11 For I know the plans(A) I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper(B) you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.(C) 12 Then you will call(D) on me and come and pray(E) to me, and I will listen(F) to you. 13 You will seek(G) me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.(H) 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back(I) from captivity.[a] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”(J)

15 You may say, “The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,” 16 but this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your fellow citizens who did not go with you into exile— 17 yes, this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will send the sword, famine and plague(K) against them and I will make them like figs(L) that are so bad they cannot be eaten. 18 I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent(M) to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse[b](N) and an object of horror,(O) of scorn(P) and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them. 19 For they have not listened to my words,”(Q) declares the Lord, “words that I sent to them again and again(R) by my servants the prophets.(S) And you exiles have not listened either,” declares the Lord.

20 Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I have sent(T) away from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies(U) to you in my name: “I will deliver them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your very eyes. 22 Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned(V) in the fire.’ 23 For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have committed adultery(W) with their neighbors’ wives, and in my name they have uttered lies—which I did not authorize. I know(X) it and am a witness(Y) to it,” declares the Lord.

Message to Shemaiah

24 Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite, 25 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah(Z) son of Maaseiah, and to all the other priests. You said to Zephaniah, 26 ‘The Lord has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada to be in charge of the house of the Lord; you should put any maniac(AA) who acts like a prophet into the stocks(AB) and neck-irons. 27 So why have you not reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you? 28 He has sent this message(AC) to us in Babylon: It will be a long time.(AD) Therefore build(AE) houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.’”

29 Zephaniah(AF) the priest, however, read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 29:14 Or will restore your fortunes
  2. Jeremiah 29:18 That is, their names will be used in cursing (see verse 22); or, others will see that they are cursed.

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will (A)call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will (B)listen to you. 13 And (C)you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me (D)with all your heart. 14 (E)I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; (F)I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.

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.

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