Jeremiah 29:1-23

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles in Babylon

1 And these [are] the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the exiles, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had deported from Jerusalem [to] Babylon,

2 after the going out of Jeconiah the king, and the queen mother, and the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, and the artisans, and the smiths from Jerusalem,

3 by the hand of Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, the king of Judah, sent to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, [to] Babylon, {saying},

4 "Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have deported from Jerusalem [to] Babylon,

5 'Build houses and live [in them], and plant gardens and eat their fruit.

6 Take wives and father sons and daughters, and take for your sons wives, and give your daughters to men that they may bear sons and daughters, and multiply there, and you must not be few.

7 And seek the prosperity of the city where I have deported you, and pray on behalf of it to Yahweh, for in its prosperity you will have prosperity.'

8 For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Do not let your prophets who [are] in your midst, and your diviners, deceive you, and you must not listen to your dreams that you [are] causing [them] to dream.

9 For they [are] prophesying {falsely} to you in my name; I have not sent them,' {declares} Yahweh.

10 For thus says Yahweh, '{As soon as the time has passed}, seventy years for Babylon, I will attend to you, and I will fulfill my good word to you, to bring you back to this place.

11 For I know the plans that I [am] planning concerning you,' {declares} Yahweh, 'plans for prosperity and not for harm, to give to you a future and a hope.

12 Then [when] you call me, and you come and pray to me, then I will listen to you.

13 When you search for me, then you will find [me], if you seek me with all your heart.

14 And I will let myself be found by you,' {declares} Yahweh, 'and I will restore your fortunes, and I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places to which I have driven you,' {declares} Yahweh, 'and I will bring you back to the place from which I deported you.'

15 Because you have said, 'Yahweh has raised up prophets for us [in] Babylon'--

16 for thus says Yahweh concerning the king who sits on the throne of David and concerning all the people who live in this city, your fellow kinsmen who did not go with you into the exile--

17 thus says Yahweh of hosts, 'Look, I [am] going to send among them the sword, the famine, and the plague, and I will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten because of [their] bad quality.

18 And I will pursue them with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague, and I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse, and a horror, and [an object of] hissing, and a disgrace among all the nations to which I have driven them,

19 because they did not listen to my words,' {declares} Yahweh, 'when I sent to them my servants the prophets, {sending over and over again}, and they would not listen,' {declares} Yahweh.

20 And you, hear the word of Yahweh, all [you] exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem [to] Babylon.

21 Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you in my name a lie, 'Look, I [am] going to give them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and he will strike them before your eyes.

22 And a curse will be taken [up] because of them by all the exiles of Judah who [are] in Babylon, {saying}, "May Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,"

23 because they have done a disgraceful thing in Israel, and they have committed adultery with the wives of their neighbors, and they have spoken words in my name, lies that I have not commanded them, and I [am] he who knows, and [I am] a witness,' {declares} Yahweh."

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Jeremiah 29:1-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 29

Thus chapter contains a letter of Jeremiah to the captives in Babylon; and gives an account of another sent from thence by Shemaiah to the people at Jerusalem; and is closed with threatening him with punishment for so doing. Jeremiah's letter concerns both the captives at Babylon, and the people left at Jerusalem, The persons to whom and by whom it was sent, and the time of writing and sending it, are mentioned in Jer 29:1-3; and though the prophet was the amanuensis, God was the author of it, as well as of their captivity, Jer 29:4; the contents of, it, respecting the captives, are advices to them to provide for their comfortable settlement in Babylon, and not think of returning quickly, by building houses, planting gardens, marrying, and giving in marriage, Jer 29:5,6; and to seek and pray for the prosperity of the place where they were; in which their own was concerned, Jer 29:7; to give no heed to their false prophets and diviners, Jer 29:8,9; and to expect a return to Jerusalem at the end of seventy years; which they might be assured of, since God had resolved upon it in his own mind, Jer 29:10,11; and especially if they called upon him, prayed to him, and sought him heartily, Jer 29:12-14; the other part of the letter respects the Jews in Jerusalem; concerning whom the captives are directed to observe, that both the king and people should suffer much by sword, famine, pestilence, and captivity, with the reason of it, Jer 29:15-19; particularly it is foretold, that Ahab and Zedekiah, two lying prophets, should be made an example of vengeance; and a proverbial curse should be taken of them, because of their villany, lewdness, and lies, Jer 29:20-23; next follows some account of Shemaiah's letter from Babylon, to the people and priests at Jerusalem, stirring them up against Jeremiah the prophet; which came to be known, by the priests reading it to him, Jer 29:24-29; upon which Shemaiah is threatened with punishment, and his seed after him, Jer 29:30-32.