29 Jeremiah sent a letter from Jerusalem to the people of Judah who were in Babylon. He sent it to the Israelite leaders and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people who were there. Nebuchadnezzar had taken them there as prisoners from Jerusalem. 2 He sent the letter after King Nebuchadnezzar had taken King Jeconiah and his mother away from Jerusalem. He had taken them to Babylon with Jeconiah's officers, and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. He had also taken away to Babylon the men who had special skills to work with wood or metal. 3 King Zedekiah of Judah was sending some men to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. They were Shaphan's son Elasah, and Hilkiah's son Gemariah. Jeremiah gave his letter to them to take to Babylon. This is what the letter said:
4 The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, sends this message to all the people of Judah who are in Babylon. He sent them there from Jerusalem as prisoners. 5 He says, ‘Build houses for yourselves. Make Babylon your home. Plant gardens. Eat the food that grows in them. 6 Marry, so that you have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons to marry. Let your daughters marry too. Then they also can give birth to sons and daughters. Your descendants should become more and more, not fewer. 7 Work well to help the foreign place where I have sent you to live. Try to make it a successful place. Pray to the Lord that it will do well. If it does well, you will also do well.’
8 Yes, the Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says, ‘Some of the prophets and the other people use magic to tell you what will happen in the future. Do not let them deceive you with their lies. Do not listen to the dreams that they tell you about. 9 They say that they are speaking with my authority. But the things that they prophesy are lies. I have not sent them to speak to you.’ That is what the Lord says.
10 The Lord says, ‘You will live in Babylon for 70 years. Then I will choose to help you. I will be kind to you, as I promised. I will bring you back here to your home. 11 I, the Lord , tell you this: I have decided what I will do for you. I have plans to help you to do well. I do not want to hurt you. I want to give you hope for a good life in the future. 12 At that time, when you call out to me for help, I will hear your prayers. 13 You will want to find me, and I will be ready to meet with you. If you really want to find me, 14 I will be there for you.’ That is what the Lord says. ‘I will bring you back from the nations and all the places where I sent you as prisoners. You will no longer have to live in those foreign places.’ [ a ]
15 You may say, ‘The Lord has chosen prophets to bring his message to us here in Babylon.’ 16 But listen to what the Lord says about the people who are still here in Jerusalem. The enemy did not take them with you as prisoners to Babylon. That includes the king who now rules David's kingdom. [ b ] 17 The Lord Almighty says, ‘I will send war, famine and disease to hurt them. They will be like bad figs that nobody can eat. 18 I will use war, famine and disease to chase them away from their homes. I will send them to live among other nations. The people of all the nations in the world will see how disgusting they are. People will use their names as a curse. They will see how foolish they are and they will laugh at them. 19 I will do that because they have not listened to my message. I sent my servants, the prophets, to speak to them many times, but the people in Jerusalem refused to listen.’ That is what the Lord says.
The Lord also says, ‘You people of Judah who are now in Babylon have not listened to my message either. 20 I sent you away from Jerusalem as prisoners to Babylon. All of you must also listen carefully to my message.’
21 The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says this about Kolaiah's son Ahab and Maaseiah's son Zedekiah: ‘They are speaking to you in my name, but they are prophesying lies. So I will put them under the power of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He will kill them while you watch. 22 They will be an example to the people of Judah who are now living in Babylon. When they want to curse someone, they will say, “May the Lord punish you in the same way that the king of Babylon killed Zedekiah and Ahab. He burned them to death in a fire!” 23 That will happen to them because of the terrible sins that they have done in Israel. They have sex with the wives of their neighbours. They have used my name to tell lies. They have spoken messages that I did not command them to speak. I know what they have done because I have seen it all.’ That is what the Lord says.
