The Bible in Basic English BBE
Orthodox Jewish Bible OJB
1 Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the responsible men among those who had been taken away, and to the priests and the prophets and to all the rest of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken away prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylon;
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9 Now these are the Devarim of the sefer that Yirmeyah HaNavi sent from Yerushalayim unto the surviving Zekenim of the Golus and to the Kohanim, and to the Nevi’im, and to kol HaAm whom Nevuchadretzar had carried away captive from Yerushalayim to Bavel—
2 (After Jeconiah the king and the queen-mother and the unsexed servants and the rulers of Judah and Jerusalem and the expert workmen and the metal-workers had gone away from Jerusalem;)
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This was after Yechanyah HaMelech, and the Gevirah (Queen Mother), and the sarisim, the sarim of Yehudah and Yerushalayim, and the carpenters, and the artisans had departed from Yerushalayim;
3 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,
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The sefer was sent by the yad of Elasah Ben Shaphan, and Gemaryah Ben Chilkiyah, whom Tzidkiyah Melech Yehudah sent unto Bavel to Nevuchadretzar Melech Bavel—and it said,
4 This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said to all those whom I have taken away prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylon:
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Thus saith Hashem Tzva’os Elohei Yisroel, unto all that are carried away into the Golus, whom I have caused to be carried away from Yerushalayim unto Bavel;
5 Go on building houses and living in them, and planting gardens and using the fruit of them;
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Build ye batim (houses), and dwell in them; and plant gannot (gardens), and eat the p’ri (fruit) of them;
6 Take wives and have sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may have sons and daughters; and be increased in number there and do not become less.
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Take ye nashim, and father banim and banot; and take nashim for your banim, and give your banot to anashim, that they may bear banim and banot; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
7 And be working for the peace of the land to which I have had you taken away prisoners, and make prayer to the Lord for it: for in its peace you will have peace.
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And seek the shalom of the city where I have caused you to be carried away into the Golus, and daven unto Hashem for it; for in the shalom thereof shall ye have shalom.
8 For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: Do not let yourselves be tricked by the prophets who are among you, and the readers of signs, and give no attention to their dreams which they may have;
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For thus saith Hashem Tzva’os Elohei Yisroel: Let not your nevi’im and your kesamim that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither pay heed to your chalomot which ye cause to be dreamed.
9 For they are saying to you what is false in my name: I have not sent them, says the Lord.
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For they prophesy b’sheker (falsely) unto you in My Name; I have not sent them, saith Hashem.
10 For this is what the Lord has said: When seventy years are ended for Babylon, I will have pity on you and give effect to my good purpose for you, causing you to come back to this place.
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For thus saith Hashem, That after shiv’im shanah (seventy years) are accomplished at Bavel I will visit you, and perform My Davar Hatov toward you, in causing you to return to this makom.
11 For I am conscious of my thoughts about you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you hope at the end.
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For I know the machshavot (thoughts, plans) that I think toward you, saith Hashem, machshavot shalom, and not of ra’ah, to give you an acharit (future) and a tikvah (hope).
12 And you will go on crying to me and making prayer to me, and I will give ear to you.
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Then shall ye call upon Me, and ye shall go and v’hitpalaltem (and you [plural] will pray) unto Me, and I will pay heed unto you [plural].
13 And you will be searching for me and I will be there, when you have gone after me with all your heart.
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And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me b’chol lvavchem (with all your heart).
14 I will be near you again, says the Lord, and your fate will be changed, and I will get you together from all the nations and from all the places where I had sent you away, says the Lord; and I will take you back again to the place from which I sent you away prisoners.
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And I will be found by you, saith Hashem; and I will bring you back from captivity, and I will gather you from all the Goyim, and from all the mekomot (places) where I have driven you, saith Hashem; and I will bring you back into the makom (place) from which I caused you to be carried away into the Golus.
15 For you have said, The Lord has given us prophets in Babylon.
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Because ye have said, Hashem hath raised up nevi’im for us in Bavel;
16 For this is what the Lord has said about the king who is seated on the seat of David's kingdom, and about all the people living in this town, your countrymen who have not gone out with you as prisoners;
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Know that thus saith Hashem of HaMelech that sitteth upon the Kisse Dovid, and of kol HaAm that dwelleth in this city, and of your achim that are not gone forth with you into the Golus;
17 This is what the Lord of armies has said: See, I will send on them the sword and need of food and disease, and will make them like bad figs, which are of no use for food, they are so bad.
