The Book of Jeremiah (WEB)
29: 1Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the
residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people,
whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon, 29:2(after that
Jeconiah the king, and the queen-mother, and the eunuchs, and the princes of Judah and
Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem,) 29:3by the hand of
Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent
to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,) saying, 29:4Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God
of Israel, to all the captivity, whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to
Babylon: 29:5Build you houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
29:6Take wives, and father sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your
daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply you there, and don't
be diminished. 29:7Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive,
and pray to Yahweh for it; for in the peace of it shall you have peace. 29:8For thus says Yahweh of
hosts, the God of Israel: Don't let your prophets who are in the midst of you, and your diviners,
deceive you; neither listen you to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. 29:9For they
prophesy falsely to you in my name: I have not sent them, says Yahweh. 29:10For thus says Yahweh,
After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word
toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 29:11For I know the thoughts that I think toward
you, says Yahweh, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope in your latter end. 29:12You
shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 29:13You shall seek me,
and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart. 29:14I will be found of you, says
Yahweh, and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from
all the places wither I have driven you, says Yahweh; and I will bring you again to the place
whence I caused you to be carried away captive. 29:15Because you have said, Yahweh has raised us
up prophets in Babylon; 29:16thus says Yahweh concerning the king who sits on the throne of
David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who haven't gone forth
with you into captivity; 29:17thus says Yahweh of Hosts; Behold, I will send on them the sword, the
famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that can't be eaten, they are so bad.
29:18I will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will
deliver them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an object of
horror, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations where I have
driven them; 29:19because they have not listened to my words, says Yahweh, with which I sent to
them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear, says
Yahweh. 29:20Hear you therefore the word of Yahweh, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent
away from Jerusalem to Babylon. 29:21Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, concerning
Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to
you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;
and he shall kill them before your eyes; 29:22and of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captives
of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the
king of Babylon roasted in the fire; 29:23because they have worked folly in Israel, and have
committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely,
which I didn't command them; and I am he who knows, and am witness, says Yahweh.
29:24Concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying, 29:25Thus speaks Yahweh of
Hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people
who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests,
saying, 29:26Yahweh has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be
officers in the house of Yahweh, for every man who is mad, and makes himself a prophet, that
you should put him in the stocks and in shackles. 29:27Now therefore, why have you not rebuked
Jeremiah of Anathoth, who makes himself a prophet to you, 29:28because he has sent to us in
Babylon, saying, The captivity is long: build you houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens,
and eat the fruit of them? 29:29Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the
prophet. 29:30Then came the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah, saying, 29:31Send to all them of the
captivity, saying, Thus says Yahweh concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has
prophesied to you, and I didn't send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie; 29:32therefore thus
says Yahweh, Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed; he shall not have a
man to dwell among this people, neither shall he see the good that I will do to my people, says
Yahweh, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh.
World English Bible