24 The Lord told Jeremiah to send this message to Shemaiah, who came from Nehelam: 25 ‘The Lord Almighty, Israel's God says, “You sent a letter on your own authority to all the people in Jerusalem. Those people included the priest Zephaniah, Maaseiah's son, and all the other priests. In your letter, you said to Zephaniah: 26 The Lord chose you to be priest instead of Jehoiada. You are the officer who has authority over the Lord 's temple. If there is any crazy man who says that he is a prophet, you must take hold of him. It is your duty to tie him up. Put heavy pieces of wood on his legs and iron chains around his neck. 27 That is your job, so I do not know why you have not punished Jeremiah, the man from Anathoth. He is there and he is prophesying to you. 28 He has even sent a message to us here in Babylon. He told us that we will be here for a long time. He told us to build houses and make our homes here. He says that we should plant gardens to grow food for ourselves.” ’
29 When Zephaniah the priest received Shemaiah's letter, he read it to the prophet Jeremiah. 30 Then the Lord said to Jeremiah, 31 ‘Send a message to all the people of Judah who are now in Babylon. Tell them that the Lord says this about Shemaiah, the man from Nehelam: “Shemaiah has prophesied to you. But I did not send him to you. He has caused you to believe a lie.” 32 So the Lord says, “I will certainly punish Shemaiah and his family. He will not have any descendants who remain among my people. None of them will receive any of the good things that I will do for my people. I will punish him because he has taught my people to turn against me.” That is what the Lord has said.’
29 Jeremiah sent a letter to the captives in Babylon. He sent it to the elders, the priests, the prophets, and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 (This letter was sent after King Jehoiachin, the queen mother, the officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the carpenters, and the metalworkers had been taken from Jerusalem.) 3 King Zedekiah of Judah sent Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah to King Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah gave them the letter to take to Babylon. This is what the letter said:
4 This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of the people of Israel, says to all the people he sent into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and live in them. Settle in the land. Plant gardens and eat the food you grow. 6 Get married and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons, and let your daughters be married. Do this so that they also may have sons and daughters. Have many children and grow in number in Babylon. Don’t become fewer in number. 7 Also, do good things for the city I sent you to. Pray to the Lord for the city you are living in, because if there is peace in that city, you will have peace also.” 8 The Lord All-Powerful, the God of the people of Israel, says, “Don’t let your prophets and those who practice magic fool you. Don’t listen to the dreams they have. 9 They are telling lies, and they are saying that their message is from me. But I didn’t send it.” This message is from the Lord .
10 This is what the Lord says: “Babylon will be powerful for 70 years. After that time, I will come to you people who are living in Babylon. I will keep my good promise to bring you back to Jerusalem. 11 I say this because I know the plans that I have for you.” This message is from the Lord . “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future. 12 Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will search for me, and when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me. 14 I will let you find me.” This message is from the Lord . “And I will bring you back from your captivity. I forced you to leave this place. But I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have sent you,” says the Lord , “and I will bring you back to this place.”
15 You people might say, “But the Lord has given us prophets here in Babylon.” 16 But this is what the Lord says about your relatives who were not carried away to Babylon. I am talking about the king who is sitting on David’s throne now and all the other people who are still in the city of Jerusalem. 17 The Lord All-Powerful says, “I will soon bring war, hunger, and disease against those who are still in Jerusalem. And I will make them the same as bad figs that are too rotten to eat. 18 I will attack those who are still in Jerusalem with war, hunger, and disease. And I will cause such pain that all the kingdoms of the earth will be frightened at what has happened to those people. They will be destroyed. People will whistle with amazement when they hear what happened. And people will use them as an example when they ask for bad things to happen to people. People will insult them wherever I force them to go. 19 I will make all these things happen because the people of Jerusalem have not listened to my message.” This message is from the Lord . “I sent my message to them again and again. I used my servants, the prophets, to give my messages to them, but they didn’t listen.” This message is from the Lord . 20 “You people are captives. I forced you to leave Jerusalem and go to Babylon. So listen to the message from the Lord .”
21 This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah: “These two men have been telling you lies. They have said that their message is from me. I will give these two prophets to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. And he will kill them in front of all you who are captives in Babylon. 22 They will be an example of a terrible way to die. Yes, in the future, when the Jewish captives want something bad to happen to someone, they will say this curse: ‘May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, those men the king of Babylon burned in the fire!’ 23 They did very bad things among the people of Israel. They committed the sin of adultery with their neighbors’ wives. They also spoke lies and said those lies were a message from me. I did not tell them to do that. I know what they have done. I am a witness.” This message is from the Lord .
