Jeremiah 29

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to those who were left of theelders in exile, to the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had deported fromJerusalem to Babylon.	1 And these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah, the prophet, sent from Jerusalem to the remnant of the elders of the transmigration, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had led away from Jerusalem to Babylon,
2 This was after King Jeconiah had left Jerusalem with the queen mother, the eunuchs, the chief men ofJudah and Jerusalem, and the blacksmiths and metalworkers.	2 after king Jeconiah, with the queen, and the eunuchs, and the leaders of Judah and of Jerusalem, and the craftsmen and engravers, had departed from Jerusalem.
3 The letter was entrusted to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiahking of Judah had sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. The letter said:	3 It was sent by the hand of Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and by Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, the king of Judah, sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, saying:
4 'Yahweh Sabaoth, the God of Israel, says this to al the exiles deported from Jerusalem to Babylon:	4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who have been taken away, whom I have caused to be transferred from Jerusalem to Babylon:
5 Build houses, settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce;	5 Build houses and live in them. And plant gardens, and eat from their fruit.
6 marry and have sons and daughters; choose wives for your sons, find husbands for your daughters sothat these can bear sons and daughters in their turn; you must increase there and not decrease.	6 Take wives, and conceive sons and daughters. And give wives to your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, and let them bear sons and daughters. And be multiplied there, and do not choose to be few in number.
7 Work for the good of the city to which I have exiled you; pray to Yahweh on its behalf, since on itswelfare yours depends.	7 And seek the peace of the city, to which I have caused you to be taken away, and pray to the Lord on its behalf. For your peace will be in its peace.
8 For Yahweh Sabaoth, the God of Israel, says this: Do not be deceived by the prophets who are withyou or by your diviners; do not listen to the dreams you have,	8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not allow your prophets and your diviners, who are in your midst, to seduce you. And you should pay no attention to your dreams, which you are dreaming.
9 since they prophesy lies to you in my name. I have not sent them, Yahweh declares.	9 For they prophesy falsely to you in my name, and I have not sent them, says the Lord.
10 For Yahweh says this: When the seventy years granted to Babylon are over, I shal intervene on yourbehalf and fulfil my favourable promise to you by bringing you back to this place.	10 For thus says the Lord: When the seventy years will begin to be completed in Babylon, I will visit you. And I will raise up over you my good word, so that I may lead you back to this place.
11 Yes, I know what plans I have in mind for you, Yahweh declares, plans for peace, not for disaster, togive you a future and a hope.	11 For I know the thoughts that I think over you, says the Lord: thoughts of peace and not of affliction, so that I may give you patience and an end.
12 When you cal to me and come and pray to me, I shal listen to you.	12 And you shall call upon me, and you shall go forth. And you shall pray to me, and I will heed you.
13 When you search for me, you will find me; when you search wholeheartedly for me,	13 You shall seek me. And you will find me, when you have sought me with your whole heart.
14 I shal let you find me (Yahweh declares. I shal restore your fortunes and gather you in from al thenations and wherever I have driven you, Yahweh declares. I shal bring you back to the place from which I exiledyou).	14 And I will be found by you, says the Lord. And I will lead you back from your captivity. And I will gather you from all the nations and all the places, to which I have expelled you, says the Lord. And I will return you from the place to which I sent you into captivity.
15 'Since you say: Yahweh has raised up prophets for us in Babylon-	15 For you have said: ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon.’
16 this is what Yahweh says about the king now occupying the throne of David and all the people living inthis city, your brothers who did not go with you into exile:	16 For thus says the Lord, to the king who sits upon the throne of David, and to all the people who live in this city, to your brothers who have not departed with you in the transmigration:
17 Yahweh Sabaoth says this: I am now going to send them sword, famine and plague; I shal makethem like rotten figs, so bad as to be uneatable.	17 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will send among them the sword, and famine, and pestilence. And I will make them like the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, because they are very bad.
