Jeremiah 40:6–44:18
6 So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah and stayed with him in the midst of the people who were left in the land.
7 When all the commanders of the armies who were in the open country and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam in an official position in the land, and that ⌊he had put him in charge of⌋m men, and women, and little children, and of the poor of the land, of all those who had not been deported to Babylon, 8 then they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan, and Jehonathan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. 9 And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and to their men, ⌊saying⌋,n “You must not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans. Stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. 10 ⌊As for me⌋,o look, I am staying at Mizpah to represent you ⌊before⌋p the Chaldeans who come to us. But you, gather wine and summer fruit and oil, and put them in your vessels, and live in your towns that you have seized.” 11 And also all the Judeans who were in Moab, and among the ⌊Ammonites⌋,q and in Edom, and who were in all the lands, when they heard that the king of Babylon had given a remnant to Judah and that he had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, in an official position over them, 12 then all the Judeans returned from all the places to which they were scattered. And they came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and they gathered wine and summer fruit that yielded ⌊in great abundance⌋.r
13 And Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies who were in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah 14 and said to him, “⌊Are you at all aware⌋s that Baalis, the king of the ⌊Ammonites⌋,t has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, to kill you?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam would not believe them. 15 Then Johanan the son of Kareah said to Gedaliah in secrecy at Mizpah, ⌊saying⌋,u “Please let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and ⌊nobody⌋v will know. Why should he kill you, so that all of Judah who are gathered to you will be scattered, and the remnant of Judah will perish?” 16 But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “You must not do this thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael.”
41 ⌊And then⌋a in the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, from the offspring of the kingship, and one of the chief officers of the king, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam at Mizpah, ⌊along with⌋b ten men. And they ate bread together there at Mizpah. 2 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah got up, ⌊along with⌋c the ten men who were with him, and they struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and killed him whom the king of Babylon had appointed in an official position over the land. 3 Then Ishmael killed all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, ⌊along with⌋d the Chaldeans who were found there, ⌊the soldiers⌋.e
4 ⌊And then⌋f on the second day of the killing of Gedaliah—and ⌊no one⌋g knew— 5 then men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men with shaven beardsh and torn garments, who had cut themselves with blades, ⌊having⌋i grain offeringsj and frankincense in their handsk to bring to the ⌊temple⌋l of Yahweh. 6 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah came out to meet them from Mizpah, ⌊weeping as he came⌋.m ⌊And then⌋n as he was meeting them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam.” 7 ⌊And then⌋,o the moment of their coming to the middle of the city, then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, ⌊along with⌋p the men who were with him, slaughteredq them and threw them to the middle of the pit.r 8 But ten men were found among them, and they said to Ishmael, “You must not kill us, for ⌊we have⌋s hidden treasures in the field, wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey. So he refrained and he did not kill them in the midst of their fellow countrymen. 9 Now the pitt into which Ishmael threw all the corpses of the men whom he had killed ⌊along with⌋u Gedaliah was the same one that King Asa had made because of Baasha the king of Israel, who was against him. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain ones.
10 Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, the daughters of the king and all the people who were left at Mizpah, over whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard,v had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the ⌊Ammonites⌋.w
11 When Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies who were with him, heardx all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, 12 then they took all the men and went to fight against Ishmael the son of Nethaniah. And they met him at the great pool that is in Gibeon. 13 ⌊And then⌋,y the moment that all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies who were with him, they were glad. 14 So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and returned and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. 15 But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped with eight men ⌊from⌋z Johanan, and they went to the ⌊Ammonites⌋.a
16 Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies who were with him took from Mizpah all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, strong men, ⌊soldiers⌋,b and women, and little children, and eunuchs whom he brought back from Gibeon. 17 And they set out and stayed at the lodging place of Chimham that is near Bethlehem, ⌊intending⌋c to go to Egypt 18 because of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid ⌊of them⌋,d because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed in an official position over the land.
The Remnant Asks Jeremiah to Pray to Yahweh for Direction
42 Then all the commanders of the armies, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the smallest to the greatest, approached 2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “May our plea please fall ⌊before you⌋,a and pray for us to Yahweh your God, for all this remnant, for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes are seeing us. 3 And let Yahweh your God inform us the way in which we should go and the thing that we should do.” 4 And Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard. Look, I am going to pray to Yahweh your God according to your words, ⌊and then⌋b all the wordsc that Yahweh answers you I will tell you; I will not withhold from you a word.” 5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May Yahweh be against us as ⌊a true and faithful witness⌋d if we do not do according to all the wordse that Yahweh your God sends you for us. 6 Whether good or bad, we will listen to the voice of Yahweh our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of Yahweh our God.”
The Remnant Rejects the Word of Yahweh
7 ⌊And then⌋f at the end of ten days the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah. 8 And he summoned Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the armies who were with him, and all the people from the smallest to the greatest, 9 and said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to cause your plea to fall ⌊before him⌋:g 10 ‘If only you will stay in this land, then I will build you and I will not tear you down, and I will plant you and I will not pluck you up, for I relent of the disaster that I have brought to you. 11 You must not be afraid ⌊of⌋h the king of Babylon whom you are ⌊afraid of⌋.i You must not be afraid of him,’ ⌊declares⌋j Yahweh, ‘for I am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand. 12 And I will show you compassion, and he will have compassion on you and will restore you to your soil.
13 But if you are saying, “We will not stay in this land,” so as to not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, 14 saying, “No, for we will go to the land of Egypt where we will not see war, and we will not hear the sound of a horn, and we will not be hungry for bread, and there we will stay,” 15 then ⌊therefore⌋k hear the word of Yahweh, O remnant of Judah. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: “⌊If you are determined⌋l to go to Egypt, and you go to dwell as aliens there, 16 then it will be that the sword that you are in fear of will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine that you are anxious of will pursue after you there into Egypt, and there you will die. 17 So all the people who ⌊are determined⌋m to go to Egypt to dwell as aliens there will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague, and there will not be for them an escapee or a survivor from the disaster that I am bringing upon them.” 18 For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: “As my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will pour out on you at your going to Egypt, and you will become a curse, and a horror, and a curse formula, and a disgrace, and you will no longer see this place.” ’
19 Yahweh has spoken to you, O remnant of Judah, ‘You must not go to Egypt.’ You must certainly know that I have warned you ⌊today⌋n 20 that ⌊you have made a fatal mistake⌋,o for you sent me to Yahweh your God, ⌊saying⌋,p ‘Pray for us to Yahweh our God, and all that Yahweh our God says, so tell us and we will do it.’q 21 So I have told you ⌊today⌋,r and you have not listened to the voice of Yahweh your God, or of ⌊anything⌋s that he sent me for you. 22 Now then, certainly you must know that by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague you will die in the place where you desire to go, to dwell as aliens there.”