And these are the words of the letter which the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile and to the priests and to the prophets and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon

(After King Jeconiah and the queen mother and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah, and Jerusalem and the craftsmen and the smiths had gone out from Jerusalem)

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 at Babylon, saying:

Thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon,

Build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce.

Take 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 there and do not become few.

And seek the peace of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to Jehovah for it; for in its peace you will have peace.

For thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Do not let your prophets, who are in your midst, and your diviners deceive you; and do not listen to your dreams, which you cause to be dreamed.

For they prophesy to you falsely in My name; and I have not sent them, declares Jehovah.

For thus says Jehovah, When seventy years are fulfilled for Babylon, I will visit you and establish My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.

For I know the thoughts that I think about you, declares Jehovah, thoughts of peace and not for evil, to give you a latter end and a hope.

Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you;

And you will seek Me and find Me if you search for Me with all your heart;

And I will be found by you, declares Jehovah. And I will turn your captivity and gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, declares Jehovah, and bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.

If you say, Jehovah has raised up for us prophets in Babylon,

Indeed thus says Jehovah concerning the king who sits on the throne of David and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who did not go out with you into exile:

Thus says Jehovah of hosts, I am about to send upon them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs, which cannot be eaten because of rottenness.

And I will pursue them with sword, with famine, and with pestilence, and I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth to be a curse and an astonishment and a hissing and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them;

Because they have not listened to My words, declares Jehovah, which I sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending; but you did not listen, declares Jehovah.

Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

Thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you falsehood in My name, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, and he will strike them before your eyes.

And because of them a curse will be taken up by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, May Jehovah make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;

Because they have committed folly in Israel and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives and have spoken a word of falsehood in My name, which I did not command them to do; indeed I am the One who knows and am witness, declares Jehovah.

And you shall speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,

Thus speaks Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

Jehovah has made you a priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, that there should be officers in the house of Jehovah over every madman who prophesies so that you might put him in the stocks and in the iron collar.

And now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who prophesies to you?

For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, It will be a long time; build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce.

And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.

Then the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying,

Send word to all the exiles, saying, Thus says Jehovah concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite, Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, when I did not send him, and has made you trust in falsehood,

Therefore thus says Jehovah, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his seed: He will not have anyone living among this people and will not see the good that I am about to do to My people, declares Jehovah, because he has spoken rebellion against Jehovah.