24 Now you shall speak to (A)Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, 25 “This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have sent (B)letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to (C)the priest Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests, saying, 26 “The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to be the [a](D)overseer of the house of the Lord for every (E)insane person who (F)prophesies, to (G)put him in the stocks and in the iron collar. 27 So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of (H)Anathoth who prophesies to you, 28 seeing that he has (I)sent word to us in Babylon, saying, ‘[b]The exile will be (J)long; (K)build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their [c]produce’?”’”

29 Now (L)Zephaniah the priest read this letter [d]to Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 31 “Send word to (M)all the exiles, saying, ‘This is what the Lord says concerning (N)Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah has (O)prophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has (P)made you trust in a lie,” 32 therefore this is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am going to (Q)punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his [e]descendants; he will (R)not have anyone living among this people, (S)and he will not see the good that I am going to do for My people,” declares the Lord, “because he has (T)spoken falsely against the Lord.”’”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 29:26 Lit overseers
  2. Jeremiah 29:28 Lit It
  3. Jeremiah 29:28 Lit fruit
  4. Jeremiah 29:29 Lit in the ears of
  5. Jeremiah 29:32 Lit seed

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(A) 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(B) who acts like a prophet into the stocks(C) 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(D) to us in Babylon: It will be a long time.(E) Therefore build(F) houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.’”

29 Zephaniah(G) the priest, however, read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 31 “Send this message to all the exiles: ‘This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah(H) the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send(I) him, and has persuaded you to trust in lies, 32 this is what the Lord says: I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants.(J) He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good(K) things I will do for my people, declares the Lord, because he has preached rebellion(L) against me.’”

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