Thus says the Lord the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will acknowledge those who are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the captivity, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon.
(This was after Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, and the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.)
Send to all the captives, saying, Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you though I did not send, and he caused you to trust in a lie,
Writhe and bring forth, daughter of Zion, like the woman in labor, because now you will go forth from the city and reside in the field, and you will come to Babylon. There you will be rescued; there the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.