¹ Now these, are the, words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem,—unto the residue of the elders of the captivity, and unto the priests and unto the prophets and unto all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;

² after that Jeconiah the king and the queen-mother and the eunuchs the princes of Judah and Jerusalem and the craftsmen and the smiths, had gone forth from Jerusalem;—

³ by the hand of Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying:—

⁴ Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, Unto all the captivity whom I have suffered to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon:

⁵ Build ye houses and dwell in them,—And plant ye gardens and eat the fruit thereof;

⁶ Take ye wives and beget sons and daughters, And take wives, for your sons, and, your daughters, give ye to husbands, That they may bear sons and daughters,—And so become ye many there and do not become few;

⁷ And seek the welfare of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray for her unto Yahweh,—For in her welfare, shall ye have welfare.

⁸ For Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts God of Israel, Let not your prophets that are in your midst nor your diviners beguile you,—Neither hearken ye unto your dreams which ye are dreaming;

⁹ For falsely, are they prophesying unto you in my name,—I have not sent them, Declareth Yahweh.

¹⁰ For, thus, saith Yahweh,—That as soon as there are fulfilled to Babylon seventy years, I will visit you,—and establish for you my good word, by causing you to return unto this place.

¹¹ For, I, know the plans which I am planning for you Declareth Yahweh,—Plans of welfare and not of calamity, To give you a future and a hope.

¹² So shall ye call upon me,—And go and pray unto me,—And I will hearken unto you;

¹³ So shall ye seek me and find, For ye will enquire after me with all your heart;

¹⁴ And I will be found of you, Declareth Yahweh, And will turn back your captivity, And will gather you out of all the nations and out of all the places whither I have driven you, Declareth Yahweh, And will bring you back into the place whence I had caused you to be carried away captive:

¹⁵ Because ye have said,—Yahweh hath raised us up prophets in Babylon.

¹⁶ For, thus, saith Yahweh Against the king who is sitting on the throne of David, and Against all the people who are remaining in this city,—your brethren who have not gone forth with you into captivity:

¹⁷ Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Behold me! sending upon them sword famine, and pestilence,—So will I make them like the horrid figs, that cannot be eaten for badness;

¹⁸ Therefore will I pursue them with sword with famine and with pestilence,—And will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth A curse and an astonishment and a hissing and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them:

¹⁹ Because they hearkened not unto my words Declareth Yahweh,—which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, betimes, sending them yet hearkened they not Declareth Yahweh.

²⁰ Ye, therefore, hear ye the word of Yahweh, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:

²¹ Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel Concerning Ahab son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you in my name, a falsehood, Behold me! delivering them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he will smite them before your eyes:

²² So shall there be taken up—from them—a curse, by all of the captivity of Judah who are in Babylon saying,—Yahweh make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, Whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire!

²³ Because they have committed vileness in Israel And have committed adultery with the wives of their neighbours, And have spoken as a word in my name a falsehood, which I commanded them not,—And, I, am one who knoweth—and a witness Declareth Yahweh.

²⁴ Also unto Shemaiah the Nehelamite, shalt thou speak, saying:

²⁵ Thus, speaketh Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, saying,—Because, thou, hast sent in, thine own name, letters, unto all the people who are in Jerusalem, and unto Zephaniah son, of Maaseiah the priest, and unto all the priests saying:

²⁶ Yahweh, hath made thee priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be deputies in the house of Yahweh, to any man who is raving and prophesying, so shalt thou put him into the stocks and into the pillory:

²⁷ Now, therefore, why, hast thou not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who is prophesying unto you?

²⁸ For, on this account, hath he sent unto us in Babylon, saying,—’Tis, long! Build ye houses and dwell in them, And plant gardens and eat the fruit thereof.

²⁹ And Zephaniah the priest hath read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet,

³⁰ Therefore hath the word of Yahweh come unto Jeremiah, saying:

³¹ Send thou unto all them of the captivity, saying, Thus, saith Yahweh, Concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite,—Because Shemaiah, hath prophesied to you, when, I, had not sent him, And hath caused you to trust in falsehood,

³² Therefore Thus, saith Yahweh,—Behold me! bringing punishment upon Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and upon his seed, He shall have no man to dwell in the midst of this people, Nor shall he see the good that I am about to do for my people, Declareth Yahweh; Because revolt, hath he spoken against Yahweh.