Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles
And these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile and to the priests and to the prophets and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon —
after King Jeconiah and the queen mother and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsman and the smith had gone out from Jerusalem —
by the hand of Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to Babylon, saying:
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exile whom I exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon:
Build houses and dwell in them; and plant gardens and eat their fruit.
Take wives and beget sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, and let them bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not become few.
And seek the peace of the city where I exiled you, and pray for her to the LORD, for in her peace you will have peace.
For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to your dreams that you are dreaming.
For in falsehood they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them — the utterance of the LORD.
For thus says the LORD: When seventy years for Babylon are full, I will attend to you and raise up over you my good word, to bring you back to this place.
For I myself know the thoughts I am thinking toward you — the utterance of the LORD — thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an end and a hope.
And you will call me and go and pray to me, and I will hear you.
And you will seek me and find, for you will search for me with all your heart.
And I will be found by you — the utterance of the LORD — and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I drove you — the utterance of the LORD — and I will bring you back to the place from which I exiled you.
For you have said: The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon.
For 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 out with you into the exile —
thus says the LORD of hosts: See, I am sending among them the sword, the famine and the pestilence, and I will make them like the shocking figs that cannot be eaten from evil.
And I will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine and with the pestilence, and I will make them a trembling to all the kingdoms of the earth — an imprecation and a horror and a hissing and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them —
because they did not listen to my words — the utterance of the LORD — which I sent to them by my servants the prophets, rising early and sending; and you did not hear — the utterance of the LORD.
And you, hear the word of the LORD, all the exile whom I sent from Jerusalem to Babylon.
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who prophesy falsehood to you in my name: See, I am giving them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he will strike them before your eyes.
And from them a curse will be taken up by all the exile of Judah that is in Babylon, saying: May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire —
because they did a disgraceful thing in Israel and committed adultery with the wives of their neighbors and spoke a word in my name in falsehood, which I did not command them. And I am the one who knows, and a witness — the utterance of the LORD.
The Message to Shemaiah
And to Shemaiah the Nehelamite you will say, saying:
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: Because you sent letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying:
The LORD has made you priest in place of Jehoiada the priest, to be officers of the house of the LORD over every man who is mad and prophesies, and you shall put him in the stocks and in the collar.
And now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah the Anathothite, who prophesies to you?
For therefore he sent to us in Babylon, saying: It is long. Build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat their fruit.
And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.
And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying:
Send to all the exile, saying: Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah prophesied to you, and I did not send him, and he made you trust in falsehood —
therefore thus says the LORD: See, I am attending to Shemaiah the Nehelamite and to his seed. He will not have a man dwelling in the midst of this people, and he will not see the good that I am doing for my people — the utterance of the LORD — for he has spoken rebellion against the LORD.