24 Also give a message to Shemaiah from the Nehelam family. 25 This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: “Shemaiah, you sent letters to all the people in Jerusalem and to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. You also sent letters to all the priests. You sent those letters in your own name and not by my authority. 26 Shemaiah, this is what you said in your letter to Zephaniah: ‘Zephaniah, the Lord has made you priest in place of Jehoiada. You are to be in charge of the Lord ’s Temple. You should arrest anyone who acts like a crazy person [ a ] and acts like a prophet. You should put that person’s feet between large blocks of wood and put neck irons [ b ] on him. 27 Now Jeremiah is acting like a prophet. So why didn’t you arrest him? 28 Jeremiah has sent this message to us in Babylon: You people in Babylon will be there for a long time, so build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what you grow.’”
29 Zephaniah the priest read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then this message from the Lord came to Jeremiah: 31 “Jeremiah, send this message to all the captives in Babylon: ‘This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah, the man from the Nehelam family: Shemaiah has spoken to you, but I didn’t send him. He has made you believe a lie. 32 Because Shemaiah has done that, this is what the Lord says: I will soon punish Shemaiah, the man from the Nehelam family. I will completely destroy his family, and he will not share in the good things I will do for my people.’” This message is from the Lord . “‘I will punish Shemaiah because he has taught the people to turn against the Lord .’”
29 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;
2 (After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;)
3 By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying,
4 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;
5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
8 For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
9 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord .
10 For thus saith the Lord , That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord , thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
14 And I will be found of you, saith the Lord : and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord ; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
15 Because ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;
16 Know that thus saith the Lord of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;
17 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
18 And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them:
19 Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord , which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord .
20 Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord , all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:
21 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes;
22 And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;
23 Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the Lord .
24 Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,
25 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,
26 The Lord hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the Lord , for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks.
27 Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you?
28 For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
29 And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.
30 Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying,
31 Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the Lord concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie:
32 Therefore thus saith the Lord ; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the Lord ; because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord .
29 Now these are the words of the ( A ) 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. 2 ( This was after King ( B ) Jeconiah and the ( C ) queen mother, the high officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalworkers had departed from Jerusalem.) 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of ( D ) Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying, 4 “This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles whom I have ( E ) sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 ‘ ( F ) Build houses and live in them ; and plant gardens and eat their [ a ] produce. 6 Take ( G ) wives and father sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may give birth to sons and daughters; and grow in numbers there and do not decrease. 7 ( H ) Seek the [ b ] prosperity of the city where I have sent you into exile, and ( I ) pray to the Lord in its behalf; for [ c ] in its [ d ] prosperity will be your [ e ] prosperity.’ 8 For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Do not let your ( J ) prophets who are in your midst or your diviners ( K ) deceive you, and do not listen to their interpretations of ( L ) your dreams which you dream. 9 For they ( M ) prophesy falsely to you in My name; ( N ) I have not sent them,’ declares the Lord .
10 “For this is what the Lord says: ‘When ( O ) seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My ( P ) good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the ( Q ) plans that I [ f ] have for you,’ declares the Lord , ‘plans for [ g ] ( R ) prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a ( S ) hope. 12 Then you will ( T ) call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will ( U ) listen to you. 13 And you will ( V ) seek Me and find Me when you ( W ) search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will let Myself be ( X ) found by you,’ declares the Lord , ‘and I will ( Y ) restore your fortunes and ( Z ) gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord , ‘and I will ( AA ) bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’
15 “Because you have said, ‘The Lord has raised up ( AB ) prophets for us in Babylon’— 16 for this is what the Lord says concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who live in this city, your brothers who did ( AC ) not go with you into exile— 17 this is what the Lord of armies says: ‘Behold, I am sending upon them the ( AD ) sword, famine, and plague; and I will make them like ( AE ) rotten figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness. 18 I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with plague; and I will ( AF ) make them an object of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a ( AG ) curse and an object of horror and [ h ] ( AH ) hissing, and a disgrace among all the nations where I have driven them, 19 because they have ( AI ) not listened to My words,’ declares the Lord , ‘which I sent to them again and again by ( AJ ) My servants the prophets; but you did not listen,’ declares the Lord . 20 ‘You, therefore, hear the word of the Lord , all you exiles, whom I have ( AK ) sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.
