Jeremiah 29:11-29

New King James Version

¹⁵ Because you have said, “The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon”— ^16 (G)therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, concerning all the people who dwell in this city, and concerning your brethren who have not gone out with you into captivity— ¹⁷ thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like ^(H)rotten figs that cannot be eaten, they are so bad. ¹⁸ And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence; and I ^(I)will deliver them to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth—to be ^(J)a curse, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, ¹⁹ because they have not heeded My words, says the Lord, which ^(K)I sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; neither would you heed, says the Lord. ²⁰ Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon.

²¹ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a ^(L)lie to you in My name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall slay them before your eyes. ^22 (M)And because of them a curse shall be taken up by all the captivity of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, “The Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, ^(N)whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire”; ²³ because ^(O)they have done disgraceful things in Israel, have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken lying words in My name, which I have not commanded them. Indeed I ^(P)know, and am a witness, says the Lord.

²⁴ You shall also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, ²⁵ Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, ^(Q)to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, ²⁶ “The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, so that there should be ^(R)officers in the house of the Lord over every man who is ^(S)demented and considers himself a prophet, that you should ^(T)put him in prison and in the stocks. ²⁷ Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who makes himself a prophet to you? ²⁸ For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, ‘This captivity is long; build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat their fruit.’ ”

²⁹ Now Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet.