¹ Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, 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 Jeconiah the king, and the queen-mother, and the eunuchs, and the rulers of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, 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 to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), saying,

⁴ Thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the captivity whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to 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, and multiply ye there, and be not diminished.

⁷ And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Jehovah for it, for in the peace of it ye shall have peace.

⁸ For thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Let not your prophets who are in the midst of you, and your diviners, deceive you, nor hearken ye to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.

⁹ For they prophesy falsely to you in my name. I have not sent them, says Jehovah.

¹⁰ For thus says Jehovah, After seventy years are accomplished for 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, says Jehovah, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope in your latter end.

¹² And ye shall call upon me, and ye shall go and pray to me, and I will hearken to 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 by you, says Jehovah, and I will turn again your captivity. And I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says Jehovah, and I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.

¹⁵ Because ye have said, Jehovah has raised us up prophets in Babylon,

¹⁶ thus says Jehovah concerning the king who sits upon the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who have not gone forth with you into captivity,

¹⁷ thus says Jehovah 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 bad.

¹⁸ And I will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an execration, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations where I have driven them,

¹⁹ because they have not hearkened to my words, says Jehovah, with which I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them. But ye would not hear, says Jehovah.

²⁰ Hear ye therefore the word of Jehovah, all ye of the captivity whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

²¹ Thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in my name. Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall kill them before your eyes.

²² And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captives of Judah that are in Babylon, saying, Jehovah make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,

²³ because they have wrought folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I did not command them. And I am he who knows, and am witness, says Jehovah.

²⁴ And concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite thou shall speak, saying,

²⁵ Thus speaks Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou have sent letters in thine own name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

²⁶ Jehovah has made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be officers in the house of Jehovah, for every man who is mad, and makes himself a prophet, that thou should put him in the stocks and in shackles.

²⁷ Now therefore, why have thou not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who makes himself a prophet to you,

²⁸ inasmuch as he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, It 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 the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying,

³¹ Send to all those of the captivity, saying, Thus says Jehovah concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I did not send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie,

³² therefore thus says Jehovah: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed. He shall not have a man to dwell among this people, nor shall he behold the good that I will do to my people, says Jehovah, because he has spoken rebellion against Jehovah.