1This is the text of the letter that…
2(This was after King Jeconiah, the queen mother,…
3The letter was entrusted to Elasah son of…
4This is what the LORD of Hosts, the…
5“Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and…
6Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take…
7Seek the prosperity of the city to which…
8For this is what the LORD of Hosts,…
9For they are falsely prophesying to you in…
10For this is what the LORD says: “When…
11For I know the plans I have for…
12Then you will call upon Me and come…
13You will seek Me and find Me when…
14I will be found by you, declares the…
15Because you may say, “The LORD has raised…
16this is what the LORD says about the…
17this is what the LORD of Hosts says:…
18I will pursue them with sword and famine…
19I will do this because they have not…
20So hear the word of the LORD, all…
21This is what the LORD of Hosts, the…
22Because of them, all the exiles of Judah…
23For they have committed an outrage in Israel…
24You are to tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite that
25this is what the LORD of Hosts, the…
26‘The LORD has appointed you priest in place…
27So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah…
28For he has sent to us in Babylon,…
29(Zephaniah the priest, however, had read this letter…
30Then the word of the LORD came to…
31“Send a message telling all the exiles what…
32this is what the LORD says: ‘I will…
