Jeremiah's Letter to the Exiles

29 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to ^(A)the surviving elders of the exiles, and to ^(B)the priests, ^(C)the prophets, and ^(D)all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ² This was after ^(E)King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. ³ The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of ^(F)Shaphan and Gemariah the son of ^(G)Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said: ⁴ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ^5 (H)Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. ⁶ Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. ⁷ But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and ^(I)pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. ⁸ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(J)Do not let your prophets and ^(K)your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream,^{[a] 9} for ^(L)it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; ^(M)I did not send them, declares the Lord.

¹⁰ “For thus says the Lord: ^(N)When seventy years are completed for Babylon, ^(O)I will visit you, ^(P)and I will fulfill to you my promise ^(Q)and bring you back to this place. ^11 (R)For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare^[b] and not for evil, ^(S)to give you a future and a hope. ^12 (T)Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, ^(U)and I will hear you. ^13 (V)You will seek me and find me, when you seek me ^(W)with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you, declares the Lord, ^(X)and I will restore your fortunes and ^(Y)gather you from all the nations and all the places ^(Z)where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

¹⁵ “Because you have said, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,’ ¹⁶ thus says the Lord concerning ^(AA)the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile: ¹⁷ ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, behold, I am sending on them ^(AB)sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like ^(AC)vile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. ¹⁸ I will pursue them with ^(AD)sword, famine, and pestilence, ^(AE)and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, ^(AF)to be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations ^(AG)where I have driven them, ¹⁹ because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the Lord, ^(AH)that I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the Lord.’ ²⁰ Hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles ^(AI)whom I sent away 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, ^(AJ)who are prophesying a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall strike them down before your eyes. ^22 (AK)Because of them ^(AL)this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: “The Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, ^(AM)whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,” ²³ because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, ^(AN)they have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and ^(AO)they have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them. ^(AP)I am the one who knows, ^(AQ)and I am witness, declares the Lord.’”

Shemaiah's False Prophecy

²⁴ To ^(AR)Shemaiah of Nehelam you shall say: ²⁵ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to ^(AS)Zephaniah the son of ^(AT)Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, ²⁶ ‘The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to have ^(AU)charge in the house of the Lord ^(AV)over every madman who prophesies, to put him in ^(AW)the stocks and neck irons. ²⁷ Now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah ^(AX)of Anathoth who is prophesying to you? ²⁸ For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, “Your exile will be long; ^(AY)build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce.”’”

^29 (AZ)Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. ^30 (BA)Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ³¹ “Send to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord concerning ^(BB)Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because ^(BC)Shemaiah had prophesied to you ^(BD)when I did not send him, and has made you trust in a lie, ³² therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will punish ^(BE)Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. He shall not have anyone living among this people, ^(BF)and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, declares the Lord, ^(BG)for he has spoken rebellion against the Lord.’”

The Broken Covenant

11 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ^2 (A)“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³ You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^(B)Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant ⁴ that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, ^(C)from the iron furnace, saying, ^(D)Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. ^(E)So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, ^5 (F)that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, ^(G)to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, Lord.”

⁶ And the Lord said to me, ^(H)“Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ^(I)Hear the words of this covenant and do them. ⁷ For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, ^(J)warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, ^(K)Obey my voice. ^8 (L)Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, ^(M)but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all ^(N)the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”

⁹ Again the Lord said to me, ^(O)“A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ They have turned back to ^(P)the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. ^(Q)They have gone after other gods to serve them. ^(R)The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. ¹¹ Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. ^(S)Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. ¹² Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^(T)will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, ^(U)but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. ^13 (V)For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, ^(W)altars to make offerings to Baal.

¹⁴ “Therefore ^(X)do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, ^(Y)for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. ^15 (Z)What right has my beloved in my house, ^(AA)when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? ^(AB)Can you then exult? ¹⁶ The Lord once called you ^(AC)‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But ^(AD)with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and ^(AE)its branches will be consumed. ¹⁷ The Lord of hosts, ^(AF)who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, ^(AG)provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.”

²¹ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of ^(AO)Anathoth, ^(AP)who seek your life, and say, ^(AQ)“Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand”— ²² therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, ²³ and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of ^(AR)Anathoth, ^(AS)the year of their punishment.”