Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles

1 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to ⁱthe surviving elders of the exiles, and to ^jthe priests, ^jthe prophets, and ^jall the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 This was after ^kKing Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of ^lShaphan and Gemariah the son of ^mHilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said: 4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 ⁿBuild houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and ^opray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^pDo not let your prophets and ^qyour diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream,¹ 9 for ^rit is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; ^sI did not send them, declares the Lord.

10 “For thus says the Lord: ^tWhen seventy years are completed for Babylon, ^uI will visit you, ^vand I will fulfill to you my promise ^vand bring you back to this place. 11 ^wFor I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare² and not for evil, ^xto give you a future and a hope. 12 ^yThen you will call upon me and come and pray to me, ^yand I will hear you. 13 ^zYou will seek me and find me, when you seek me ^awith all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, ^band I will restore your fortunes and ^cgather you from all the nations and all the places ^dwhere I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

15 “Because you have said, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,’ 16 thus says the Lord concerning ^ethe king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile: 17 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, behold, I am sending on them ^fsword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like ^gvile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. 18 I will pursue them with ^fsword, famine, and pestilence, ^hand will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, ⁱto be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations ^dwhere I have driven them, 19 because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the Lord, ^jthat I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the Lord.’ 20 Hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles ^kwhom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 21 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, ^lwho are prophesying a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall strike them down before your eyes. 22 ^mBecause of them ⁿthis curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: “The Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, ^owhom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,” 23 because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, ^pthey have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and ^pthey have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them. ^qI am the one who knows, ^qand I am witness, declares the Lord.’”

Shemaiah’s False Prophecy

24 To ^rShemaiah of Nehelam you shall say: 25 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to ^sZephaniah the son of ^tMaaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, 26 ‘The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to have ^ucharge in the house of the Lord ^vover every madman who prophesies, to put him in ^wthe stocks and neck irons. 27 Now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah ^xof Anathoth who is prophesying to you? 28 For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, “Your exile will be long; ^ybuild houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce.”’”

29 ^sZephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. 30 ^zThen the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 31 “Send to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord concerning ^aShemaiah of Nehelam: Because ^aShemaiah had prophesied to you ^bwhen I did not send him, and has made you trust in a lie, 32 therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will punish ^aShemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. He shall not have anyone living among this people, ^cand he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, declares the Lord, ^dfor he has spoken rebellion against the Lord.’”

The Broken Covenant

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 ^a“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 3 You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^bCursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant 4 that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, ^cfrom the iron furnace, saying, ^dListen to my voice, and do all that I command you. ^dSo shall you be my people, and I will be your God, 5 ^ethat I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, ^fto give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, Lord.”

6 And the Lord said to me, ^g“Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ^hHear the words of this covenant and do them. 7 For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, ⁱwarning them persistently, even to this day, saying, ^dObey my voice. 8 ^jYet they did not obey or incline their ear, ^kbut everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all ^hthe words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”

9 Again the Lord said to me, ^l“A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They have turned back to ^mthe iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. ^mThey have gone after other gods to serve them. ⁿThe house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. 11 Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. ^oThough they cry to me, I will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^pwill go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, ^pbut they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. 13 ^pFor your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, ^qaltars to make offerings to Baal.

14 “Therefore ^rdo not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, ^ofor I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. 15 ^sWhat right has my beloved in my house, ^twhen she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? ^uCan you then exult? 16 The Lord once called you ^v‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But ^wwith the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and ^xits branches will be consumed. 17 The Lord of hosts, ^ywho planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, ^zprovoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.”

21 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of ^hAnathoth, ⁱwho seek your life, and say, ^j“Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand”— 22 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, 23 and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of ^kAnathoth, ^lthe year of their punishment.”