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Jeremiah 29 :: New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB95)

Message to the Exiles

Jer 29:1Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
Jer 29:2(This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the court officials, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.)
Jer 29:3The letter was sent 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,
Jer 29:4“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon,
Jer 29:5‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their [fn]produce.
Jer 29:6‘Take wives and [fn]become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease.
Jer 29:7‘Seek the [fn]welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its [fn]welfare you will have [fn]welfare.’
Jer 29:8“For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to [fn]the dreams which [fn]they dream.
Jer 29:9‘For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,’ declares the LORD.
Jer 29:10“For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.
Jer 29:11‘For I know the plans that I [fn]have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
Jer 29:12‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
Jer 29:13‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
Jer 29:14‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your [fn]fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’
Jer 29:15“Because you have said, ‘The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon’
Jer 29:16for thus says the LORD concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who did not go with you into exile
Jer 29:17thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Behold, I am sending upon them the sword, famine and pestilence, and I will make them like split-open figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness.
Jer 29:18‘I will pursue them with the sword, with famine and with pestilence; and I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse and a horror and a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them,
Jer 29:19because they have not listened to My words,’ declares the LORD, ‘which I sent to them again and again by My servants the prophets; but you did not listen,’ declares the LORD.
Jer 29:20“You, therefore, hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.
Jer 29:21“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you falsely in My name, ‘Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will slay them before your eyes.
Jer 29:22‘Because of them a curse will be [fn]used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, “May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,
Jer 29:23because they have acted foolishly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken words in My name falsely, which I did not command them; and I am He who knows and am a witness,” declares the LORD.’”
Jer 29:24To Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying,
Jer 29:25“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,
Jer 29:26“The LORD has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to be the [fn]overseer in the house of the LORD over every madman who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and in the iron collar,
Jer 29:27now then, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who prophesies to you?
Jer 29:28“For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying,The exile will be long; build houses and live in them and plant gardens and eat their [fn]produce.’”’”
Jer 29:29Zephaniah the priest read this letter [fn]to Jeremiah the prophet.
Jer 29:30Then came the word of the LORD to Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 29:31“Send to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite, “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has made you trust in a lie,”
Jer 29:32therefore thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am about to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his [fn]descendants; he will not have anyone living among this people, and he will not see the good that I am about to do to My people,” declares the LORD, “because he has [fn]preached rebellion against the LORD.”’”
NASB95 Footnotes
Literally: fruit
Literally: beget
Or, peace
Literally: your
Literally: you
Literally: am planning
Or, captivity
Literally: taken
Literally: overseers
Literally: fruit
Literally: in the ears of
Literally: seed
Literally: spoken
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New American Standard Bible 1995
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