Jeremiah 39–43

¹Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia, marched out against it. He came with all of his armies and attacked it. It was in the ninth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah. It was in the tenth month. ²The city wall was broken through. It happened on the ninth day of the fourth month. It was in the 11th year of Zedekiah’s rule.

³All of the officials of the king of Babylonia came. They took seats near the Middle Gate. Nergal-Sharezer from Samgar was there. Nebo-Sarsekim, a chief officer, was also there. So was Nergal-Sharezer, a high official. And all of the other officials of the king of Babylonia were there too.

⁴King Zedekiah and all of the soldiers saw them. Then they ran away. They left the city at night. They went by way of the king’s garden. They went out through the gate between the two walls. And they headed toward the Arabah Valley.

⁵But the armies of Babylonia chased them. They caught up with Zedekiah in the flatlands near Jericho. They captured him there. And they took him to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia. He was at Riblah in the land of Hamath. That’s where Nebuchadnezzar decided how he would be punished. ⁶The king of Babylonia killed the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah. He forced Zedekiah to watch it with his own eyes. He also killed all of the nobles of Judah. ⁷Then he poked out Zedekiah’s eyes. He put him in bronze chains. And he took him to Babylon.

⁸The Babylonians set the royal palace on fire. They also set fire to the houses of the people. And they broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

⁹Nebuzaradan was commander of the royal guard. Some people still remained in the city. But he took them away to Babylon as prisoners. He also took along those who had gone over to his side. And he took the rest of the people.

¹⁰Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, left some of the poor people of Judah behind. They didn’t own anything. So at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.

¹¹Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia, had given orders about me. He had given them to Nebuzaradan, the commander of the royal guard. Nebuchadnezzar had said, ¹²“Take him. Look after him. Don’t harm him. Do for him anything he asks.”

¹³So that’s what Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, did. Nebushazban and Nergal-Sharezer were with him. So were all of the other officers of the king of Babylonia. Nebushazban was a chief officer. Nergal-Sharezer was a high official. All of those men ¹⁴sent for me. They had me taken out of the courtyard of the guard. They turned me over to Gedaliah. They told him to take me back to my home. So I remained among my own people. Gedaliah was the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan.

¹⁵A message came to me from the Lord. It came while I was being kept in the courtyard of the guard. He said, ¹⁶“Go. Speak to Ebed-Melech from Cush. Tell him, ‘The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, “I am about to make the words I spoke against this city come true. I will not give success to it. Instead, I will bring horrible trouble on it. At that time my words will come true. You will see it with your own eyes.

¹⁷“ ‘ “But I will save you on that day,” announces the Lord. “You will not be handed over to those you are afraid of. ¹⁸I will save you. You will not be killed with a sword. Instead, you will escape with your life. That is because you trust in me,” announces the Lord.’ ”

Jeremiah Is Set Free From His Chains

40A message came to me from the Lord. It came after Nebuzaradan, the commander of the royal guard, had set me free at Ramah. I was being held by chains when he found me. I was among all of the prisoners from Jerusalem and Judah. We were being taken to Babylon.

²But the commander of the guard found me. He said to me, “The Lord your God ordered that this place be destroyed. ³And now he has brought it about. He has done exactly what he said he would do. All of these things have happened because you people sinned against the Lord. You didn’t obey him. ⁴But today I’m setting you free from the chains that are on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon if you want to. I’ll take good care of you there. But if you don’t want to come, then don’t. The whole country lies in front of you. Go anywhere you want to.”

⁵But before I turned to go, Nebuzaradan continued, “Go back to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. The king of Babylonia has appointed Gedaliah to be over the towns of Judah. Go and live with him among your people. Or go anywhere else you want to.” Ahikam was the son of Shaphan.

The commander gave me food and water. He also gave me a gift. Then he let me go. ⁶So I went to Mizpah to see Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. I stayed with him. I lived among the people who were left behind in the land.

