Moff JER Chapter 29

◄ JER 29 ► ║ ©

29 Here are the terms of the letter sent from Jerusalem by the prophet Jeremiah to the sheikhs in exile, to the priests, the prophets, and the laity who had been carried off from Jerusalem to exile at Babylon by Nebuchadrezzar 2 (this was after the surrender of king Jekoniah and the queen-mother, the eunuchs, the authorities of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the joiners). 3 The letter was conveyed by Eleasah the son of Shaphan, and by Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, who were sent on a mission to Babylon by Zedekiah king of Judah, to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon. 4 “This is the message of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have deported from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 ‘Build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their produce, 6 marry wives and bring up families, get wives for your sons and husbands for your daughters, and multiply where you are--never let your numbers diminish. 7 Do your best for the welfare of the country where I have sent you to be exiles; pray to the Eternal for it, since your welfare lies in its welfare.’ 8 This is the message of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Never let yourselves be deceived by the prophets and the seers among you, never listen to their dreams; 9 for they are prophesying falsely to you in my name--I never sent them,’ says the Eternal. 10 This is what the Eternal says: ‘As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are over, I will visit you and carry out my promise to you, by bringing you back here. 11 For I keep in mind my purpose for you, a purpose of weal, not of woe, to let you have hope for the future; 12 pray to me, and I will answer you; 13 seek me, and you shall find me; when you seek for me with all your heart, 14 I will reveal myself to you,’ says the Eternal. [[And I will restore your fortunes and collect you from all the nations and countries where I have deported you, says the Eternal, and bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.]] 16 [[For this is the Eternal’s sentence on the king who is seated upon David’s throne and on all the people staying in this city--those kinsfolk of yours who have not accompanied you into exile. 17 This is what the Lord of hosts says: I will send the sword, famine, and pestilence among them, and make them like horrible figs, so bad that they are uneatable; 18 I will hunt them down with sword, famine, and pestilence, and turn them into a horror among all the kingdoms of the world, to be execrated and stared at and hissed and derided among all the nations wherever I deport them, 19 because they would not listen to what I said (the Eternal declares), to the words I sent them earnestly and urgently by my servants the prophets--but listen they would not, says the Eternal! 20 So listen you to what the Eternal says, all you exiles whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon.]] 15 But, you say, we have prophets of our own from the Eternal in Babylon? 21 Well, here is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, has to say about Ahab the son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying falsely to you in my name: ‘I will hand them over to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, to be slain before your eyes; 22 and when any of the exiles of Judah in Babylon curse, it will be in terms of their doom, saying, “The Eternal treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted alive in the fire!” 23 --for behaving impiously in Israel, debauching the wives of other men, and speaking falsely in my name, without any authority from me. I know it, the Eternal declares, I witnessed it.’ ”

24 Shemaiah of Nehelam also 25 sent a letter on his own account to Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah. 26 “The Eternal,” he wrote, “has made you priest in place of Jehoiada, to take charge of the Eternal’s temple, and you ought to put every madman who poses as a prophet into the stocks and the iron collar. 27 Why then have you not reprimanded Jeremiah of Anathoth? He has been posing to you as a prophet. 28 He has sent word to me in Babylon that ‘the exile will be long,’ and that we are to ‘build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce.’ ” 29 The priest Zephaniah read this letter to Jeremiah. 30 Then this word of the Eternal came to Jeremiah: 31 “Send all the exiles this sentence of the Eternal upon Shemaiah of Nehelam. ‘Since Shemaiah has been prophesying to you, although I never sent him, and since he has led you to believe in a lie, 32 therefore (the Eternal declares) I will punish Shemaiah and his descendants; he shall have no descendant among you who lives to see the happiness I am about to bring to my people (says the Eternal), for he has spoken disloyally against the Eternal.’ ”

◄ JER 29 ► ║ ©

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