29.

1 Jeremiah wrote a letter from Jerusalem to the elders, priests, prophets, and all the people who had been exiled to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar.

2 This was after King Jehoiachin, the queen mother, the court officials, the other officials of Judah, and all the craftsmen and artisans had been deported from Jerusalem.

3 He sent the letter with Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah when they went to Babylon as King Zedekiah's ambassadors to Nebuchadnezzar. This is what Jeremiah's letter said.

4 This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem£º

5 "Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce.

6 Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away!

7 And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare."

8 This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says£º "Do not let your prophets and fortune-tellers who are with you in the land of Babylon trick you. Do not listen to their dreams,

9 because they are telling you lies in my name. I have not sent them," says the Lord.

10 This is what the Lord says£º "You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again.

11 For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

12 In those days when you pray, I will listen.

13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

14 I will be found by you," says the Lord. "I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land."

15 You claim that the Lord has raised up prophets for you in Babylon.

16 But this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David's throne and all those still living here in Jerusalem - your relatives who were not exiled to Babylon.

17 This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies says£º "I will send war, famine, and disease upon them and make them like bad figs, too rotten to eat.

18 Yes, I will pursue them with war, famine, and disease, and I will scatter them around the world. In every nation where I send them, I will make them an object of damnation, horror, contempt, and mockery.

19 For they refuse to listen to me, though I have spoken to them repeatedly through the prophets I sent. And you who are in exile have not listened either," says the Lord.

20 Therefore, listen to this message from the Lord, all you captives there in Babylon.

21 This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says about your prophets - Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah - who are telling you lies in my name£º "I will turn them over to Nebuchadnezzar for execution before your eyes.

22 Their terrible fate will become proverbial, so that the Judean exiles will curse someone by saying, 'May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned alive!'

23 For these men have done terrible things among my people. They have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives and have lied in my name, saying things I did not command. I am a witness to this. I, the Lord, have spoken."

24 The Lord sent this message to Shemaiah the Nehelamite in Babylon£º

25 "This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says£º You wrote a letter on your own authority to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest, and you sent copies to the other priests and people in Jerusalem. You wrote to Zephaniah,

26 "The Lord has appointed you to replace Jehoiada as the priest in charge of the house of the Lord. You are responsible to put into stocks and neck irons any crazy man who claims to be a prophet.

27 So why have you done nothing to stop Jeremiah from Anathoth, who pretends to be a prophet among you?

28 Jeremiah sent a letter here to Babylon, predicting that our captivity will be a long one. He said, 'Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce.'"

29 But when Zephaniah the priest received Shemaiah's letter, he took it to Jeremiah and read it to him.

30 Then the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah£º

31 "Send an open letter to all the exiles in Babylon. Tell them, 'This is what the Lord says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite£º Since he has prophesied to you when I did not send him and has tricked you into believing his lies,

32 I will punish him and his family. None of his descendants will see the good things I will do for my people, for he has incited you to rebel against me. I, the Lord, have spoken!'"

 

 

30.

1 The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said,

2 "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says£º Write down for the record everything I have said to you, Jeremiah.

3 For the time is coming when I will restore the fortunes of my people of Israel and Judah. I will bring them home to this land that I gave to their ancestors, and they will possess it again. I, the Lord, have spoken!"

4 This is the message the Lord gave concerning Israel and Judah.

5 This is what the Lord says£º "I hear cries of fear; there is terror and no peace.

6 Now let me ask you a question£º Do men give birth to babies? Then why do they stand there, ashen-faced, hands pressed against their sides like a woman in labor?

7 In all history there has never been such a time of terror. It will be a time of trouble for my people Israel. Yet in the end they will be saved!

8 For in that day," says the Lord of Heaven's Armies, "I will break the yoke from their necks and snap their chains. Foreigners will no longer be their masters.

9 For my people will serve the Lord their God and their king descended from David - the king I will raise up for them.

10 "So do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant; do not be dismayed, Israel," says the Lord. "For I will bring you home again from distant lands, and your children will return from their exile. Israel will return to a life of peace and quiet, and no one will terrorize them.

11 For I am with you and will save you," says the Lord. "I will completely destroy the nations where I have scattered you, but I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you, but with justice; I cannot let you go unpunished."

12 This is what the Lord says£º "Your injury is incurable - a terrible wound.

13 There is no one to help you or to bind up your injury. No medicine can heal you.

14 All your lovers - your allies - have left you and do not care about you anymore. I have wounded you cruelly, as though I were your enemy. For your sins are many, and your guilt is great.

15 Why do you protest your punishment - this wound that has no cure? I have had to punish you because your sins are many and your guilt is great.

16 "But all who devour you will be devoured, and all your enemies will be sent into exile. All who plunder you will be plundered, and all who attack you will be attacked.

17 I will give you back your health and heal your wounds," says the Lord. "For you are called an outcast - 'Jerusalem for whom no one cares.'"

18 This is what the Lord says£º "When I bring Israel home again from captivity and restore their fortunes, Jerusalem will be rebuilt on its ruins, and the palace reconstructed as before.

19 There will be joy and songs of thanksgiving, and I will multiply my people, not diminish them; I will honor them, not despise them.

20 Their children will prosper as they did long ago. I will establish them as a nation before me, and I will punish anyone who hurts them.

21 They will have their own ruler again, and he will come from their own people. I will invite him to approach me," says the Lord, "for who would dare to come unless invited?

22 You will be my people, and I will be your God."

23 Look! The Lord's anger bursts out like a storm, a driving wind that swirls down on the heads of the wicked.

24 The fierce anger of the Lord will not diminish until it has finished all he has planned. In the days to come you will understand all this