Jeremiah 29:24-32·~1 min

The Message to Shemaiah

Jeremiah is told to speak concerning Shemaiah, who in his own name sent letters to Jerusalem and to the priest Zephaniah, urging him to act against Jeremiah as a madman who should be put in stocks and irons. Shemaiah objects specifically because Jeremiah has told the exiles that the captivity will be long and that they should settle in Babylon, but Zephaniah reads the letter to Jeremiah rather than enforcing it.

Y²⁴ou are to tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite that ²⁵this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “In your own name you have sent out letters to all the people of Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests. You said to Zephaniah: ²⁶‘The LORD has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada, to be the chief officer in the house of the LORD, responsible for any madman who acts like a prophet — you must put him in stocks and neck irons. ²⁷So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you? ²⁸For he has sent to us in Babylon, claiming: Since the exile will be lengthy, build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat their produce.’” ²⁹(Zephaniah the priest, however, had read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet.)

The LORD then instructs Jeremiah to send a message to all the exiles declaring that Shemaiah has prophesied without being sent and has made them trust a lie. Therefore Shemaiah and his descendants will be punished, cut off from the people, and barred from seeing the good the LORD will bring, because he has preached rebellion against the LORD.

³⁰Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ³¹“Send a message telling all the exiles what the LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you— though I did not send him— and has made you trust in a lie, 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 that I will bring to My people, declares the LORD, for he has preached rebellion against the LORD.’”

Section summaryThe chapter closes with a word against Shemaiah the Nehelamite, who has written from Babylon urging the priest Zephaniah to discipline Jeremiah as though he were a madman posing as a prophet. Because Shemaiah has tried to suppress the true word and has made the exiles trust in lies, the LORD sentences him and his line to exclusion from the good He will eventually bring to His people.

Role in the chapterThis section shows that opposing Jeremiah's letter is itself an act of rebellion and that false leadership in exile will not share in the promised restoration.