Jeremiah’s Letter to the Jews in Babylon
1Jeremiah the prophet sent a letter from Jerusalem to Babylon. It was for the Jewish elders still alive there. It was also for the priests and prophets in Babylon. And it was for all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2It was sent to them after King Jehoiachin had been forced to leave Jerusalem. His mother and the court officials were taken with him. The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem had been forced to go to Babylon. All the skilled workers had also been forced to go. 3Jeremiah gave the letter to Elasah and Gemariah. Elasah was the son of Shaphan. Gemariah was the son of Hilkiah. Zedekiah, the king of Judah, had sent Elasah and Gemariah to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. Here is what the letter said.
4The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He speaks to all those he forced to go from Jerusalem to Babylon. He says, 5“Build houses and make your homes there. Plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6Get married. Have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons. Give your daughters to be married. Then they too can have sons and daughters. Let there be many more of you and not fewer. 7Also work for the success of the city I have sent you to. Pray to the Lord for that city. If it succeeds, you too will enjoy success.” 8The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, “Do not let the prophets trick you. Do not be fooled by those who claim to have secret knowledge. Do not listen to people who try to explain their dreams to you. 9All of them are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” announces the Lord.
10The Lord says, “You will be forced to live in Babylon for 70 years. After they are over, I will come to you. My good promise to you will come true. I will bring you back home. 11I know the plans I have for you,” announces the Lord. “I want you to enjoy success. I do not plan to harm you. I will give you hope for the years to come. 12Then you will call out to me. You will come and pray to me. And I will listen to you. 13When you look for me with all your heart, you will find me. 14I will be found by you,” announces the Lord. “And I will bring you back from where you were taken as prisoners. I will gather you from all the nations. I will gather you from the places where I have forced you to go,” announces the Lord. “I will bring you back to the place I sent you away from.”
15You might say, “The Lord has given us prophets in Babylon.” 16But here is what the Lord says about the king who now sits on David’s throne. He also says it about all the people who remain in this city. And he says it about all those who did not go with you to Babylon. 17The Lord who rules over all says, “I will send war, hunger and plague against them. I will make them like bad figs. They are so bad they can’t be eaten. 18I will hunt them down with war, hunger and plague. I will make all the kingdoms on earth displeased with them. They will use their name in a curse. All the nations where I drive them will be shocked at them. They will make fun of them. And they will bring shame on them. 19That’s because they have not listened to my words,” announces the Lord. “I sent messages to them again and again. I sent them through my servants the prophets. And you who were taken to Babylon have not listened either,” announces the Lord.
20So listen to the Lord’s message. Listen, all you whom he has sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He speaks about Ahab and Zedekiah. Ahab is the son of Kolaiah. Zedekiah is the son of Maaseiah. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. The Lord says about Ahab and Zedekiah, “I will hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. He will put them to death. You will see it with your own eyes. 22Because of what happens to them, people will use their names when they curse someone. All those who have been taken from Judah to Babylon will use their names in that way. They will say, ‘May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab. The king of Babylon burned them in the fire.’ 23That will happen because they have done awful things in Israel. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives. They have spoken lies in my name. I did not give them the authority to speak those things. I know what they have done. And I am a witness to it,” announces the Lord.
