Jeremiah 29:31 (WEB)

Passage

“Send to all of the captives, saying, ‘Yahweh says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I didn’t send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie;”

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 29:29 Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet.

Jeremiah 29:30 Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, saying,

Jeremiah 29:31 “Send to all of the captives, saying, ‘Yahweh says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I didn’t send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie;”

Jeremiah 29:32 therefore Yahweh says, “Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his offspring. He will not have a man to dwell among this people. He won’t see the good that I will do to my people,” says Yahweh, “because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh.”’”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "send", "captives", "saying", "yahweh", "says", "concerning", "shemaiah", and "nehelamite". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "send" and "captives", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 30's "Then Yahweh s word came to Jeremiah..." into verse 32's "therefore Yahweh says Behold I will punish...", so "send" and "captives" belong inside that flow. In Jeremiah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "send" and "captives" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.