A letter to the exiles
1This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2(This was after King Jehoiachin29:2 Hebrew Jeconiah, a variant of Jehoiachin and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the craftsmen had gone into exile from Jerusalem.) 3He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said:
4This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5‘Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.’ 8Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. 9They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,’ declares the Lord.
10This is what the Lord says: ‘When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfil my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and will bring you back from captivity.29:14 Or will restore your fortunes I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.’
15You may say, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,’ 16but this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your fellow citizens who did not go with you into exile – 17yes, this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. 18I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse29:18 That is, their names will be used in cursing (see verse 22); or, others will see that they are cursed. and an object of horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them. 19For they have not listened to my words,’ declares the Lord, ‘words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,’ declares the Lord.
20Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you in my name: ‘I will deliver them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your very eyes. 22Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: “May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.” 23For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have committed adultery with their neighbours’ wives, and in my name they have uttered lies – which I did not authorise. I know it and am a witness to it,’ declares the Lord.
Message to Shemaiah
24Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite, 25‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: you sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the other priests. You said to Zephaniah, 26“The Lord has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada to be in charge of the house of the Lord; you should put any maniac who acts like a prophet into the stocks and neck-irons. 27So why have you not reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you? 28He has sent this message to us in Babylon: it will be a long time. Therefore build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.” ’
29Zephaniah the priest, however, read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet. 30Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 31‘Send this message to all the exiles: “This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send him, and has persuaded you to trust in lies, 32this is what the Lord says: I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no-one left among this people, nor will he see the good things I will do for my people, declares the Lord, because he has preached rebellion against me.” ’
በምርኮ ላሉት የተላከ ደብዳቤ