Gedaliah Is Murdered

⁷Some of Judah’s army officers and their men were still in the open country. They heard that the king of Babylonia had appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, as governor over Judah. He had put him in charge of the men, women and children who were still there. They were the poorest people in the land. They hadn’t been taken to Babylon.

⁸When the army officers and their men heard those things, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, came. So did Johanan and Jonathan, the sons of Kareah. Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth, also came. The sons of Ephai from Netophah came too. And so did Jaazaniah, the son of the Maacathite. All of their men came with them.

⁹Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath to give hope to all of those men. He spoke in a kind way to them. He said, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Babylonians. Settle down in the land of Judah. Serve the king of Babylonia. Then things will go well with you. ¹⁰I myself will stay at Mizpah. I’ll speak for you to the officials of Babylonia who come to us. But you must harvest the wine, summer fruit and olive oil. Put them in your jars. Store them up. And live in the towns you have taken over.”

¹¹All of the Jews in Moab, Ammon and Edom heard what had happened. So did the Jews in all of the other countries. They heard that the king of Babylonia had left some people behind in Judah. They also heard that he had appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, as governor over them. Ahikam was the son of Shaphan.

¹²When they heard those things, all of them came back to the land of Judah. They went to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They came from all of the countries where they had been scattered. And they harvested a large amount of wine and summer fruit.

¹³Johanan and all of the other army officers who were still in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. Johanan was the son of Kareah. ¹⁴The officers said to Gedaliah, “Don’t you know that Baalis, the king of Ammon, has sent someone to take your life? It’s Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah.” But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, didn’t believe them.

¹⁵Then Johanan, the son of Kareah, spoke in private to Gedaliah in Mizpah. He said, “Let me go and kill Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah. No one will know about it. Why should he take your life? Why should he cause all of the Jews who are gathered around you to be scattered? Why should he cause the people who remain in Judah to die?”

¹⁶But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, spoke to Johanan, the son of Kareah. He said, “Don’t do an awful thing like that! What you are saying about Ishmael isn’t true.”

41In the seventh month Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, came with ten men to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. Nethaniah was the son of Elishama. Ishmael was a member of the royal family. He had been one of the king’s officers. Ishmael and his ten men were eating together at Mizpah.

²They got up and struck down Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, with their swords. They killed him even though the king of Babylonia had appointed him as governor over Judah. Ahikam was the son of Shaphan. ³Ishmael also killed all of the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah. And he killed the Babylonian soldiers who were there.

⁴On the next day, people still hadn’t found out that Gedaliah had been murdered. ⁵On that day 80 men came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria. They had shaved off their beards. They had torn their clothes. And they had cut themselves. They brought grain offerings and incense with them. They took them to the Lord’s house.

⁶Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, went out from Mizpah to meet them. He was sobbing as he went. When he met them, he said, “Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam.”

⁷They went with him into the city. Then Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and the men who were with him killed them. And they threw them into an empty well.

⁸But ten of the men had spoken to Ishmael. They had said, “Don’t kill us! We have some wheat and barley. We also have olive oil and honey. We’ve hidden all of it in a field.” So he let them alone. He didn’t kill them along with the others.

⁹But he had thrown all of the bodies of the men he had killed into the empty well. That included Gedaliah’s body. The well was the one King Asa had made. He had made it when he strengthened Mizpah against attack by Baasha, the king of Israel. Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, filled it with the bodies of those he had killed.

¹⁰Ishmael made prisoners of all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah. That included women who were members of the royal court. It also included all of the others who were left there. Nebuzaradan had appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, over them. Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, took them as prisoners. Then he started out to go across the Jordan River to the land of Ammon. Nebuzaradan was the commander of the royal guard.

¹¹Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all of the other army officers who were with him were told what had happened. They heard about all of the crimes Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had committed. ¹²So they brought all of their men together. Then they went to fight against Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah. They caught up with him near the large pool in Gibeon.

¹³Ishmael had many people with him. They saw Johanan, the son of Kareah. And they saw the other army officers who…