21 ‘This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are ( AL ) prophesying to you falsely in My name: “Behold, I am going to hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your eyes. 22 Because of them a ( AM ) curse will be [ i ] used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, ‘May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon ( AN ) roasted in the fire,’ 23 because they ( AO ) acted [ j ] foolishly in Israel, and ( AP ) committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and falsely ( AQ ) spoke words in My name which I did not command them. I am He who ( AR ) knows, and a witness,” declares the Lord .’”
24 Now you shall speak to ( AS ) Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, 25 “This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have sent ( AT ) letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to ( AU ) the priest Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests, saying, 26 “The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to be the [ k ] ( AV ) overseer of the house of the Lord for every ( AW ) insane person who ( AX ) prophesies, to ( AY ) put him in the stocks and in the iron collar. 27 So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of ( AZ ) Anathoth who prophesies to you, 28 seeing that he has ( BA ) sent word to us in Babylon, saying, ‘ [ l ] The exile will be ( BB ) long; ( BC ) build houses and live in them , and plant gardens and eat their [ m ] produce’?”’”
29 Now ( BD ) Zephaniah the priest read this letter [ n ] to Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 31 “Send word to ( BE ) all the exiles, saying, ‘This is what the Lord says concerning ( BF ) Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah has ( BG ) prophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has ( BH ) made you trust in a lie,” 32 therefore this is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am going to ( BI ) punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his [ o ] descendants; he will ( BJ ) not have anyone living among this people, ( BK ) and he will not see the good that I am going to do for My people,” declares the Lord , “because he has ( BL ) spoken falsely against the Lord .”’”
29 This is the text of the letter ( A ) that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ( B ) 2 (This was after King Jehoiachin [ a ] ( C ) and the queen mother, ( D ) the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.) 3 He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said:
4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried ( E ) into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build ( F ) houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. ( G ) 7 Also, seek ( H ) the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray ( I ) to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” 8 Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets ( J ) and diviners among you deceive ( K ) you. Do not listen to the dreams ( L ) you encourage them to have. ( M ) 9 They are prophesying lies ( N ) to you in my name. I have not sent ( O ) them,” declares the Lord .
10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years ( P ) are completed for Babylon, I will come to you ( Q ) and fulfill my good promise ( R ) to bring you back ( S ) to this place. 11 For I know the plans ( T ) I have for you,” declares the Lord , “plans to prosper ( U ) you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ( V ) 12 Then you will call ( W ) on me and come and pray ( X ) to me, and I will listen ( Y ) to you. 13 You will seek ( Z ) me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ( AA ) 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord , “and will bring you back ( AB ) from captivity. [ b ] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord , “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” ( AC )
15 You may say, “The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,” 16 but this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your fellow citizens who did not go with you into exile— 17 yes, this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will send the sword, famine and plague ( AD ) against them and I will make them like figs ( AE ) that are so bad they cannot be eaten. 18 I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent ( AF ) to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse [ c ] ( AG ) and an object of horror, ( AH ) of scorn ( AI ) and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them. 19 For they have not listened to my words,” ( AJ ) declares the Lord , “words that I sent to them again and again ( AK ) by my servants the prophets. ( AL ) And you exiles have not listened either,” declares the Lord .
20 Therefore, hear the word of the Lord , all you exiles whom I have sent ( AM ) away from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies ( AN ) to you in my name: “I will deliver them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your very eyes. 22 Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned ( AO ) in the fire.’ 23 For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have committed adultery ( AP ) with their neighbors’ wives, and in my name they have uttered lies—which I did not authorize. I know ( AQ ) it and am a witness ( AR ) to it,” declares the Lord .
24 Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite, 25 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah ( AS ) son of Maaseiah, and to all the other priests. You said to Zephaniah, 26 ‘The Lord has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada to be in charge of the house of the Lord ; you should put any maniac ( AT ) who acts like a prophet into the stocks ( AU ) and neck-irons. 27 So why have you not reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you? 28 He has sent this message ( AV ) to us in Babylon: It will be a long time. ( AW ) Therefore build ( AX ) houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.’”
29 Zephaniah ( AY ) the priest, however, read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 31 “Send this message to all the exiles: ‘This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah ( AZ ) the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send ( BA ) him, and has persuaded you to trust in lies, 32 this is what the Lord says: I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. ( BB ) He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good ( BC ) things I will do for my people, declares the Lord , because he has preached rebellion ( BD ) against me.’”
