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You asked

what immediate comfort or challenge would these words offer the exiled community in babylon?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans that I have for you,’ says Yahweh, ‘plans for shalom and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.’

The prophet Jeremiah wrote this letter to the Jewish people who had been taken captive to Babylon in the early 6th century BCE, around 597 BCE. They were experiencing displacement and uncertainty, wondering about their future and the duration of their exile.

What does it look like to hold onto hope for a better future when your present reality feels like a profound disruption?

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

  • Lamentations 3:21-26

    This passage from Lamentations, likely written during or shortly after the exile, expresses hope in God's steadfast love amidst suffering.

  • Isaiah 40:1-5

    Isaiah offers comfort and a vision of restoration for a people in exile, promising a return to their homeland.

  • Romans 8:28

    Paul's letter speaks of God working all things for good for those who love him, echoing a theme of divine purpose in challenging circumstances.

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