Shemaiah Opposes Jeremiah
24Tell Shemaiah, the Nehelamite, 25“The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, ‘You sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem. You also sent them to Zephaniah the priest. He is the son of Maaseiah. And you sent them to all the other priests. You said to Zephaniah, 26“The Lord has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada. He has put you in charge of the Lord’s house. You are supposed to arrest any crazy person who claims to be a prophet. You should put him in prison. You should put iron bands around his neck. 27So why haven’t you punished Jeremiah from Anathoth? He claims to be a prophet among you. 28He has sent a message to us in Babylon. It says, ‘You will be there a long time. So build houses and make your homes there. Plant gardens and eat what they produce.’ ” ’ ”
29But Zephaniah the priest read the letter to me. 30Then a message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, 31“Send a message to all the people who were taken away. Tell them, ‘The Lord speaks about Shemaiah, the Nehelamite. He says, “Shemaiah has prophesied to you. But I did not send him. He has made you trust in lies. 32So I say, ‘I will certainly punish Shemaiah, the Nehelamite. I will also punish his children after him. He will not have any children left among these people. I will do good things for my people. But he will not see them,’ ” ’ ” announces the Lord. “ ‘ “ ‘That’s because he has taught people to turn against me.’ ” ’ ”
Kalata Yolembera Anthu a ku Ukapolo
1Yeremiya anatumiza kalata kuchokera ku Yerusalemu kupita kwa akuluakulu amene anali ku ukapolo, ndiponso kwa ansembe, aneneri pamodzi ndi anthu onse amene Nebukadinezara anawatenga ku Yerusalemu kupita nawo ku ukapolo ku Babuloni. 2Zimenezi zinachitika mfumu Yekoniya, amayi a mfumu, nduna za mfumu ndiponso atsogoleri a ku Yuda ndi a ku Yerusalemu, anthu aluso ndi amisiri atatengedwa ku Yerusalemu kupita ku ukapolo. 3Yeremiya anapatsira kalatayo Eleasa mwana wa Safani ndi Gemariya mwana wa Hilikiya, amene Zedekiya mfumu ya Yuda anawatumiza kwa Mfumu Nebukadinezara ku Babuloni. Mʼkalatamo analembamo kuti:
4Anthu onse amene anatengedwa ukapolo kuchokera ku Yerusalemu kupita ku Babuloni, Yehova akuwawuza kuti, 5“Mangani nyumba ndipo muzikhalamo. Limani minda ndipo mudye zipatso zake. 6Kwatirani ndipo mubereke ana aamuna ndi aakazi. Ana anu aamuna muwasankhire akazi ndipo muwasankhire amuna ana anu aakaziwo, kuti nawonso abale ana aamuna ndi aakazi. Muchulukane kumeneko. Chiwerengero chanu chisachepe. 7Ndiponso muzifunafuna mtendere ndi ubwino wa mzinda umene ndinakupirikitsirani ku ukapoloko. Muzipempherera mzindawo kwa Yehova, kuti zikuyendereni bwino.” 8Inde, Yehova Wamphamvuzonse, Mulungu wa Israeli akunena kuti, “Musalole kuti aneneri ndi owombeza amene ali pakati panu akunyengeni. Musamvere maloto awo. 9Iwo akunenera zabodza kwa inu mʼdzina langa ngakhale Ine sindinawatume,” akutero Yehova.
10Yehova akuti, “Zaka 70 za ku Babuloni zikadzatha, ndidzabwera kudzakuchitirani zabwino zonse zimene ndinakulonjezani zija, ndipo ndidzakubwezerani ku malo ano. 11Pakuti Ine ndikudziwa zimene ndinakukonzerani,” akutero Yehova, “ndimalingalira zabwino zokhazokha za inu osati zoyipa, ayi. Ndimalingalira zinthu zokupatsani chiyembekezo chenicheni pa za mʼtsogolo. 12Nthawi imeneyo mudzandiyitana, ndi kunditama mopemba ndipo ndidzakumverani. 13Mudzandifunafuna ndipo mudzandipeza. Mukadzandifuna ndi mtima wanu wonse 14mudzandipezadi,” akutero Yehova, “ndipo ndidzakubwezerani zabwino zanu. Ndidzakusonkhanitsani kuchokera ku mayiko onse ndi kumalo konse kumene munali,” akutero Yehova, “ndipo ndidzakubweretsani kumalo kumene munali ndisanakuchotseni kukupititsani ku ukapolo.”
