Jeremiah 29

1 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders who were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;

THUS SAITH THE LORD AGAINST THE PHILISTINES;

2 ( After Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, and the smiths, had departed from Jerusalem; )

Behold, waters come up from the north, and shall become a sweeping torrent, and it shall sweep away the land, and its fulness; the city, and them that dwell in it: and men shall cry and all that dwell in the land shall howl,

3 By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ) saying,

at the sound of his rushing, at [the sound of] his hoofs, and at the rattling of his chariots, at the noise of his wheels: the fathers turned not to their children because of the weakness of their hands,

4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon;

in the day that is coming to destroy all the Philistines: and I will utterly destroy Tyre and Sidon and all the rest of their allies: for the Lord will destroy the remaining [inhabitants] of the islands.

5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;

Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ascalon is cast away, and the remnant of the Enakim.

6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.

How long wilt thou smite, O sword of the Lord? how long will it be ere thou art quiet? return into thy sheath, rest, and be removed.

7 And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray to the LORD for it: for in the peace of it ye shall have peace.

How shall it be quiet, whereas the Lord has given it a commission against Ascalon, and against the regions on the sea-coast, to awake against the remaining [countries]! CONCERNING IDUMEA, thus saith the Lord; There is no longer wisdom in Thaeman, counsel has perished from the wise ones, their wisdom is gone,

8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that are in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.

their place has been deceived. Dig deep for a dwelling, ye that inhabit Daedam, for he has wrought grievously: I brought trouble upon him in the time at which I visited him.

9 For they prophesy falsely to you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.

For grape-gatherers are come, who shall not leave thee a remnant; as thieves by night, they shall lay their hand upon [thy possessions].

10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years shall be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

For I have stripped Esau, I have uncovered their secret places; they shall have no power to hide themselves, they have perished [each] by the hand of his brother, my neighbour, and it is impossible

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

for thy fatherless one to be left to live, but I shall live, and the widows trust in me.

12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray to me, and I will hearken to you.

For thus saith the Lord; They who were not appointed to drink the cup have drunk [it]; and thou shalt by no means be cleared:

13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

for by myself I have sworn, saith the Lord, that thou shalt be in the midst of her an impassable [land], and a reproach, and a curse; and all her cities shall be desert for ever.

14 And I will be found by you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place from which I caused you to be carried away captive.

I have heard a report from the Lord, and he has sent messengers to the nations, [saying, ]Assemble yourselves, and come against her; rise ye up to war.

15 Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised up for us prophets in Babylon;

I have made thee small among the nations, utterly contemptible among men.

16 Know that thus saith the LORD concerning the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and concerning all the people that dwelleth in this city, and concerning your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;

Thine insolence has risen up against thee, the fierceness of thine heart has burst the holes of the rocks, it has seized upon the strength of a lofty hill; for as an eagle he set his nest on high: thence will I bring thee down.

17 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.

And Idumea shall be a desert: every one that passes by shall hiss at it.

18 And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an horror, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations where I have driven them:

As Sodom was overthrown and Gomorrha and they that sojourned in her, saith the Lord Almighty, no man shall dwell there, nor shall any son of man inhabit there.

19 Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent to them by my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD.

Behold, he shall come up as a lion out of the midst of Jordan to the place of Aetham: for I will speedily drive them from it, and do ye set the young men against her: for who is like me? and who will withstand me? and who [is] this shepherd, who shall confront me?

20 Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:

Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, which he has framed against Idumea; and his device, which he has devised against the inhabitants of Thaeman: surely the least of the sheep shall be swept off; surely their dwelling shall be made desolate for them.

21 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes;

For at the sound of their fall the earth was scared, and the cry of the sea was not heard.

22 And concerning them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;

Behold, he shall look [upon her] as an eagle, and spread forth [his] wings over her strongholds; and the heart of the mighty men of Idumea shall be in that day as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

23 Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbour’s wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the LORD.

24 Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,

25 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name to all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

26 The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the LORD, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks.

27 Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, who maketh himself a prophet to you?

28 For therefore he sent to us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

29 And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.

30 Then came the word of the LORD to Jeremiah, saying,

31 Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because Shemaiah hath prophesied to you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie:

32 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the LORD; because he hath taught rebellion against the LORD.