Major Prophets · Chapter 29 of 52

Jeremiah 29

Jeremiah sends a letter to the exiles in Babylon, telling them to settle in: build houses, plant gardens, marry, and seek the peace of the city where they are captive. He warns against false prophets promising a quick return, for the exile will last seventy years. Then God will visit them, fulfilling thoughts of peace and a future. When they seek him with all their heart, he will be found and gather them home.

What happens in Jeremiah 29

Jeremiah writes from Jerusalem to the elders, priests, and people already carried captive to Babylon. Against those predicting a swift return, God tells the exiles to settle down for the long stay: build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their fruit, marry and raise families, and multiply rather than dwindle. Remarkably, he tells them to seek the peace of Babylon, the city of their captors, and to pray for it, because in its welfare they will find their own.

He warns them not to be deceived by the prophets and diviners among them who prophesy lies in his name. After seventy years, God says, he will visit them and fulfill his good word, bringing them back. He declares that he knows the thoughts he thinks toward them, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give them a future and hope. When they call on him, and seek him with their whole heart, he will be found and will gather them from every place of exile.

Jeremiah 29 in context

Jeremiah writes this letter around 597 BC to Judeans deported to Babylon, while false prophets in both Jerusalem and Babylon promised the exile would soon end. His message is bracing: the exile is real and long, seventy years, and God's people must live faithfully within it.

Yet embedded in this hard word is one of Scripture's most beloved promises of God's good purposes and hope for his people.

Main themes of Jeremiah 29

Jeremiah 29 (KJV)

1Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon; 2(After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;) 3By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying, 4Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; 5Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; 6Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. 7And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. 8For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. 9For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD. 10For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 14And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. 15Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised us up prophets in Babylon; 16Know that thus saith the LORD of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity; 17Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. 18And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them: 19Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD. 20Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon: 21Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes; 22And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire; 23Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours’ wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the LORD. 24Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, 25Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, 26The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the LORD, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks. 27Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you? 28For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 29And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet. 30Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying, 31Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie: 32Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the LORD; because he hath taught rebellion against the LORD.

Verses to carry from Jeremiah 29

“And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.”Jeremiah 29:7

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”Jeremiah 29:11

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”Jeremiah 29:13

Reflection

Jeremiah's letter refuses both despair and false optimism. Where do you feel stuck in circumstances you did not choose? God's word here is not escape but faithful presence: build, plant, bless the place you are, and trust that his thoughts toward you are peace. Seek him with your whole heart, and he promises to be found.

A prayer from Jeremiah 29