Jeremias 29
1 THUS SAITH THE LORD AGAINST THE PHILISTINES;
This is the text of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets, and all the others Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
2 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,
(This was after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the court officials, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalsmiths had been exiled from Jerusalem.)
3 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,
The letter was entrusted to Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It stated:
4 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.
This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles who were carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:
5 Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ascalon is cast away, and the remnant of the Enakim.
“Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat their produce.
6 How long will you strike, O sword of the Lord? how long will it be ere you are quiet? return into your sheath, rest, and be removed.
Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease.
7 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 says the Lord; There is no longer wisdom in Thaeman, counsel has perished from the wise ones, their wisdom is gone,
Seek the prosperity of the city to which I have sent you as exiles. Pray to the LORD on its behalf, for if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
8 their place has been deceived. Dig deep for a dwelling, you that inhabit Daedam, for he has wrought grievously: I brought trouble upon him in the time at which I visited him.
For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Do not be deceived by the prophets and diviners among you, and do not listen to the dreams you elicit from them.
9 For grape gatherers are come, who shall not leave you a remnant; as thieves by night, they shall lay their hand upon [your possessions].
For they are falsely prophesying to you in My name; I have not sent them, declares the LORD.”
10 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
For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place.
11 for your fatherless one to be left to live, but I shall live, and the widows trust in me.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.
12 For thus says the Lord; They who were not appointed to drink the cup have drunk [it]; and you shall by no means be cleared:
Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
13 for by myself I have sworn, says the Lord, that you shall be in the midst of her an impassable [land], and a reproach, and a curse; and all her cities shall be desert for ever.
You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
14 I have heard a report from the Lord, and he has sent messengers to the nations, [saying, ]Assemble yourselves, and come against her; rise you up to war.
I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore you from captivity and gather you from all the nations and places to which I have banished you, declares the LORD. I will restore you to the place from which I sent you into exile.”
15 I have made you small amongst the nations, utterly contemptible amongst men.
Because you may say, “The LORD has raised up for us prophets in Babylon,”
16 Your insolence has risen up against you, the fierceness of your 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 you down.
this is what the LORD says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your brothers who did not go with you into exile—
17 And Idumea shall be a desert: every one that passes by shall hiss at it.
this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I will send against them sword and famine and plague, and I will make them like rotten figs, so bad they cannot be eaten.
18 As Sodom was overthrown and Gomorrha and they that sojourned in her, says the Lord Almighty, no man shall dwell there, nor shall any son of man inhabit there.
I will pursue them with sword and famine and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth—a curse, a desolation, and an object of scorn and reproach among all the nations to which I banish them.
19 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 you 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?
I will do this because they have not listened to My words, declares the LORD, which I sent to them again and again through My servants the prophets. And neither have you exiles listened, declares the LORD.”
20 Therefore hear you 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.
So hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.
21 For at the sound of their fall the earth was scared, and the cry of the sea was not heard.
This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you lies in My name: “I will deliver them to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your very eyes.
22 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.
Because of them, all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire!’
For they have committed an outrage in Israel by committing adultery with the wives of their neighbors and speaking lies in My name, which I did not command them to do. I am He who knows, and I am a witness, declares the LORD.”
You are to tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite that
this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “In your own name you have sent out letters to all the people of Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests. You said to Zephaniah:
‘The LORD has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada, to be the chief officer in the house of the LORD, responsible for any madman who acts like a prophet—you must put him in stocks and neck irons.
So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you?
For he has sent to us in Babylon, claiming: Since the exile will be lengthy, build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat their produce.’”
(Zephaniah the priest, however, had read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet.)
Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
“Send a message telling all the exiles what the LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you—though I did not send him—and has made you trust in a lie,
this is what the LORD says: ‘I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good that I will bring to My people, declares the LORD, for he has preached rebellion against the LORD.’”
