Jeremiah:29-30

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* Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto 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 , * after that Jeconiah the king , and the queen-mother , and the officers , and the princes of Judah and Jerusalem , and the craftsmen , 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 unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon , saying : * Thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel , unto all the captivity , whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem unto Babylon : * Build ye houses , and dwell in them , and plant gardens , and eat the fruit of them ; * 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 . * And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captive , and pray unto the LORD for it ; for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace . * For thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel : Let not your prophets that are in the midst of you , and your diviners , beguile you , neither hearken ye to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed . * For they prophesy falsely unto you in My name ; I have not sent them , saith the LORD . * For thus saith the LORD : After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon , I will remember 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 , saith the LORD , thoughts of peace , and not of evil , to give you a future and a hope . * And ye shall call upon Me , and go , and pray unto Me , and I will hearken unto you . * And ye shall seek Me , and find Me , when ye shall search for Me with all your heart . * And I will be found of you , saith the LORD , and I will turn your captivity , and gather you from all the nations , and from all the places whither I have driven you , saith the LORD ; and I will bring you back unto the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive . * For ye have said : 'The LORD hath raised us up prophets in Babylon .' * For thus saith the LORD concerning the king that sitteth upon the throne of David , and concerning all the people that dwell in this city , your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity ; * thus saith the LORD 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 . * And I will pursue after them with the sword , with the famine , and with the pestilence , and will make them a horror unto 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 ; * because they have not hearkened to My words , saith the LORD , wherewith I sent unto them My servants the prophets , sending them betimes and often ; but ye would not hear , saith the LORD . * Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD , all ye of the captivity , whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon : * Thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel , concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah , and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah , who prophesy a lie unto 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 that are in Babylon , saying : 'The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab , whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire '; * because they have wrought vile deeds in Israel , and have committed adultery with their neighbours ' wives , and have spoken words in My name falsely , which I commanded them not ; but I am He that knoweth , and am witness , saith the LORD . * And concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite thou shalt speak , saying : * Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel , saying : Because thou hast sent letters in thine own name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem , and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest , and to all the priests , saying : * 'The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest , that there should be officers in the house of the LORD for every man that is mad , and maketh himself a prophet , that thou shouldest put him in the stocks and in the collar . * Now therefore , why hast thou not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth , who maketh himself a prophet to you , * forasmuch as he hath sent unto us in Babylon , saying : The captivity is long ; build ye 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 unto Jeremiah , saying : * Send to all them of the captivity , saying : Thus saith the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite : Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you , and I sent him not , and he hath caused you to trust in a lie ; * therefore thus saith 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 unto My people , saith the LORD ; because he hath spoken perversion against the LORD . * The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD , saying : * 'Thus speaketh the LORD , the God of Israel , saying : Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book . * For , lo , the days come , saith the LORD , that I will turn the captivity of My people Israel and Judah , saith the LORD ; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers , and they shall possess it .' * And these are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah . * For thus saith the LORD : We have heard a voice of trembling , of fear , and not of peace . * Ask ye now , and see whether a man doth travail with child ; wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins , as a woman in travail , and all faces are turned into paleness ? * Alas ! for that day is great , so that none is like it ; and it is a time of trouble unto Jacob , but out of it shall he be saved . * And it shall come to pass in that day , saith the LORD of hosts , that I will break his yoke from off thy neck , and will burst thy bands ; and strangers shall no more make him their bondman ; * But they shall serve the LORD their God , and David their king , whom I will raise up unto them . * Therefore fear thou not , O Jacob My servant , saith the LORD ; neither be dismayed , O Israel ; for , lo , I will save thee from afar , and thy seed from the land of their captivity ; and Jacob shall again be quiet and at ease , and none shall make him afraid . * For I am with thee , saith the LORD , to save thee ; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have scattered thee , but I will not make a full end of thee ; for I will correct thee in measure , and will not utterly destroy thee . * For thus saith the LORD : Thy hurt is incurable , and thy wound is grievous . * None deemeth of thy wound that it may be bound up ; thou hast no healing medicines . * All thy lovers have forgotten thee , they seek thee not ; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy , with the chastisement of a cruel one ; for the greatness of thine iniquity , because thy sins were increased . * Why criest thou for thy hurt , that thy pain is incurable ? For the greatness of thine iniquity , because thy sins were increased , I have done these things unto thee . * Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured , and all thine adversaries , every one of them , shall go into captivity ; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil , and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey . * For I will restore health unto thee , and I will heal thee of thy wounds , saith the LORD ; because they have called thee an outcast : 'She is Zion , there is none that careth for her .' * Thus saith the LORD : Behold , I will turn the captivity of Jacob 's tents , and have compassion on his dwelling-places ; and the city shall be builded upon her own mound , and the palace shall be inhabited upon its wonted place . * And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry ; and I will multiply them , and they shall not be diminished , I will also increase them , and they shall not dwindle away . * Their children also shall be as aforetime , and their congregation shall be established before Me , and I will punish all that oppress them . * And their prince shall be of themselves , and their ruler shall proceed from the midst of them ; and I will cause him to draw near , and he shall approach unto Me ; for who is he that hath pledged his heart to approach unto Me ? saith the LORD . * And ye shall be My people , and I will be your God . * Behold , a storm of the LORD is gone forth in fury , a sweeping storm ; it shall whirl upon the head of the wicked . * The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return , until He have executed , and till He have performed the purposes of His heart ; in the end of days ye shall consider it . * At that time , saith the LORD , will I be the God of all the families of Israel , and they shall be My people .

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