Jeremiah
Jeremiah wrote to a people in exile, and in chapter 29 tells them that God’s thoughts toward them are of peace and of a future.
Thoughts of Peace · Jeremiah 29:11
Crewneck · 7 colors
Price range: $36.95 through $39.95
Thoughts of Peace · Jeremiah 29:11
Hoodie · 7 colors
Price range: $42.95 through $46.95
Thoughts of Peace · Jeremiah 29:11
T-Shirt · 7 colors
Price range: $24.95 through $28.95
About the book of Jeremiah
Jeremiah is a book of prophecy named for the prophet Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah, a priest from Anathoth near Jerusalem. God called him as a young man in the days of King Josiah, and he served through the last decades of the kingdom of Judah. He spoke to the kings and people of Jerusalem and, later, to the exiles in Babylon. Because he wept over his people, he is known as the weeping prophet. His book mixes poems, sermons, stories and biography, and it is not strictly in time order.
Main themes
Jeremiah’s ministry was hard. For about forty years he warned that idolatry and injustice would bring Babylon against Jerusalem, and he was mocked and put in prison for saying so. He lived to see Jerusalem fall in 586 BC and was later carried off to Egypt. He kept preaching because the word of the Lord burned in him and he could not hold it back.
The book is not only warning. Jeremiah 31 promises a new covenant, in which God will write his law on his people’s hearts and forgive their sin. Jeremiah 29 sits between warning and promise, a letter to the exiles telling them to build houses, plant gardens and pray for the city where they live while they wait. Hope in Jeremiah is patient and realistic. It lives alongside lament, and it rests on God’s character rather than on circumstances.
Verses from Jeremiah on our apparel
Jeremiah 29:11. “For 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 words come from that letter to the exiles, who would wait seventy years in Babylon. Peace here is the Hebrew shalom, wholeness and well-being, and “expected end” in the KJV means a hoped-for future. It is a promise about God’s purposes for his people, not a guarantee that every hard season will be short. Our Thoughts of Peace design prints the verse on a T-shirt, a hoodie and a crewneck.
Other well-loved lines, such as Jeremiah 1:5 and Jeremiah 33:3, are not on our shirts yet, so read them in your own Bible.
Frequently asked
Who is Jeremiah 29:11 written to? To the Jewish elders, priests and people taken captive to Babylon, in a letter Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem (Jeremiah 29:1). Reading it with that setting keeps its meaning clear.
How long did the exile last? Jeremiah told the exiles it would be seventy years, and that God would then bring them home (Jeremiah 29:10-14).