up to us prophets in Babylon, ¹⁶Surely thus said Jehovah concerning the king who is sitting on the throne of David, and concerning all the people that is dwelling in this city, your brethren who went not forth with you in the removal; ¹⁷Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, Lo, I am sending among them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and I have given them up as figs that are vile, that are not eaten for badness. ¹⁸And I have pursued after them with sword, with famine, and with pestilence, and have given them for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth, for a curse and for an astonishment, and for a hissing, and for a reproach among all the nations whither I have driven them, ¹⁹Because that they have not hearkened unto My words—an affirmation of Jehovah—that I sent unto them by My servants the prophets, rising early and sending, and ye hearkened not—an affirmation of Jehovah.

²⁰‘And ye, hear ye a word of Jehovah, all ye of the captivity that I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon, ²¹Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, concerning Ahab son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you in My name falsehood: Lo, I am giving them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he hath smitten them before your eyes, ²²And taken from them hath been a reviling by all the removed of Judah that are in Babylon, saying, Jehovah doth set thee as Zedekiah, and as Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted with fire; ²³Because that they have done folly in Israel, and commit adultery with the wives of their neighbours, and speak a word in My name falsely that I have not commanded them, and I am He who knoweth and a witness—an affirmation of Jehovah.

²⁴‘And unto Shemaiah the Nehelamite thou dost speak, saying, ²⁵Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, saying, Because that thou hast sent in thy name letters unto all the people who are in Jerusalem, and unto Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, and unto all the priests, saying, ²⁶Jehovah hath made thee priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, for there being inspectors of the house of Jehovah, for every one mad and making himself a prophet, and thou hast put him unto the torture and unto the stocks. ²⁷And now, why hast thou not pushed against Jeremiah of Anathoth, who is making himself a prophet to you? ²⁸Because that he hath sent unto us to Babylon, saying, It is long, build ye houses, and abide; and plant ye gardens, and eat their fruit.’ ²⁹And Zephaniah the priest readeth this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet. ³⁰And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah, saying, ³¹‘Send unto all the removal, saying, Thus said Jehovah concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite, Because that Shemaiah prophesied to you, and I—I have not sent him, and he doth cause you to trust on falsehood, ³²Therefore, thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am seeing after Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and after his seed, he hath none dwelling in the midst of this people, nor doth he look on the good that I am doing to My people—an affirmation of Jehovah—for apostasy he hath spoken against Jehovah.’

Chapter 30

¹The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, ²‘Thus spake Jehovah, God of Israel, saying, Write for thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee on a book. ³For, lo, days are coming—an affirmation of Jehovah—and I have turned back to the captivity of My people Israel and Judah, said Jehovah, and I have caused them to turn back unto the land that I gave to their fathers, and they do possess it.’ ⁴And these are the words that Jehovah hath spoken concerning Israel and concerning Judah: ⁵Surely thus said Jehovah: A voice of trembling we have heard, Fear—and there is no peace. ⁶Ask, I pray you, and see, is a male bringing forth? Wherefore have I seen every man, His hands on his loins, as a travailing woman, And all faces have been turned to paleness? ⁷Woe! for great is that day, without any like it, Yea, a time of adversity it is to Jacob, Yet out of it he is saved. ⁸And it hath come to pass, in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, I break his yoke from off thy neck, And thy bands I draw away, And lay no more service on him do strangers. ⁹And they have served Jehovah their God, And David their king whom I raise up to them.

¹⁰And thou, be not afraid, My servant Jacob, An affirmation of Jehovah, Nor be affrighted, O Israel, For, lo, I am saving thee from afar, And thy seed from the land of their captivity, And Jacob hath turned back and rested, And is quiet, and there is none troubling. ¹¹For with thee am I, An affirmation of Jehovah—to save thee, For I make an end of all the nations Whither I have scattered thee, Only, of thee I do not make an end, And I have chastised thee in judgment, And do not entirely acquit thee. ¹²For thus said Jehovah: Incurable is thy breach, grievous thy stroke, ¹³There is none judging thy cause to bind up, Healing medicines there are none for thee. ¹⁴all loving thee have forgotten thee, Thee they do not seek, For with the stroke of an enemy I smote thee, The chastisement of a fierce one, Because of the abundance of thy iniquity, Mighty have been thy sins! ¹⁵What!—thou criest concerning thy breach! Incurable is thy pain, Because of the abundance of thy iniquity, Mighty have been thy sins! I have done these to thee. ¹⁶Therefore all consuming thee are consumed, And all thine adversaries—all of them—Into captivity do go, And thy spoilers have been for a spoil, And all thy plunderers I give up to plunder. ¹⁷For I increase health to thee, And from thy strokes I do heal thee, An affirmation of Jehovah, For ‘Outcast’ they have called to thee, ‘Zion it is, there is none seeking for her.’

¹⁸Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I turn back to the captivity of the tents of Jacob, And his dwelling places I pity, And the city hath been built on its heap, And the palace according to its ordinance remaineth. ¹⁹And gone forth from them hath thanksgiving, And the voice of playful ones, And I have multiplied them and they are not few, And made them honourable, and they are not small. ²⁰And his sons have been as aforetime, And his company before Me is established, And I have seen after all his oppressors. ²¹And his honourable one hath been of himself, And his ruler from his midst goeth forth, And I have caused him to draw near, And he hath drawn nigh unto Me, For who is he who hath pledged his heart To draw nigh unto Me? An affirmation of Jehovah. ²²And ye have been to Me for a people, And I am to you for God. ²³Lo, a whirlwind of Jehovah—Fury hath gone forth—a cutting whirlwind, On the head of the wicked it stayeth. ²⁴The fierceness of the anger of Jehovah Doth not turn back till His doing, Yea, till His establishing the devices of His heart, In the latter end of the days we consider it!

Chapter 31

¹At that time, an affirmation of Jehovah, I am for God to all families of Israel, And they—they are to Me for a people. ²Thus said Jehovah: Found grace in the wilderness Hath a people remaining from the sword Going to cause it to rest—Israel. ³From afar Jehovah hath appeared to me, With love age-during I have loved thee, Therefore I have drawn thee with kindness. ⁴Again do I build thee, And thou hast been built, O virgin of Israel, Again thou puttest on thy tabrets, And hast gone out in the chorus of the playful. ⁵Again thou dost plant vineyards In mountains of Samaria, Planters have planted, and made common. ⁶For there is a day, Cried have watchmen on mount Ephraim, ‘Rise, and we go up to Zion, unto Jehovah our God; ⁷For thus said Jehovah: Sing, O ye to Jacob, with joy, And cry aloud at the head of the nations, Sound ye, praise ye, and say, Save, O Jehovah, thy people, the remnant of Israel. ⁸Lo, I am bringing them in from the north country, And have gathered them from the sides of the earth, Among them are blind and…