² after the going out of Jeconiah the king, and the queen mother, and the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, and the artisans,^[a] and the smiths^[b] from Jerusalem, ³ by the hand of Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, the king of Judah, sent to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to Babylon, saying,^{[c] 4} “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles^[d] whom I have deported from Jerusalem to Babylon,