18 I shal pursue them with sword, famine and plague. I shall make them an object of terror to al thekingdoms of the earth, a curse, a thing of horror, scorn and derision to al the nations where I have driven them,	18 And I will pursue them with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence. And I will give them over to affliction, amid all the kingdoms of the earth: as a curse, and in stupor, and with hissing, and as a disgrace among all the nations to which I have driven them out.
19 because they have refused to listen to my words, Yahweh declares, although I have persistently sentthem al my servants the prophets; but they would not listen, Yahweh declares.	19 For they have not listened to my words, says the Lord, which I sent to them through my servants, the prophets, rising while it was still night, and sending. But you have not listened, says the Lord.
20 But al you exiles, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon, listen to Yahweh's word!	20 Therefore, listen to the word of the Lord, all you of the transmigration, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem into Babylon.
21 'This is what Yahweh Sabaoth, God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah son ofMaaseiah, who prophesy lies to you in my name: I shal hand them over now to Nebuchadnezzar king ofBabylon who wil put them to death before your very eyes.	21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and to Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy falsely to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and he will strike them down before your eyes.
22 This curse, based on their fate, wil be used by al the exiles of Judah in Babylon: May Yahweh treatyou like Zedekiah and Ahab, roasted alive by the king of Babylon,	22 And a curse will be taken up about them, by all the captives of Judah that are in Babylon, saying: ‘May the Lord make you like Zedekiah, and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon fried in the fire!’
23 because they have done a scandalous thing in Israel, committing adultery with their neighbour's wivesand speaking lying words in my name without orders from me. I know al the same and am witness to it, Yahwehdeclares.'	23 For they have acted foolishly in Israel, and they have committed adultery with the wives of their friends, and they have spoken lying words in my name, which I did not command them. I am the Judge and the Witness, says the Lord.
24 'And to Shemaiah of Nehelam you wil speak as fol ows:	24 And to Shemaiah of Nehelam, you shall say:
25 Yahweh Sabaoth, God of Israel, says this: Since you, on your own initiative, have sent a letter to allthe people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah (and to al the priests), saying:	25 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Similarly, you have sent letters in your name to all the people that are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying:
26 Yahweh has appointed you priest in place of the priest Jehoiada to keep order in the Temple ofYahweh, to put any crazy fel ow posing as a prophet in the stocks and col ar,	26 ‘The Lord has made you priest in place of Jehoiada, the priest, so that you would be the ruler in the house of the Lord over every man who raves and prophesies, to send him to the stocks and to prison.
27 why then have you not disciplined Jeremiah of Anathoth, now posing as a prophet to you?	27 And now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who prophesies to you?
28 Why, he has even sent us a message in Babylon, saying: It wil be a long time. Build houses, settledown; plant gardens and eat what they produce.'. . .	28 For about this, he has sent to us in Babylon, saying: It is a long time. Build houses and live in them. And plant gardens, and eat from their fruits.’ ”
29 (Now, after the priest Zephaniah had read this letter to the prophet Jeremiah),	29 Thus, Zephaniah, the priest, read this letter, in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet.
30 the word of Yahweh came then to Jeremiah as fol ows,	30 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying:
31 'Send this message to al the exiles, "This is what Yahweh says about Shemaiah of Nehelam: SinceShemaiah has prophesied to you without my sending him, and since he has caused you to rely on what is false	31 “Send to all those of the transmigration, saying: Thus says the Lord to Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, though I did not send him, and because he has caused you to trust in a lie:
32 for that reason, Yahweh declares, I shal punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants; no malemember of his family wil survive among this people to see the happiness that I wil bestow on my people(Yahweh declares, since he has preached rebel ion against Yahweh)." '	32 For this reason, thus says the Lord: Behold, I will visit upon Shemaiah of Nehelam, and upon his offspring. There will not be, for him, even one man sitting in the midst of this people. And he will not see the good that I will accomplish for my people, says the Lord. For he has spoken a betrayal against the Lord.”