Jeremiah:29:1-23

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* Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who were carried away captive--to the priests , the prophets , and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon . * (This happened after Jeconiah the king , the queen mother , the eunuchs , the princes of Judah and Jerusalem , the craftsmen , and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem .) * The letter was sent 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 , * Thus says the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel , to all who were carried away captive , whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon : * Build houses and dwell in them ; plant gardens and eat their fruit . * Take wives and beget sons and daughters ; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands , so that they may bear sons and daughters--that you may be increased there , and not diminished . * And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive , and pray to the LORD for it ; for in its peace you will have peace . * For thus says the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel : Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you , nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed . * For they prophesy falsely to you in My name ; I have not sent them , says the LORD . * For thus says the LORD : After seventy years are completed at Babylon , I will visit you and perform My good word toward you , and cause you to return to this place . * For I know the thoughts that I think toward you , says the LORD , thoughts of peace and not of evil , to give you a future and a hope . * Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me , and I will listen to you . * And you will seek Me and find Me , when you search for Me with all your heart . * I will be found by you , says the LORD , and I will bring you back from your captivity ; I 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 to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive . * Because you have said , "The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon "-- * therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king who sits on the throne of David , concerning all the people who dwell in this city , and concerning your brethren who have not gone out with you into captivity -- * thus says the LORD of hosts : Behold , I will send on them the sword , the famine , and the pestilence , and will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten , they are so bad . * And I will pursue them with the sword , with famine , and with pestilence ; and I will deliver them to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth--to be a curse , an astonishment , a hissing , and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them , * because they have not heeded My words , says the LORD , which I sent to them by My servants the prophets , rising up early and sending them ; neither would you heed , says the LORD . * Therefore hear the word of the LORD , all you of the captivity , whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon . * Thus says the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel , concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah , and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah , who prophesy a lie to you in My name : Behold , I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon , and he shall slay them before your eyes . * And because of them a curse shall be taken up by all the captivity of Judah who are in Babylon , saying , "The LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab , whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire "; * because they have done disgraceful things in Israel , have committed adultery with their neighbors ' wives , and have spoken lying words in My name , which I have not commanded them . Indeed I know , and am a witness , says the LORD .

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