Jeremiah 29

Jeremiah’s letter to the Jews in Babylon

Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders who had been carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 This occurred after Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, and the smiths, had gone from Jerusalem. 3 He sent it 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,

4 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who have been carried away as captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses for yourselves and live in them, and plant gardens, and eat their produce. 6 Marry, and have sons and daughters. And find wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters, so that you may increase there, and not decrease. 7 And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away as captives, and pray to the LORD for it. For in its peace you will have peace”.

8 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Do not let your prophets and your diviners, who are among you, deceive you, and do not listen to your dreams which you have them dream. 9 For they prophesy falsely to you in my name. I have not sent them”, says the LORD.

10 For thus says the LORD: “After seventy years are completed at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, causing you to return to this place. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you”, says the LORD, “thoughts of peace, and not of disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call to me, and you will go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek me, and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.

29:13 Here is a truth for all men. God can be found, can be known. He hears prayer and answers those who seek with the whole heart (Deut 4:29; Hos 10:12; Matt 7:7-8; Luke 11:5-10; 18:1).⚜

14 And I will be found by you”, says the LORD. “And I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you”, says the LORD, “and I will bring you back to the place from where I caused you to be carried away as captives”.

29:1-14 God had a message to the exiles in Babylon who had been taken there in 597 BC. False prophets had arisen there (vs 21,31) and were confusing them. So God chose Jeremiah to write His message to the exiles. By then many of them, seeing the fulfilment of some of his prophecies, must have regarded him as a true prophet and man of God. The message reveals God’s loving concern for His people and gives them practical instruction. The exiles must be prepared to stay in Babylon until the period of 70 years is complete (v 10). They should try to live normal lives and work and pray for the prosperity of the country of their exile (vs 5-7). They must reject the lies of the false prophets among them (vs 8,9). Verses 10-14 enlarge on the promise that had been given in Judah (Jer 16:14-15; 24:4-7).

God promises to bring them back to the land of Israel but He tells them that they will seek Him for this (Dan 9:1-3). This is the relationship between God’s promises and men’s requests. God means His promises to be claimed and turned into believing prayer.⚜

15 I write because you have said, “The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon”.

29:15 That is, they may see no need of Jeremiah or his letter. They did not understand that their prophets were liars.⚜

16 Know that the LORD has said this concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who live in this city, and concerning your brethren who have not gone away with you into captivity: 17 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “See, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the plague, and I will make them like rotten figs, that are so bad they cannot be eaten. 18 And I will pursue them with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague, and will hand them over to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an object of cursing and of astonishment and of hissing and of scorn among all the nations where I drive them, 19 because they have not listened to my words”, says the LORD, “which I sent to them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them. But you would not listen, says the LORD.

20 “So hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in my name: See, I will deliver them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he will kill them before your eyes. 22 And because of them a curse will be taken up by all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, ‘The LORD make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire.’ 23 Because they have done vile things in Israel, have committed adultery with their neighbours’ wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them. I know, and am a witness, says the LORD”.

Judgments against the false prophet Shemaiah

24 Tell this to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, 25 “Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because you have sent letters in your name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, 26 that the LORD has made you priest in place of Jehoiada the priest, that you should be the overseer of the house of the LORD, over every madman who makes himself a prophet, to put him in prison, and in the stocks. 27 Now therefore why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who makes himself a prophet to you? 28 For he sent word to us in Babylon, saying, ‘This captivity is long. Build houses for yourself and live in them, and plant gardens, and eat their produce.’ ”

29 And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 31 “Send word to all those of the captivity, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, though I did not send him, and he caused you to trust in a lie, 32 therefore thus says the LORD: See, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his offspring. He will not have a man to live among this people; nor will he see the good that I will do for my people, says the LORD, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD.’ ”

29:20-32 Three false prophets and their end. God has His eye on all the false prophets of the world and will deal with them in His time and in His way.⚜