Jeremiah 41–44
1 aIn the seventh month bIshmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal 1family and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to cGedaliah the son of Ahikam. While they dwere eating bread together there in Mizpah,
2 Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him arose and astruck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and bput to death the one cwhom the king of Babylon had appointed 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 Now it happened on the 1next day after the killing of Gedaliah, when no one knew about it,
5 that eighty men acame from bShechem, from cShiloh, and from dSamaria with etheir beards shaved off and their clothes torn and 1their bodies fgashed, having grain offerings and incense in their hands to bring to the ghouse of the Lord.
6 Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, aweeping as he went; and as he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!”
7 Yet it turned out that as soon as they came inside the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men that were with him aslaughtered them and cast them into the cistern.
8 But ten men who were found among them said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death; for we have astores of wheat, barley, oil and honey hidden in the field.” So he refrained and did not put them to death along with their companions.
9 Now as for the cistern where Ishmael had cast all the corpses of the men whom he had struck down 1because of Gedaliah, it was the aone that King Asa had made on baccount of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.
10 Then Ishmael took captive all the aremnant of the people who were in Mizpah, the bking’s daughters and all the people who were left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had put under the charge of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; thus Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and proceeded to cross over to the sons of cAmmon.
11 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the acommanders of the forces that were with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done.
12 So they took all the men and went to afight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and they found him by the bgreat 1pool that is in Gibeon.
13 Now as soon as all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and the commanders of the forces that were with him, they were glad.
14 So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah.
15 But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah aescaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the sons of Ammon.
16 Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him took from Mizpah aall the remnant of the people whom he had 1recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the men who were 2soldiers, the women, the 3children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon.
17 And they went and stayed in 1aGeruth Chimham, which is beside Bethlehem, in order to bproceed into Egypt
18 because of the Chaldeans; for they were aafraid of them, since Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom bthe king of Babylon had appointed over the land.
Warning against Going to Egypt
1 Then all the 1commanders of the forces, aJohanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people bboth small and great approached
2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our apetition 1come before you, and bpray for us to the Lord your God, that is for all this remnant; because we are left but a cfew out of many, as your own eyes now see us,
3 that the Lord your God may tell us the away in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.”
4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I am going to apray to the Lord your God in accordance with your words; and I will tell you the whole 1message which the bLord will answer you. I will cnot keep back a word from you.”
5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the aLord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole 1message with which the Lord your God will send you to us.
6 “Whether it is 1pleasant or 2unpleasant, we will alisten to the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go bwell with us when we listen to the voice of the Lord our God.”
7 Now at the aend of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.
8 Then he called for Johanan the son of Kareah and all the 1commanders of the forces that were with him, and for all the people both small and great,
9 and said to them, “Thus asays the Lord the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before Him:
10 ‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will abuild you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I 1will brelent concerning the calamity that I have inflicted on you.
11 ‘aDo not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,’ declares the Lord, ‘for bI am with you to save you and deliver you from his hand.
12 ‘I will also show you compassion, so that ahe will have compassion on you and restore you to your own soil.
13 ‘But if you are going to say, “We will anot stay in this land,” so as not to listen to the voice of the Lord your God,
14 saying, “No, but we will ago to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or bhear the sound of a trumpet or hunger for bread, and we will stay there”;
15 then 1in that case listen to the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “If you really set your 2mind to enter aEgypt and go in to reside there,
16 then the asword, which you are afraid of, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are anxious, will follow closely after you there in Egypt, and you will die there.
17 “So all the men who set their 1mind to go to Egypt to reside there will die by the asword, by famine and by pestilence; and they will bhave no survivors or refugees from the calamity that I am going to bring on them.” ’ ”
18 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “As My aanger and wrath have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a bcurse, an object of horror, an imprecation and a reproach; and cyou will see this place no more.”
19 The Lord has spoken to you, O remnant of Judah, “Do not ago into Egypt!” You should clearly bunderstand that today I have ctestified against you.
20 For you have only 1adeceived yourselves; for it is you who sent me to the Lord your God, saying, “Pray for us to the Lord our God; and whatever the Lord our God says, tell us so, and we will do it.”
21 So I have atold you today, but you have bnot 1obeyed the Lord your God, even in whatever He has sent me to tell you.
22 Therefore you should now clearly understand that you will adie by the sword, by famine and by pestilence, in the bplace where you wish to go to reside.
In Egypt Jeremiah Warns of Judgment
1 But as soon as Jeremiah, whom the Lord their God had sent, had afinished telling all the people all the words of the Lord their God—that is, all these words—
2 Azariah the ason of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are btelling a lie! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You are not to enter Egypt to reside there’;
3 but aBaruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us to give us over into the hand of the Chaldeans, so they will put us to death or exile us to Babylon.”
4 So aJohanan the son of Kareah and all the 1commanders of the forces, and all the people, bdid not obey the voice of the Lord to cstay in the land of Judah.
5 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the 1commanders of the forces took the aentire remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations to which they had been driven away, in order to reside in the land of Judah—
6 the men, the women, the 1children, the aking’s daughters and bevery person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam 2and grandson of Shaphan, together with cJeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah—
7 and they entered the land of Egypt (for they did not obey the voice of the Lord) and went in as far as aTahpanhes.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in aTahpanhes, saying,
9 “Take some large stones in your 1hands and hide them in the mortar in the 2brick terrace which is at the entrance of Pharaoh’s 3palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of 4some of the Jews;
10 and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am going to send and get aNebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, bMy servant, and I am going to set his throne right over these stones that I have hidden; and he will spread his ccanopy over them.
11 “He will also come and astrike the land of Egypt; those who are meant for death will be given over to death, and those for captivity to captivity, and bthose for the sword to the sword.
12 “And 1I shall set fire to the temples of the agods of Egypt, and he will burn them and take them captive. So he will bwrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself with his garment, and he will depart from there safely.
13 “He will also shatter the 1obelisks of 2Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt; and the temples of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire.” ’ ”
1 The word that came to Jeremiah for all the Jews living in the land of Egypt, those who were living in aMigdol, bTahpanhes, cMemphis, and the land of dPathros, saying,