Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles

¹Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the exiled elders, the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon.

²This was after Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the artisans, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.

³He sent the letter 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. It said:

Message to Shemaiah, the False Prophet

²⁴Concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite you are to speak, saying,

²⁵“YHWH Almighty, the God of Israel, says, ‘Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

²⁶“YHWH has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be officers in the house of YHWH, for every man who is crazy and makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in the stocks and in shackles.

²⁷Now, why haven’t you rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who has been acting as a prophet to y’all.

²⁸He has sent word to us in Babylon, saying, The exile will be long. So y’all should build houses and dwell in them. Y’all should plant gardens and eat their fruit.”’”

²⁹Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet.

³⁰Then the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah, saying,

³¹“You are to send to all of the captives, saying, ‘YHWH says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to y’all, even though I did not send him, and he persuaded y’all to trust a lie,”

³²this is what YHWH says, “Look, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will not have a anyone dwelling among this people. He won’t see the good that I will do for my people,” says YHWH, “because he has spoken rebellion against YHWH.”’”