Jeremiah:29

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* Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to 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 ; * (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 ;) * 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 said the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel , to all that are carried away captives , whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon ; * Build you houses , and dwell in them ; and plant gardens , and eat the fruit of them ; * Take you 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 you may be increased there , and not diminished . * And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captives , and pray to the LORD for it : for in the peace thereof shall you have peace . * For thus said the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel ; Let not your prophets and your diviners , that be in the middle of you , deceive you , neither listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed . * For they prophesy falsely to you in my name : I have not sent them , said the LORD . * For thus said 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 . * For I know the thoughts that I think toward you , said the LORD , thoughts of peace , and not of evil , to give you an expected end . * Then shall you call on me , and you shall go and pray to me , and I will listen to you . * And you shall seek me , and find me , when you shall search for me with all your heart . * And I will be found of you , said the LORD : and I will turn away your captivity , and I will gather you from all the nations , and from all the places where I have driven you , said the LORD ; and I will bring you again into the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive . * Because you have said , The LORD has raised us up prophets in Babylon ; * Know that thus said the LORD of the king that sits on the throne of David , and of all the people that dwells in this city , and of your brothers that are not gone forth with you into captivity ; * Thus said the LORD of hosts ; Behold , I will send on them the sword , the famine , and the pestilence , and will make them like vile figs , that cannot be eaten , they are so evil . * 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 where I have driven them : * Because they have not listened to my words , said the LORD , which I sent to them by my servants the prophets , rising up early and sending them ; but you would not hear , said the LORD . * Hear you therefore the word of the LORD , all you of the captivity , whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon : * Thus said 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 to 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 ; * And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon , saying , The LORD make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab , whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire ; * Because they have committed villainy in Israel , and have committed adultery with their neighbors 'wives , and have spoken lying words in my name , which I have not commanded them ; even I know , and am a witness , said the LORD . * Thus shall you also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite , saying , * Thus speaks the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel , saying , Because you have sent letters in your name to all the people that are at Jerusalem , and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest , and to all the priests , saying , * The LORD has made you priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest , that you should be officers in the house of the LORD , for every man that is mad , and makes himself a prophet , that you should put him in prison , and in the stocks . * Now therefore why have you not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth , which makes himself a prophet to you ? * For therefore he sent to us in Babylon , saying , This captivity is long : build you houses , and dwell in them ; and plant gardens , and eat the fruit of them . * And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet . * Then came the word of the LORD to Jeremiah , saying , * Send to all them of the captivity , saying , Thus said the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite ; Because that Shemaiah has prophesied to you , and I sent him not , and he caused you to trust in a lie : * Therefore thus said 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 , said the LORD ; because he has taught rebellion against the LORD .

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