Where is it in the Bible?
Jeremiah 29:11
11"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
In other translations
- ESV
- 11For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
- NLT
- 11"For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."
- CSB
- 11"For I know the plans I have for you"—this is the LORD's declaration—"plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."
- KJV
- 11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
The surrounding passage
Jeremiah 29:9–13, King James Version
9For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.
10For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
12Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
13And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Context
Part of a letter Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the people of Judah who had been taken into exile in Babylon (29:1). God tells them to settle down, build houses, and seek the welfare of the city, because he would bring them home only after seventy years were complete (29:10). The promise was first spoken to the exiled community as a whole.
About the book of Jeremiah
The weeping prophet, judgment, and a new covenant.
Could you have named it from the verse alone? Try Bible Reference Quiz: read a verse, then name its book, chapter, and verse.
Take the quiz →