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23 These men have engaged in disgraceful acts among My people Israel. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and told lies in My name, prophesying when I never gave them a message. I know this because I am a witness to all they have done,” so says the Eternal.

Jeremiah’s letter is not well received by those in exile. They choose instead to listen to the empty promises of false prophets. One such prophet, Shemaiah, becomes so angry with Jeremiah’s correspondence that he writes back to the priest Zephaniah in Jerusalem. In this letter, he complains of Jeremiah’s prediction of a long captivity and urges the priest to punish the prophet. Hopefully this embarrassment will silence him. While Zephaniah does not place Jeremiah in shackles, he does read Shemaiah’s letter aloud to Jeremiah (and no doubt to others) in Jerusalem.

24 Say this to Shemaiah the Nehelamite:

Jeremiah’s Letter: 25 This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies and God of Israel, says about you: “I know that you sent letters on your own authority to the people in Jerusalem, to the priests, and specifically to the priest Zephaniah (son of Maaseiah). In that letter to Zephaniah, you said,

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