Jeremiah 39–43

The Fall of Jerusalem

39In the ninth year of Zedekiah, the king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. ²In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the city was taken by assault. ³And all the officials of the king of Babylon came and sat in the Middle Gate: Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim the chief officer, Nergal-sharezer the high official, with all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon. ⁴And then^a when^b Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the soldiers^c with him, they fled and went out at night from the city by the way of the garden of the king through the gate between the walls. And they went out toward the Jordan Valley. ⁵But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And they took him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath. And he pronounced sentence^d on him. ⁶And the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah before his eyes. The king of Babylon also slaughtered all the nobles of Judah. ⁷Then he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah and tied him up with bronze fetters to bring him to Babylon. ⁸And the Chaldeans burned the palace^e of the king and the houses^f of the people with fire and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

⁹Then the rest of the people who were left in the city, and those deserting who had deserted to him, and the rest of the people who remained, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard,^g deported to Babylon. ¹⁰And some of the poor people, who had nothing,^h Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard,ⁱ left in the land of Judah. And he gave them vineyards and fields on that day.

¹¹And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon commanded concerning Jeremiah through^j Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard,^k saying,^{l 12}“Take him and set your eyes on him. And you must not do something bad to him, but only^m that which he speaks to you, so do with him.” ¹³So Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard,ⁿ sent word, along with^o Nebushazban the chief officer, and Nergal-sharezer the high official, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon. ¹⁴And they sent and took Jeremiah from the courtyard of the guard and gave him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him to the house, so he stayed in the midst of the people.

Ebed-melech is Rewarded for His Faith

¹⁵And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah at his confinement in the courtyard of the guard, saying,^{p 16}“Go and say to Ebed-melech the Cushite, saying,^q ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: “Look, I am about to bring my words to pass against this city for evil and not for good. And they will be before you^r on that day. ¹⁷But I will rescue you on that day,” declares^s Yahweh, “and you will not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are frightened.^{t 18}For surely I will save you, and you will not fall by the sword. But your life will be for you as booty because you have trusted in me,” declares^u Yahweh.’ ”

Jeremiah Decides to Remain in the Land

40The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard,^a had let him go from Ramah, where he had been taken^b bound in chains in the midst of all the exiles^c of Jerusalem and Judah who were being deported to Babylon. ²And the captain of the guard^d took Jeremiah and said to him, “Yahweh your God threatened this disaster to this place, ³and now he has brought it about,^e and Yahweh has done just as^f he threatened. Because you sinned against Yahweh and did not listen to his voice, so this thing has happened to you. ⁴And so then look, I have released you today^g from the chains that were on your hands.^h If it is good in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, then come, and I will take care of you.ⁱ But if it is bad in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, then refrain. Look, the whole land is before you.^j To wherever it is good and right in your eyes to go, then go there.” ⁵While he still had not turned back, Nebuzaradan added, “Return to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed in an official position over the towns of Judah, and stay with him in the midst of the people. Or to wherever it is right in your eyes to go, then go there.”^k Then the captain of the guard^l gave him an allowance of provisions and a present, and let him go. ⁶So 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.

The Assassination of Gedaliah

⁷When 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, ⁸then 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. ⁹And 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. ¹⁰As 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.” ¹¹And 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, ¹²then 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

¹³And Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies who were in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah ¹⁴and 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. ¹⁵Then 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?” ¹⁶But 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.”

41And 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. ²And 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. ³Then Ishmael killed all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with^d the Chaldeans who were found there, the soldiers.^e

The Massacre of the Mourners

⁴And then^f on the second day of the killing of Gedaliah—and no one^g knew— ⁵then men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men with shaven beards^h and torn garments, who had cut themselves with blades, havingⁱ grain offerings^j and frankincense in their hands^k to bring to the temple^l of Yahweh. ⁶And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah came out to meet them from Mizpah, weeping as he came.^m And thenⁿ as he was meeting them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam.” ⁷And 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, slaughtered^q 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. ⁹Now the pit^t 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.

¹⁰Then 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

¹¹When Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies who were with him, heard^x all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, ¹²then 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. ¹³And 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. ¹⁴So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and returned and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. ¹⁵But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped with eight men from^z Johanan, and they went to the Ammonites.^a

¹⁶Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies who were with him took from Mizpah all the rest…