Jeremiah 29:1

1 And these be the words of the book, which Jeremy, the prophet, sent from Jerusalem to the residues of [the] elder men of [the] passing over (And these be the words of the letter, which the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem, to the remaining elders among those carried away captive), and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had led over from Jerusalem into Babylon,

Jeremiah 29:1 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 29:1

Now these [are] the words of the letter that Jeremiah the
prophet sent from Jerusalem
The argument and tenor, the sum and substance, of an epistle, which the prophet Jeremiah, being at Jerusalem, wrote, under the inspiration of God, to his countrymen abroad, afterwards described; so the prophets under the Old Testament instructed the people, sometimes by their sermons and discourses delivered by word of mouth to them, and sometimes by letters and epistles; as did the apostles of the New Testament; and they were both ways useful and profitable to men: unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captive;
some perhaps dying by the way, and others quickly after they came to Babylon; some were left, who had been rulers or civil magistrates in Judea, and perhaps of the great sanhedrim: and to the priests, and to the prophets:
false prophets, as the Syriac version; for we read only of one true prophet that was carried captive, and that was Ezekiel; but of false prophets several: and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive
from Jerusalem to Babylon;
which was eleven or twelve years before their last captivity thither. This was a catholic epistle, common to all the captives of every rank and class, age or sex.

Jeremiah 29:1 In-Context

1 And these be the words of the book, which Jeremy, the prophet, sent from Jerusalem to the residues of [the] elder men of [the] passing over (And these be the words of the letter, which the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem, to the remaining elders among those carried away captive), and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had led over from Jerusalem into Babylon,

2 after that Jeconiah, the king, went out, and the lady, and the honest servants and chaste, and the princes of Judah went out of Jerusalem, and a subtle craftsman, and a goldsmith of Jerusalem, (after that King Jeconiah, and the queen mother, and the honest and chaste servants, or the eunuchs, and the princes, or the leaders, of Judah and of Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, and the goldsmiths, had left Jerusalem,)

3 in the hand of Elasah, (the) son of Shaphan, and of Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, which Zedekiah, king of Judah, sent to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, into Babylon. And Jeremy said, (by the hand of Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and of Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, the king of Judah, sent to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, in Babylon. And Jeremiah said,)

4 The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things to all the passing over, which I translated from Jerusalem into Babylon, (The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saith these things to all those, whom I carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon,)

5 Build ye houses, and inhabit (them), and plant ye orchards, and eat ye [the] fruit of them;