1 ¶ Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders who had been carried away as captives, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;

2 This was after Jeconiah the king, along with the queen, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the carpenters, and the metalsmiths, had left Jerusalem;

3 He sent it by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah the king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon) saying,

4 The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel says, to all who have been carried away as captives, whom I have caused to be taken from Jerusalem to Babylon;

5 Build yourselves houses, and live in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit from them;

6 Marry wives, and father sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters; so that you may grow in numbers there, and not decrease.

7 And seek the welfare of the city to which I have caused you to be taken as captives, and pray to the LORD for it: for when it fares well it will be well with you.

8 ¶ For the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel says; Do not let the prophets and diviners, who are among you, deceive you, and pay no attention to your own dreams which you dream, or to theirs.

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

10 For the LORD says, That after seventy years have passed at Babylon I will come to you, and fulfil my promise to you, by causing you to return to this place.

11 For I know what I am planning for you, says the LORD, I am planning peace, and not harm, to give you a future you can hope for.

12 Then you will call upon me, and you will come and pray to me, and I will hear you.

13 And you will seek me, and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.

14 And I will be found by you, says the LORD: and I will bring you out of captivity, and will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD; and I will bring you back to the place from which I caused you to be taken away captive.

15 ¶ But because you have said, The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon;

16 The LORD says concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and all of the people who live in this city, and your brethren who did not go with you into captivity;

17 The LORD of hosts says; Know that, I will send the sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, and will make them like rotten figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.

18 And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, and will cause them to be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be cursed, taunted, scorned, and disgraced, among all the nations where I have driven them:

19 Because they have not paid attention to my words, says the LORD, which I sent to them by my servants the prophets, sending them time and again; but you would not listen, says the LORD.

20 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, all you in captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:

21 The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel says, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy lies to you in my name; Know that, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon; and he will execute them before your eyes;

22 And because of them all those of Judah who are in captivity in Babylon, will take up this curse, and say, May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;

23 Because they have done shameful things in Israel, committing adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and telling lies in my name, words that I did not tell them to say; I know, and am a witness, says the LORD.

24 ¶ You shall say this to Shemaiah the Nehelamite,

25 The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel speaks, saying, Because you have sent letters in your 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 The LORD has made you Zephaniah a priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, so that you should have oversight in the house of the LORD, and be empowered to imprison, and put in the stocks, any madman who makes himself a prophet.

27 So now why have you not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, who poses as a prophet to you?

28 For he wrote to us in Babylon, saying, This captivity will be long: build houses, and live in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

29 When Zephaniah the priest read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet.

30 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

31 Send a message to all those in captivity, saying, The LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, when I did not send him, and caused you to trust in a lie:

32 Know, says the LORD, that I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his descendants: he will not have anyone living among these people; nor will he see the good that I will do for my people, says the LORD; because he has taught rebellion against the LORD.