Jeremiah 40–44

Jeremiah Stays in Judah

40This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, released him at Ramah. ^rWhen he found him, he was bound in chains with all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon. ²The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, “The Lord your God decreed this disaster on this place, ^s3and the Lord has fulfilled it. He has done just what He decreed. Because you people have sinned against the Lord ^tand have not obeyed Him, this thing has happened. ⁴Now pay attention: Today I am setting you free from the chains that were on your hands. ^uIf it pleases you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will take care of you. But if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, go no farther. ^vLook—the whole land is in front of you. ^wWherever it seems good and right for you to go, go there.” ⁵When Jeremiah had not yet turned to go, Nebuzaradan said to him: “Return ^xto Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people or go wherever you want to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him a ration ^yand a gift ^zand released him. ⁶Jeremiah therefore went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah, ^aand he stayed with him among the people who remained in the land.

Gedaliah Advises Peace

⁷When all the commanders of the armies in the field—they and their men—heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land and that he had put him in charge of the men, women, and children from the poorest of the land who had not been deported to Babylon, ⁸they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. The commanders included Ishmael ^bson of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah son of the Maacathite—they and their men.

⁹Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men, assuring them, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you. ^c10As for me, I am going to live in Mizpah to represent ^dyou before the Chaldeans ^ewho come to us. As for you, gather wine, summer fruit, and oil, place them in your storage jars, and live in the cities you have captured.”

¹¹When all the Judeans in Moab ^fand among the Ammonites and in ^gEdom and in all the other lands ^halso heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, over them, ¹²they all returned from all the places where they had been banished ⁱand came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and harvested a great amount of wine and summer fruit.

¹³Meanwhile, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah ¹⁴and warned him, “Don’t you realize that Baalis, king of the Ammonites, has sent Ishmael ^json of Nethaniah ^kto kill you?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam would not believe them. ¹⁵Then Johanan son of Kareah suggested to Gedaliah in private at Mizpah, “Let me go kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah. No one will know it. Why should he kill you and scatter all of Judah that has gathered to you so that the remnant of Judah would perish?” ^l

¹⁶But Gedaliah son of Ahikam responded to Johanan son of Kareah, “Don’t do that! What you’re saying about Ishmael is a lie.”

Gedaliah Assassinated by Ishmael

41In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family and one of the king’s chief officers, came with 10 men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. They ate a meal together there in Mizpah, ²but then Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the 10 men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword; he killed the one the king of Babylon had appointed in the land. ^m3Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Chaldean soldiers who were there. ⁿ

⁴On the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, when no one knew yet, ⁵80 men came from Shechem, Shiloh, ^oand Samaria ^pwho had shaved their beards, ^qtorn their garments, and gashed themselves, and ^rwho were carrying grain and incense offerings to bring to the temple of the Lord. ^s6Ishmael son of Nethaniah came out of Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. When he encountered them, he said: “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam!” ⁷But when they came into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and threw them into ^ta cistern.

⁸However, there were 10 men among them who said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us, for we have hidden treasure in the field—wheat, barley, oil, and honey!” So he stopped and did not kill them along with their companions. ⁹Now the cistern where Ishmael had thrown all the corpses of the men he had struck down was a large one ^uthat King Asa had made in the encounter with Baasha king of Israel. ^vIshmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.

¹⁰Then Ishmael took captive all the remnant of the people of Mizpah including the daughters of the king—all those who remained in Mizpah over whom Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set off to cross over to the Ammonites. ^w

The Captives Rescued by Johanan

¹¹When Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies ^xwith him heard of all the evil that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had done, ¹²they took all their men and went to fight with Ishmael son of Nethaniah and found him by the great pool in Gibeon. ^y13When all the people with Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the army with him, they rejoiced, ¹⁴and all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and rejoined Johanan son of Kareah. ¹⁵But Ishmael son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the Ammonites. ¹⁶Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies with him then took from Mizpah all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam—men, soldiers, women, children, and court officials whom he brought back from Gibeon. ¹⁷They left, stopping in Geruth Chimham, ^zwhich is near Bethlehem, in order to make their way into Egypt, ¹⁸away from the Chaldeans. For they feared them because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed in the land. ^a

The People Seek Jeremiah’s Counsel

42Then all the commanders of the armies, along with Johanan son of Kareah, ^bJezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, ^capproached ²Jeremiah the prophet and said, “May our petition come before you; ^dpray to the Lord your God on our behalf, ^eon behalf of this entire remnant (for few of us remain out of the many, ^fas you can see with your own eyes), ³that the Lord your God may tell us the way we should walk and the thing we should do.”

⁴So Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard. I will now pray to the Lord your God according to your words, and every word that the Lord answers you I will tell you; I won’t withhold a word from you.” ^g

⁵And they said to Jeremiah, “As for every word the Lord your God sends you to tell us, if we don’t act accordingly, may the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us. ^h6Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you so that it may go well with us. ⁱWe will certainly obey the voice of the Lord our God!”

Jeremiah’s Advice to Stay

⁷Now at the end of 10 days, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, ⁸and he summoned Johanan son of Kareah, all the commanders of the armies who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest.

⁹He said to them, “This is what the Lord says, the God of Israel to whom you sent me to bring your petition before Him: ¹⁰‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will rebuild and not demolish you, ^jand I will plant and not uproot you, because I relent concerning the disaster ^kthat I have brought on you. ^l11Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon ^mwhom you now fear; don’t be afraid of him’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘because I am with you to save you ⁿand deliver you from him. ¹²I will grant you compassion, ^oand he ^pwill have compassion on you and allow you to return to your own soil. ¹³But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ ^qso as not to obey the voice of the Lord your God, ¹⁴and if you say, ‘No, instead we’ll go to the land of Egypt ^rwhere we will not see war or hear the sound of the ram’s horn ^sor hunger for food, and we’ll live there,’ ¹⁵then hear the word of the Lord, remnant of Judah! This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, ^tsays: If you are firmly resolved to go to Egypt ^uand live there for a while, ¹⁶then the sword ^vyou fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine you are worried about will follow on your heels ^wthere to Egypt, and you will die there. ¹⁷All who resolve to go to Egypt to live there for a while will die by the sword, famine, and plague. They will have no one escape or survive from the disaster I will bring on them.’

¹⁸“For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as My anger and fury were poured out on Jerusalem’s residents, ^xso will My fury pour out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing, scorn, ^yexecration, and disgrace, and you will never see this place again.’ ¹⁹The Lord has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah: ‘Don’t go to Egypt.’ Know for certain that I have warned you today! ^z20You have led your own selves astray because you are the ones who sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray to the Lord our God on our behalf, and as for all that the Lord our God says, tell it to us, and we’ll act accordingly.’ ²¹For I have told you today, but you have not obeyed…