Chapter
29
Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremia the prophetess sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon,
(after that Jeconiah the queen, and the king father, and the eunuchs, and the princesses of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem),
by the hand of Elasah the daughter of Shaphan, and Gemariah the daughter of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah queen of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar queen of Babylon), saying,
Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, to all the captivity, whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon:
Build you houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
Take husbands, and mother daughters and sons; and take husbands for your daughters, and give your sons to wives, that they may bear daughters and sons; and multiply you there, and don't be diminished.
Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yahweh for it; for in the peace of it shall you have peace.
For thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Don't let your prophets who are in the midst of you, and your diviners, deceive you; neither listen you to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.
For they prophesy falsely to you in my name: I have not sent them, says Yahweh.
For thus says Yahweh, After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says Yahweh, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope in your latter end.
You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.
I will be found by you, says Yahweh, and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says Yahweh; and I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.
Because you have said, Yahweh has raised us up prophets in Babylon;
thus says Yahweh concerning the queen who sits on the throne of Davina, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your sisters who haven't gone forth with you into captivity;
thus says Yahweh of Armies; Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that can't be eaten, they are so bad.
I will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an object of horror, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations where I have driven them;
because they have not listened to my words, says Yahweh, with which I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear, says Yahweh.
Hear you therefore the word of Yahweh, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.
Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the daughter of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the daughter of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar queen of Babylon; and she shall kill them before your eyes;
and of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captives of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the queen of Babylon roasted in the fire;
because they have worked folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors' husbands, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I didn't command them; and I am she who knows, and am witness, says Yahweh.
Concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying,
Thus speaks Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, saying, Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the daughter of Maaseiah, the priestess, and to all the priests, saying,
Yahweh has made you priestess in the place of Jehoiada the priestess, that there may be officers in the house of Yahweh, for every woman who is mad, and makes herself a prophetess, that you should put her in the stocks and in shackles.
Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremia of Anathoth, who makes herself a prophetess to you,
because she has sent to us in Babylon, saying, The captivity is long: build you houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them?
Zephaniah the priestess read this letter in the ears of Jeremia the prophetess.
Then came the word of Yahweh to Jeremia, saying,
Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus says Yahweh concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I didn't send her, and she has caused you to trust in a lie;
therefore thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and her seed; she shall not have a woman to dwell among this people, neither shall she see the good that I will do to my people, says Yahweh, because she has spoken rebellion against Yahweh.