You're Gonna Be Here A While

This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem
to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets
and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from
Jerusalem to Babylon. 2(This was after King Jehoiachin and the
queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and
Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the artisans had gone into exile
from Jerusalem.) 3He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan
and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah
sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said: 4This is what the
LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile
from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5“Build houses and settle down; plant
gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and
daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in
marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase
in number there; do not decrease. 7Also, seek the peace and prosperity
of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for
it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

Jeremiah 29:1-7 (NIV)