Jeremiah 29:8
For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
God's warning in this verse came through Jeremiah to Zedekiah and all Judah, including the exiles in Babylon, sent by written correspondence to meet a crisis without delay. It was given amid a controversy between Jeremiah's true testimony and the messages of false prophets. False prophets and diviners had arisen among the people both in Jerusalem and in Babylon, declaring that the yoke of bondage would soon be broken, the former prestige of the nation restored, and deliverance with an early return to Jerusalem near.
The command is not to let these men deceive them nor to listen to or trust the dreams that fostered those false expectations of imminent return. Instead they were to submit quietly to the temporary rule of their conquerors and to the captivity, to seek the peace of the land, to pursue their work, and to make peaceful homes in Babylon. Heeding the flattering prophecies would lead to fatal moves of rebellion and insurrection and resistance to captivity, frustrating God's merciful designs for them. It would awaken the vigilance and severity of the Chaldean authorities and their captors, bringing further restriction of liberties, suffering, disaster, and harsher conditions.
The warning was given in tender compassion with the promise that deliverance and return would come after seventy years of captivity and restoration at its close.