Bible in Basic English
Go on building houses and living in them, and planting gardens and using the fruit of them;
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.
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.
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;
For they are saying to you what is false in my name: I have not sent them, says the Lord.
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.
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.
And you will go on crying to me and making prayer to me, and I will give ear to you.
And you will be searching for me and I will be there, when you have gone after me with all your heart.
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.
For you have said, The Lord has given us prophets in Babylon.
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;
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.
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:
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.
And now, give ear to the word of the Lord, all you whom I have sent away prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylon.
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.
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;
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.
About Shemaiah the Nehelamite.
Shemaiah the Nehelamite sent a letter in his name to Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
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.
So why have you made no protest against Jeremiah of Anathoth, who is acting as a prophet to you?
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.
And Zephaniah the priest made clear to Jeremiah the prophet what was said in the letter, reading it to him.
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
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;
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.
— Jeremiah 29:5-1964, Bible in Basic English
“‘Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and allow your daughters to get married so that they too can have sons and daughters. Grow in number; do not dwindle away. Work to see that the city where I sent you as exiles enjoys peace and prosperity. Pray to the LORD for it. For as it prospers you will prosper.’ “For the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel says,‘Do not let the prophets among you or those who claim to be able to predict the future by divination deceive you. And do not pay any attention to the dreams that you are encouraging them to dream. They are prophesying lies to you and claiming my authority to do so. But I did not send them. I, the LORD, affirm it!’ “For the LORD says,‘Only when the seventy years of Babylonian rule are over will I again take up consideration for you. Then I will fulfill my gracious promise to you and restore you to your homeland. For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the LORD.‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope. When you call out to me and come to me in prayer, I will hear your prayers. When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul, I will make myself available to you,’ says the LORD.‘Then I will reverse your plight and will regather you from all the nations and all the places where I have exiled you,’ says the LORD.‘I will bring you back to the place from which I exiled you.’ “You say,‘The LORD has raised up prophets of good news for us here in Babylon.’ But just listen to what the LORD has to say about the king who occupies David’s throne and all your fellow countrymen who are still living in this city of Jerusalem and were not carried off into exile with you. The LORD of Heaven’s Armies says,‘I will bring war, starvation, and disease on them. I will treat them like figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. I will chase after them with war, starvation, and disease. I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to them. I will make them examples of those who are cursed, objects of horror, hissing scorn, and ridicule among all the nations where I exile them. For they have not paid attention to what I said to them through my servants the prophets whom I sent to them over and over again,’ says the LORD.‘And you exiles have not paid any attention to them either,’ says the LORD. ‘So pay attention to the LORD’s message, all you exiles whom I have sent to Babylon from Jerusalem.’ “The LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel also has something to say about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you and claiming my authority to do so.‘I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and he will execute them before your very eyes. And all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will use them as examples when they put a curse on anyone. They will say,“May the LORD treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab whom the king of Babylon roasted to death in the fire!” This will happen to them because they have done what is shameful in Israel. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken lies while claiming my authority. They have spoken words that I did not command them to speak. I know what they have done. I have been a witness to it,’ says the LORD.” A Response to the Letter and a Subsequent Letter The LORD told Jeremiah,“Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite that the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel has a message for him. Tell him,‘On your own initiative you sent a letter to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah and to all the other priests and to all the people in Jerusalem. In your letter you said to Zephaniah, “The LORD has made you priest in place of Jehoiada. He has put you in charge in the LORD’s temple of controlling any lunatic who pretends to be a prophet. And it is your duty to put any such person in the stocks with an iron collar around his neck. You should have reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth who is pretending to be a prophet among you! For he has even sent a message to us here in Babylon. He wrote and told us,“You will be there a long time. Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce.”’” Zephaniah the priest read that letter to the prophet Jeremiah. Then the LORD’s message came to Jeremiah. “Send a message to all the exiles in Babylon. Tell them,‘The LORD has spoken about Shemaiah the Nehelamite.“Shemaiah has spoken to you as a prophet even though I did not send him. He is making you trust in a lie. Because he has done this,” the LORD says,“I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his whole family. There will not be any of them left to experience the good things that I will do for my people. I, the LORD, affirm it! For he counseled rebellion against the LORD.”’””
(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;)
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,
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:
Go on building houses and living in them, and planting gardens and using the fruit of them;
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.
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.
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;
For they are saying to you what is false in my name: I have not sent them, says the Lord.
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.
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.
And you will go on crying to me and making prayer to me, and I will give ear to you.
And you will be searching for me and I will be there, when you have gone after me with all your heart.
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.
For you have said, The Lord has given us prophets in Babylon.
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;
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.
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:
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.
And now, give ear to the word of the Lord, all you whom I have sent away prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylon.
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.
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;
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.
About Shemaiah the Nehelamite.
Shemaiah the Nehelamite sent a letter in his name to Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
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.
So why have you made no protest against Jeremiah of Anathoth, who is acting as a prophet to you?
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.
And Zephaniah the priest made clear to Jeremiah the prophet what was said in the letter, reading it to him.
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
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;
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.