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Thus saith Hashem Tzva’os; Hineni, I will send upon them the cherev, the ra’av, and the dever, and will make them like rotten figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.
18 I will go after them, attacking them with the sword and with need of food and with disease, and will make them a cause of fear to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse and a wonder and a surprise and a name of shame among all the nations where I have sent them:
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And I will pursue them with the cherev, with the ra’av, and with the dever, and will make them a horror to all the mamlechot ha’aretz, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a cherpah, among all the Goyim where I have driven them;
19 Because they have not given ear to my words, says the Lord, when I sent to them my servants the prophets, getting up early and sending them; but you did not give ear, says the Lord.
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Because they have not paid heed to My devarim, saith Hashem, which I sent unto them by My Avadim the nevi’im, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith Hashem.
20 And now, give ear to the word of the Lord, all you whom I have sent away prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylon.
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Hear ye therefore the Devar Hashem, all ye of the Golus, whom I have sent from Yerushalayim to Bavel;
21 This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said about Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and about Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who are saying to you what is false in my name: See, I will give them up into the hands of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your eyes.
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Thus saith Hashem Tzva’os Elohei Yisroel, about Ach’av Ben Kolayah, and of Tzidkiyah Ben Ma’aseiyah, which prophesy sheker unto you in My Name; Hineni, I will deliver them into the yad Nevuchadretzar Melech Bavel; and he shall slay them before your eynayim;
22 And their fate will be used as a curse by all the prisoners of Judah who are in Babylon, who will say, May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, who were burned in the fire by the king of Babylon;
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And of them shall be taken up a kelalah (curse) by all the Golus of Yehudah which are in Bavel, saying, Hashem make thee like Tzidkiyah and like Ach’av, whom Melech Bavel roasted in the eish;
23 Because they have done shame in Israel, and have taken their neighbours' wives, and in my name have said false words, which I did not give them orders to say; and I myself am the witness, says the Lord.
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Because they have done nevalah (a foul deed, outrage) in Yisroel, and have committed ni’uf with their neighbors’ nashim, and have spoken davar sheker in My Name, which I have not commanded them; I know, and am Ed (Witness), saith Hashem.
24 About Shemaiah the Nehelamite.
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Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiyahu the Nechelami, saying,
25 Shemaiah the Nehelamite sent a letter in his name to Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
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Thus speaketh Hashem Tzva’os Elohei Yisroel, saying, Because thou hast sent sefarim in thy shem unto kol HaAm that are in Yerushalayim, and to Tzephanyah Ben Maaseiyah the kohen, and to all the kohanim, saying,
26 The Lord has made you priest in place of Jehoiada the priest, to be an overseer in the house of the Lord for every man who is off his head and is acting as a prophet, to put such men in prison and in chains.
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Hashem hath made thee kohen in the place of Yehoyada the kohen, that there should be pekidim (officers) in the Beis Hashem, over every ish that is meshuggah (mad, insane), and maketh himself a navi, that thou shouldest put him in the stocks, and in the neck iron.
27 So why have you made no protest against Jeremiah of Anathoth, who is acting as a prophet to you?
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Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Yirmeyah of Anatot, which maketh himself a navi to you?
28 For he has sent to us in Babylon saying, The time will be long: go on building houses and living in them, and planting gardens and using the fruit of them.
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For therefore he sent unto us in Bavel, saying, This captivity is long; build ye batim (houses), and dwell in them; and plant gannot (gardens), and eat the fruit of them.
29 And Zephaniah the priest made clear to Jeremiah the prophet what was said in the letter, reading it to him.
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And Tzephanyah the kohen read this sefer in the oznayim of Yirmeyah HaNavi.
30 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
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Then came the Devar Hashem unto Yirmeyah, saying,
31 Send to all those who have been taken away, saying, This is what the Lord has said about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has been acting as a prophet to you, and I did not send him, and has made you put your faith in what is false;
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Send to all them of the Golus, saying, Thus saith Hashem concerning Shemaiyah the Nechelami; Because that Shemaiyah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in sheker;
32 For this cause the Lord has said, Truly I will send punishment on Shemaiah and on his seed; not a man of his family will have a place among this people, and he will not see the good which I am going to do to my people, says the Lord: because he has said words against the Lord.
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Therefore thus saith Hashem: Hinei, I will punish Shemaiyah the Nechelami, and his zera; he shall not have an ish to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the tov that I will do for My people, saith Hashem; because he hath spoken sarah (rebellion) against Hashem.
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The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.