Jeremiah 29:1-18 ▼

1 And these [are] the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remnant of [the] elderly of the expulsion, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people—whom Nebuchadnezzar removed from Jerusalem to Babylon,

2 after the going forth of Jeconiah the king, and the mistress, and the officers, heads of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsman, and the smith, from Jerusalem—

3 by the hand of Eleasah son of Shaphan, and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying,

4 “Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel, to all the expulsion that I removed from Jerusalem to Babylon:

5 Build houses and abide; and plant gardens and eat their fruit;

6 take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, and they bear sons and daughters; and multiply there, and you are not few;

7 and seek the peace of the city to where I have removed you, and pray to YHWH for it, for in its peace you have peace.

8 For thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: Do not let your prophets who [are] in your midst, and your diviners, lift you up, nor listen to their dreams, that you are causing [them] to dream;

9 for they are prophesying with falsehood to you in My Name; I have not sent them, a declaration of YHWH.

10 For thus said YHWH: Surely at the fullness of Babylon—seventy years—I inspect you, and have established My good word toward you, to bring you back to this place.

11 For I have known the thoughts that I am thinking toward you—a declaration of YHWH; thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give posterity and hope to you.

12 And you have called Me, and have gone, and have prayed to Me, and I have listened to you,

13 and you have sought Me, and have found, for you seek Me with all your heart;

14 and I have been found by you—a declaration of YHWH; and I have turned back [to] your captivity, and have gathered you out of all the nations, and out of all the places to where I have driven you—a declaration of YHWH—and I have brought you back to the place from where I removed you.

15 Because you have said, YHWH has raised up prophets to us in Babylon,

16 surely thus said YHWH concerning the king who is sitting on the throne of David, and concerning all the people that are dwelling in this city, your brothers who did not go forth with you in the expulsion—

17 thus said YHWH of Hosts: Behold, I am sending the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, and I have given them up as figs that [are] vile, that are not eaten because of badness.

18 And I have pursued after them with sword, with famine, and with pestilence, and have given them for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth, for a curse and for an astonishment, and for a hissing, and for a reproach among all the nations to where I have driven them,