Jeremiah 29 - The Scriptures 1998

¹ And these are the words of the letter which Yirmeyah the prophet sent from Yerushalayim to the rest of the elders of the exile, and to the priests, and to the prophets and to all the people whom Neḇ

² after Yeḵ

³ by the hand of Elʽ

⁴ “Thus said יהוה  of hosts, Elohim of Yisra’ĕ

⁵ ‘Build houses and dwell in them, plant gardens and eat their fruit.

⁶ ‘Take wives and bring forth sons and daughters. And take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, and let them bear sons and daughters, and be increased there, and not diminished.

⁷ ‘And seek the peace of the city where I have exiled you, and pray to יהוה  for it, for in its peace you have peace.’

⁸ “For thus said יהוה  of hosts, Elohim of Yisra’ĕ

⁹ ‘For they are prophesying falsely to you in My Name. I have not sent them,’ declares יהוה.

¹⁰ “For thus said יהוה, ‘When seventy years are completed, at Baḇ

¹¹ ‘For I know the plans I am planning for you,’ declares יהוה, ‘plans of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and an expectancy.

¹² ‘Then you shall call on Me, and shall come and pray to Me, and I shall listen to you.

¹³ ‘And you shall seek Me, and shall find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

¹⁴ ‘And I shall be found by you,’ declares יהוה, ‘and I shall turn back your captivity, and shall gather you from all the gentiles and from all the places where I have driven you, declares יהוה. And I shall bring you back to the place from which I have exiled you.’

¹⁵ “Because you have said, ‘יהוה  has raised up prophets for us in Baḇ

¹⁶ thus said יהוה  concerning the sovereign who sits on the throne of Dawiḏ

¹⁷ thus said יהוה  of hosts, ‘See, I am sending on them the sword, the scarcity of food, and the pestilence. And I shall make them like spoilt figs, so spoilt as to be uneatable.

¹⁸ ‘And I shall pursue them with the sword, with scarcity of food, and with pestilence. And I shall make them a horror among all the reigns of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach among all the gentiles where I have driven them.

¹⁹ ‘For they did not heed My words,’ declares יהוה, ‘which I sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, yet you did not listen,’ declares יהוה.

²⁰ “You, therefore, hear the word of יהוה, all you exiles whom I have sent from Yerushalayim to Baḇ

²¹ “Thus said יהוה  of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕ

²² ‘And because of them all the exiles of Yehuḏ

²³ because they have done wickedness in Yisra’ĕ

²⁴ “And speak to Shemayahu the Neḥ

²⁵ “Thus speaks יהוה  of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕ

²⁶ “יהוה  has made you priest instead of Yehoyaḏ

²⁷ “So why have you not reproved Yirmeyahu of Anathoth who makes himself a prophet to you?

²⁸ “For he has sent to us in Baḇ

²⁹ And Tsephanyah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Yirmeyahu the prophet.

³⁰ Then the word of יהוה  came to Yirmeyahu, saying,

³¹ “Send to all those in exile, saying, ‘Thus said יהוה  concerning Shemayah the Neḥ

³² therefore thus said יהוה, “See, I am bringing punishment upon Shemayah the Neḥ