26. After the death of Jehoiada the priest, the Lord chose you to be the priest in charge of the temple security force. You know that anyone who acts mad and pretends to be a prophet should be arrested and put in chains and iron collars.
27. Jeremiah from the town of Anathoth is pretending to be a prophet there in Jerusalem, so why haven't you punished him?
28. He even wrote a letter to the people here in Babylonia, saying we would be here a long time. He told us to build homes and to plant gardens and grow our own food.
29. When Zephaniah received Shemaiah's letter, he read it to me.
30. Then the Lord told me what to write in a second letter
31. to the people of Judah who had been taken to Babylonia. In this letter, I wrote that the Lord had said:I, the Lord, have not chosen Shemaiah to be one of my prophets, and he has misled you by telling lies in my name.
32. He has even talked you into disobeying me. So I will punish Shemaiah. He and his descendants won't live to see the good things I will do for my people. I, the Lord, have spoken.