15Inu mumati, “Yehova watiwutsira aneneri athu ku Babuloni,” 16koma zimene Yehova akunena za mfumu imene ikukhala pa mpando waufumu wa Davide pamodzi ndi anthu onse amene anatsala mu mzinda muno, abale anu amene sanapite nanu ku ukapolo ndi izi, 17Yehova Wamphamvuzonse akuti, “Ndidzawapha ndi nkhondo, njala ndi mliri ndipo ndidzawasandutsa ngati nkhuyu zowola kwambiri, zosati nʼkudya. 18Ndidzawalondola ndi lupanga, njala ndi mliri ndipo ndidzawasandutsa chinthu chonyansa kwa anthu amayiko onse a pa dziko lapansi. Adzakhala otembereredwa, ochititsa mantha, onyozeka ndiponso ochitidwa chipongwe pakati pa anthu a mitundu yonse kumene ndawapirikitsirako. 19Zidzatero chifukwa sanamvere mawu anga amene ndinkawatumizira kudzera mwa atumiki anga, aneneri. Ngakhale inu amene muli ku ukapolo simunamverenso,” akutero Yehova.
20Choncho, imvani mawu a Yehova, inu akapolo nonse amene ndinakuchotsani mu Yerusalemu ndi kukupititsani ku Babuloni. 21Yehova Wamphamvuzonse, Mulungu wa Israeli akuti zokhudza Ahabu mwana wa Kolaya ndi Zedekiya mwana wa Maseya, amene akulosera zabodza kwa inu mʼdzina langa: “Taonani ndidzawapereka kwa Nebukadinezara mfumu ya ku Babuloni, ndipo adzawapha inu mukupenya. 22Chifukwa cha anthu awiriwo, akapolo onse ochokera ku Yuda amene ali ku Babuloni adzagwiritsa ntchito mawu awa potemberera: ‘Yehova achite nawe monga mmene anachitira ndi Zedekiya ndi Ahabu, amene mfumu ya ku Babuloni inawatentha.’ 23Pakuti anthu amenewa achita zoyipa kwambiri mu Israeli; achita chigololo ndi akazi a eni ake ndipo mʼdzina langa ankayankhula zabodza zimene sindinawawuze kuti atero. Ine ndikuzidziwa ndipo ndine mboni ya zimenezi,” akutero Yehova.
Kalata ya Semaya
24Ukamuwuze Semaya wa ku Nehelamu kuti, 25“Yehova Wamphamvuzonse, Mulungu wa Israeli akuti: Iwe unatumiza kalata mʼdzina lako kwa anthu onse a mu Yerusalemu, kwa Zefaniya mwana wa wansembe Maseya, ndi kwa ansembe onse. Unalemba mu kalatayo kuti, 26‘Yehova wakusankha kukhala wansembe mʼmalo mwa Yehoyada kuti ukhale wamkulu woyangʼanira Nyumba ya Yehova. Munthu aliyense wamisala amene akudziyesa kuti ndi mneneri uzimuponya mʼndende ndi kumuveka goli lachitsulo. 27Nanga tsono chifukwa chiyani simunamuchitire zimenezi Yeremiya wa ku Anatoti, amene amakhala ngati mneneri pakati panu? 28Yeremiyayo watitumizira uthenga uwu kuno ku Babuloni: Ukapolo wanu ukhala wa nthawi yayitali. Choncho mangani nyumba ndipo muzikhalamo; limani minda ndipo mudye zipatso zake.’ ”
29Koma wansembe Zefaniya anayiwerenga kalatayo pamaso pa mneneri Yeremiya. 30Ndipo Yehova anawuza Yeremiya kuti, 31“Tumiza uthenga uwu kwa akapolo onse: ‘Yehova akuti zokhudza Semaya wa ku Nehelamu: Semaya wakuloserani, ngakhale kuti Ine sindinamutume, ndipo wakunyengani kuti muzikhulupirira bodza. 32Nʼchifukwa chake Ine Yehova ndikuti: Mʼbanja lakelo sipadzakhala munthu pakati pa mtundu uno wa anthu amene adzaone zinthu zabwino zimene ndidzachitira anthu anga chifukwa analalika zondiwukira,’ ” akutero Yehova.