1ነቢዩ ኤርምያስ በምርኮ ተወስደው በሕይወት ለቀሩት ሽማግሌዎች፣ ለካህናቱ፣ ለነቢያቱና ናቡከደነፆር ከኢየሩሳሌም ወደ ባቢሎን ማርኮ ለወሰዳቸው ሕዝብ ሁሉ የላከው የደብዳቤ ቃል ይህ ነው፤ 2ይህም የሆነው ንጉሡ ኢኮንያን29፥2 ኢኮንያን የኢዮአኪን ሌላው አቻ ስም ነው እቴጌዪቱ እናቱ፣ የቤተ መንግሥቱ ባለሟሎች፣ የይሁዳና የኢየሩሳሌም መሪዎች፣ ዐናጺዎችና ብረት ቀጥቃጮች ተማርከው ከኢየሩሳሌም ከተወሰዱ በኋላ ነበር። 3ደብዳቤውንም ከይሁዳ ንጉሥ ከሴዴቅያስ ወደ ባቢሎን ንጉሥ ወደ ናቡከደነፆር በተላኩት መልእክተኞች በሳፋን ልጅ በኤልዓሣና በኬልቅያስ ልጅ በገማርያ እጅ ላከው፤ ደብዳቤውም እንዲህ የሚል ነበር፤
4የእስራኤል አምላክ የሰራዊት ጌታ እግዚአብሔር፣ ከኢየሩሳሌም ወደ ባቢሎን ላስማረካቸው ሁሉ እንዲህ ይላል፤ 5“ቤት ሠርታችሁ ተቀመጡ፤ አትክልት ተክላችሁ ፍሬውን ብሉ፤ 6አግብታችሁ ወንዶችና ሴቶች ልጆችን ውለዱ፤ ወንዶች ልጆቻችሁንና ሴቶች ልጆቻችሁን አጋቡ፤ እነርሱም ወንዶችና ሴቶች ልጆችን ይውለዱ፤ ቍጥራችሁም በዚያ ምድር ይብዛ እንጂ አይነስ። 7ተማርካችሁ ለሄዳችሁባት ከተማ ሰላምና ብልጽግናን እሹ፤ ወደ እግዚአብሔርም ጸልዩላት፤ ምክንያቱም እርሷ ብትበለጽግ እናንተም ትበለጽጋላችሁ።” 8የእስራኤል አምላክ የሰራዊት ጌታ እግዚአብሔር በርግጥ እንዲህ ይላልና፤ “በመካከላችሁ ያሉት ነቢያትና ጠንቋዮች አያታልሏችሁ፤ የሚያልሙላችሁንም ሕልም አትስሙ፤ 9በስሜ ሐሰተኛ ትንቢት ይነግሯችኋል እንጂ እኔ አልላክኋቸውም” ይላል እግዚአብሔር።
10እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ “ሰባው ዓመት የባቢሎን ቈይታችሁ በተፈጸመ ጊዜ እጐበኛችኋለሁ፤ ወደዚህም ሥፍራ ልመልሳችሁ የገባሁላችሁን መልካሚቱን ቃሌን እፈጽምላችኋለሁ። 11ለእናንተ ያለኝን ዕቅድ እኔ ዐውቃለሁ” ይላል እግዚአብሔር፤ “ዕቅዱም ፍጻሜው ያማረና ተስፋ የሚሰጥ፣ እናንተንም የሚጠቅም እንጂ የሚጐዳ አይደለም። 12እናንተም ትጠሩኛላችሁ፤ ቀርባችሁ ወደ እኔ ትጸልያላችሁ፤ እኔም እሰማችኋለሁ። 13እናንተ ትፈልጉኛላችሁ፤ በፍጹም ልባችሁም ከፈለጋችሁኝ ታገኙኛላችሁ፤ 14እኔም እገኝላችኋለሁ” ይላል እግዚአብሔር፤ “ከምርኮም29፥14 ወይም ዕድል ፈንታችሁን እመልስላችኋለሁ እመልሳችኋለሁ፤ እናንተንም ከበተንሁበት አገርና ስፍራ ሁሉ እመልሳችኋለሁ” ይላል እግዚአብሔር፤ “በምርኮ ምክንያት ወዳስለቀቅኋችሁም ምድር እመልሳችኋለሁ።”
15እናንተም፣ “እግዚአብሔር በባቢሎን ነቢያት አስነሥቶልናል” ትላላችሁ፤ 16እግዚአብሔር ግን በዳዊት ዙፋን ላይ ስለሚቀመጠው ንጉሥና ከእናንተ ጋር ተማርኮ ስላልሄደው ወገንህ በዚህ ከተማ ስለ ቀረው ሕዝብ ሁሉ እንዲህ ይላል፤ 17የሰራዊት ጌታ እግዚአብሔር በርግጥ እንዲህ ይላል፤ “ሰይፍን፣ ራብንና መቅሠፍትን እሰድድባቸዋለሁ፤ ከመበላሸቱ የተነሣም ሊበላ እንደማይቻል እንደ መጥፎ የበለስ ፍሬ አደርጋቸዋለሁ። 18በሰይፍ፣ በራብና በመቅሠፍት አሳድዳቸዋለሁ፤ በምድር መንግሥታት ሁሉ ፊት የሚያስጸይፉ አደርጋቸዋለሁ፤ በማሳድድባቸውም ሕዝቦች ዘንድ የርግማንና የድንጋጤ፣ የመሣቂያና የመዘባበቻ ምልክት ይሆናሉ፤ 19በአገልጋዮቼ በነቢያት በኩል ደጋግሜ የላክሁላቸውን ቃሌን አልሰሙምና” ይላል እግዚአብሔር፤ “እናንተ ምርኮኞችም አልሰማችሁም” ይላል እግዚአብሔር።
20ስለዚህ ከኢየሩሳሌም ወደ ባቢሎን የሰደድኋችሁ ምርኮኞች ሁሉ፣ የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ስሙ። 21የእስራኤል አምላክ የሰራዊት ጌታ እግዚአብሔር በስሜ የሐሰት ትንቢት ስለሚነግሯችሁ ስለ ቆላያ ልጅ ስለ አክዓብና ስለ መዕሤያ ልጅ ስለ ሴዴቅያስ እንዲህ ይላል፤ “እነዚህን ለባቢሎን ንጉሥ ለናቡከደነፆር አሳልፌ እሰጣቸዋለሁ፤ እርሱም ዐይናችሁ እያየ ይገድላቸዋል። 22በእነርሱ ላይ ከደረሰው የተነሣ በባቢሎን ያሉ የይሁዳ ምርኮኞች ሁሉ፣ ‘እግዚአብሔር፣ የባቢሎን ንጉሥ በእሳት እንደ ጠበሳቸው እንደ ሴዴቅያስና እንደ አክዓብ ያድርግብህ’ ብለው ይራገማሉ፤ 23ከባልንጀሮቻቸው ሚስቶች ጋር በማመንዘርና ያልነገርኋቸውን ቃል በስሜ በሐሰት በመናገር በእስራኤል ዘንድ በደል ፈጽመዋልና። ይህንም እኔ ዐውቃለሁ፤ ምስክር ነኝ” ይላል እግዚአብሔር።
ለሸማያ የተላከ መልእክት
24“ለኔሔላማዊው ለሸማያ እንዲህ ብለህ ንገረው፤ 25‘የእስራኤል አምላክ የሰራዊት ጌታ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ በኢየሩሳሌም ላለው ሕዝብ ሁሉ፣ ለካህኑ ለመዕሤያ ልጅ ለሶፎንያስና ለሌሎችም ካህናት ሁሉ በገዛ ስምህ ደብዳቤዎችን ልከሃል፤ ለሶፎንያስም እንዲህ ብለሃል፤ 26“በእግዚአብሔር ቤት ኀላፊ ትሆን ዘንድ እግዚአብሔር በካህኑ በዮዳሄ ምትክ ካህን አድርጎ ሾሞሃል፤ ነቢይ ነኝ እያለ ትንቢት የሚናገር ማንኛውም ያበደ ሰው እግሩን በግንድ፣ ዐንገቱን በሰንሰለት መቀፍደድ ይገባሃል።” ’ 27ታዲያ፣ ነቢይ ነኝ ባዩን የዓናቶቱን ኤርምያስን ለምን አልገሠጽኸውም? 28ይህ ሰው፣ ‘የምርኮው ጊዜ ረዥም ስለሆነ፣ ቤት ሠርታችሁ ተቀመጡ፤ አትክልትም ተክላችሁ ፍሬውን ብሉ’ በማለት ወደ ባቢሎን መልእክት ልኮብናል።”
29ካህኑ ሶፎንያስም ደብዳቤውን ለነቢዩ ኤርምያስ አነበበለት። 30የእግዚአብሔርም ቃል ወደ ኤርምያስ እንዲህ ሲል መጣ፤ 31“ይህን መልእክት በምርኮ ላሉት ሁሉ እንዲህ ብለህ ላክ፤ ስለ ኔሔላማዊው ስለ ሸማያ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ ‘እኔ ሳልልከው ሸማያ ትንቢት ተናግሮላችሁ፣ በሐሰት እንድትታመኑ አድርጓችኋልና፣ 32እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ “እነሆ፤ ኔሔላማዊውን ሸማያንና ዘሩን እቀጣለሁ፤ በእኔ ላይ ዐመፅን ተናግሯልና፣ በዚህ ሕዝብ መካከል የሚተርፍ ዘር አይኖረውም” ’ ይላል እግዚአብሔር፤ ‘ለሕዝቤ የማደርገውንም መልካም ነገር አያይም።’ ”
