Jeremiah 41:1–43:13
41 Now it came to pass in the seventh month athat Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal 1family and of the officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at bMizpah. And there they ate bread together in Mizpah. 2 Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, arose and cstruck Gedaliah the son of dAhikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him whom the king of Babylon had made egovernor over the land. 3 Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with him, that is, with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.
4 And it happened, on the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, when as yet no one knew it, 5 that certain men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men fwith their beards shaved and their clothes torn, having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to gthe house of the Lord. 6 Now Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went along; and it happened as he met them that he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!” 7 So it was, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah hkilled them and cast them into the midst of a 2pit, he and the men who were with him. 8 But ten men were found among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us, for we have treasures of wheat, barley, oil, and honey in the field.” So he desisted and did not kill them among their brethren. 9 Now the 3pit into which Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had slain, because of Gedaliah, was ithe same one Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. 10 Then Ishmael carried away captive all the jrest of the people who were in Mizpah, kthe king’s daughters and all the people who remained in Mizpah, lwhom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive and departed to go over to mthe Ammonites.
11 But when nJohanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces that were with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, 12 they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah; and they found him by othe great pool that is in Gibeon. 13 So it was, when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, that they were glad. 14 Then all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. 15 But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the Ammonites.
16 Then Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, took from Mizpah all the prest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah after he had murdered Gedaliah the son of Ahikam—the mighty men of war and the women and the children and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. 17 And they departed and dwelt in the habitation of qChimham, which is near Bethlehem, as they went on their way to rEgypt, 18 because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had murdered Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, swhom the king of Babylon had made governor in the land.
42 Now all the captains of the forces, aJohanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, came near 2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, b“Please, let our petition be acceptable to you, and cpray for us to the Lord your God, for all this remnant (since we are left but da few of many, as you can see), 3 that the Lord your God may show us ethe way in which we should walk and the thing we should do.”
4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard. Indeed, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words, and it shall be, that fwhatever the Lord answers you, I will declare it to you. I will gkeep nothing back from you.”
5 So they said to Jeremiah, h“Let the Lord be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do according to everything which the Lord your God sends us by you. 6 Whether it is 1pleasing or 2displeasing, we will iobey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we send you, jthat it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.”
7 And it happened after ten days that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8 Then he called Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, 9 and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before Him: 10 ‘If you will still remain in this land, then kI will build you and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up. For I lrelent concerning the disaster that I have brought upon you. 11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not be afraid of him,’ says the Lord, m‘for I am with you, to save you and deliver you from his hand. 12 And nI will show you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and cause you to return to your own land.’
13 “But if oyou say, ‘We will not dwell in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord your God, 14 saying, ‘No, but we will go to the land of pEgypt where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor be hungry for bread, and there we will dwell’—15 Then hear now the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah! Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you qwholly 3set ryour faces to enter Egypt, and go to dwell there, 16 then it shall be that the ssword which you feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; the famine of which you were afraid shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there you shall die. 17 So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to dwell there. They shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. And tnone of them shall remain or escape from the disaster that I will bring upon them.’
18 “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘As My anger and My fury have been upoured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will My fury be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And vyou shall be an oath, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more.’
19 “The Lord has said concerning you, O remnant of Judah, w‘Do not go to Egypt!’ Know certainly that I have 4admonished you this day. 20 For you 5were hypocrites in your hearts when you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the Lord our God, and according to all that the Lord your God says, so declare to us and we will do it.’ 21 And I have this day declared it to you, but you have xnot obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, or anything which He has sent you by me. 22 Now therefore, know certainly that you yshall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to dwell.”
43 Now it happened, when Jeremiah had stopped speaking to all the people all the awords of the Lord their God, for which the Lord their God had sent him to them, all these words, 2 bthat Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to dwell there.’ 3 But cBaruch the son of Neriah has 1set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death or carry us away captive to Babylon.” 4 So Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains of the forces, and all the people would dnot obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah. 5 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces took eall the remnant of Judah who had returned to dwell in the land of Judah, from all nations where they had been driven—6 men, women, children, fthe king’s daughters, gand every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. 7 hSo they went to the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And they went as far as iTahpanhes.
8 Then the jword of the Lord came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, 9 “Take large stones in your hand, and hide them in the sight of the men of Judah, in the 2clay in the brick courtyard which is at the entrance to Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes; 10 and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, kMy servant, and will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden. And he will spread his royal pavilion over them. 11 lWhen he comes, he shall strike the land of Egypt and deliver to death mthose appointed for death, and to captivity those appointed for captivity, and to the sword those appointed for the sword. 12 3I will kindle a fire in the houses of nthe gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive. And he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment, and he shall go out from there in peace. 13 He shall also break the sacred pillars of 4Beth Shemesh that are in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians he shall burn with fire.” ’ ”