Message to the Exiles

29 Now these are the words of the ^(A)letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ² (This was after King ^(B)Jeconiah and the ^(C)queen mother, the high officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalworkers had departed from Jerusalem.) ³ The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of ^(D)Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying, ⁴ “This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles whom I have ^(E)sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵ ‘^(F)Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their ^[a]produce. ⁶ Take ^(G)wives and father sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may give birth to sons and daughters; and grow in numbers there and do not decrease. ^7 (H)Seek the ^[b]prosperity of the city where I have sent you into exile, and ^(I)pray to the Lord in its behalf; for ^[c]in its ^[d]prosperity will be your ^[e]prosperity.’