6. Get married and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons. Let your daughters be married so they may also have sons and daughters. Have many children and grow in number in Babylon. Don’t become fewer in number.
7. Also do good things for the city where I sent you as captives. Pray to the Lord for the city where you are living. If there is peace in that city, you will have peace also.”
8. The Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: “Don’t let your prophets and the people who do magic fool you. Don’t listen to their dreams.
9. They are prophesying lies. And they are saying that their message is from me. But I did not send them,” says the Lord.
10. This is what the Lord says: “Babylon will be powerful for 70 years. After that time I will come to you who are living in Babylon. I will keep my promise to bring you back to Jerusalem.
11. I say this because I know what I have planned for you,” says the Lord. “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future.
12. Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me. And I will listen to you.
13. You will search for me. And when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me!
14. I will let you find me,” says the Lord. “And I will bring you back from your captivity. I forced you to leave this place. But I will gather you from all the nations. I will gather you from the places I have sent you as captives,” says the Lord. “And I will bring you back to this place.”
15. You might say, “The Lord has given us prophets here in Babylon.”
16. But the Lord says this about the king who is sitting on David’s throne now. And I’m also talking about all the other people still in Jerusalem. These are your relatives who did not go to Babylon with you.
17. The Lord of heaven’s armies says: “I will soon send war, hunger and terrible diseases against those still in Jerusalem. I will make them like bad figs that are too rotten to eat.
18. I will chase them with war, hunger and terrible diseases. I will make them a hated people by all the kingdoms of the earth. People will speak evil of them. They will be shocked when they hear what has happened. And people will use them as a shameful example wherever I make them go.