Chapter 40

Jeremiah Remains in Judah. ¹ This word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, had released him at Ramah, where he had found him imprisoned in chains with all the other captives from Jerusalem and Judah who were being deported to Babylon.

² The commander of the guard took Jeremiah aside and said to him, “The Lord, your God, foretold the disaster that would overwhelm this place. ³ Now he has brought about what he threatened to do to your people because they sinned against the Lord and refused to obey him. ⁴ But today I am removing the chains from your hands. If you so wish, you can come with me to Babylon, and I will take good care of you. However, if you do not wish to come with me to Babylon, you need not do so. Endless stretches of land lie before you. Go wherever you think it is best for you.”

⁵ Then, before Jeremiah could reply, Nebuzaradan added, “You can also go back to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed governor of the towns of Judah, and stay with him among your people, or go anywhere else you please.” Then the commander of the guard gave him food and gifts and let him go. ⁶ Jeremiah thereupon went to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, in Mizpah, and he stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.

^7 [a]When all the military leaders of the forces still in the open country heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, as governor over the land and had placed in his care the men, women, and children who were the most destitute of all the people there who had not been carried off into exile to Babylon, ⁸ they went with their forces to Gedaliah in Mizpah: Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah; Johanan and Jonathan, the sons of Kareah; Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth; the sons of Ephai of Netophah; Jezaniah, the son of Beth-maacah.

⁹ Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore an oath to reassure them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Settle down in the land, serve the king of Babylon, and all will go well with you. ¹⁰ I myself will remain in Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. As for you, harvest the wine, the summer fruits, and the oil. Store them in your vessels and settle in the towns that you have seized.”

¹¹ When all the Judeans who were living in Moab with the Ammonites, in Edom, and elsewhere heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as governor over them, ¹² they all returned to Judah from the places to which they had been driven. They presented themselves to Gedaliah at Mizpah and gathered a rich harvest of wine and summer fruits.

¹³ Gedaliah’s Murder. Now Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the forces still stationed in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah ¹⁴ and said to him, “Are you at all aware that Baalis, the king of the Ammonites, has sent Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, to assassinate you?” But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, refused to believe them.

¹⁵ Then Johanan, the son of Kareah, spoke privately to Gedaliah at Mizpah, saying, “Please authorize me to go and kill Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah. No one will be the wiser. Why should he be allowed to assassinate you, thus causing all the Jews who have rallied around you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish?” ¹⁶ But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, replied to Johanan, the son of Kareah, “Do not even think of doing such a thing. What you are saying about Ishmael is untrue.”

Chapter 41

¹ In the seventh month, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family and one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. While they were eating together there at Mizpah, ² Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who had accompanied him rose up and struck Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with their swords and assassinated him because the king of Babylon had appointed him to be the governor of the land. ³ Ishmael also killed all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah in Mizpah as well as the Chaldean soldiers who were present.

⁴ On the day after Gedaliah had been slain, before news of the assassination had spread, ⁵ eighty men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, with their beards shaved and their clothes torn and their bodies covered with self-inflicted gashes. They were carrying grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord.

⁶ Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he proceeded, and as he met them, he said, ⁷ “Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam.” But when they had proceeded a good distance into the city, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and his men slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern.

⁸ However, there were ten men among them who cried out to Ishmael, “Do not kill us. We have large stores of wheat and barley, oil and honey, buried in the fields.” Therefore, he spared them and did not kill them, as he had done with their companions. ⁹ The cistern into which Ishmael threw the corpses of all the men he had killed was the large cistern that King Asa had built as a defensive measure against Baasha, the king of Israel. Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, filled this cistern with the slain.

¹⁰ Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, then led away as prisoners the remaining people who were in Mizpah—the king’s daughters as well as all the others who were left there, and over whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. With these captives, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, set out to cross over to the Ammonites.

¹¹ Flight to Egypt. When Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all of the army officers who were with him learned of the crimes that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had committed, ¹² they took all their men and set forth to attack Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, finally catching up with him by the great pool in Gibeon.

¹³ At the sight of Johanan, the son of Kareah, and the other army leaders, the people who were Ishmael’s captives were delighted. ¹⁴ All the people whom Ishmael had taken as prisoners from Mizpah went over to Johanan, the son of Kareah. ¹⁵ However, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, escaped from the clutches of Johanan and fled to the Ammonites with eight men.

¹⁶ Then Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the military leaders who were with him, led away all of the remaining people whom Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had carried away as prisoners from Mizpah after he had slain Gedaliah—soldiers, women, children, and eunuchs, whom he had brought from Gibeon. ¹⁷ After they started out, they stopped at Chinham, near Bethlehem, intending to flee into Egypt. ¹⁸ They had no wish to engage in a confrontation with the Chaldeans, since Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had slain Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the country.

Chapter 42

^1 [b]Then all the military commanders, including Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Azariah, the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the lowest to the highest rank, approached ² the prophet Jeremiah and said, “Please grant our petition and intercede for us and for this meager remnant. For where we once were great in number, now there are very few of us that remain, as your eyes can discern. ³ Please petition the Lord, your God, to show us the path we should follow and what we must do.”

⁴ The prophet Jeremiah said to them in reply, “I will grant your request and pray to the Lord, your God. Whatever answer the Lord has for you, I will tell you and not withhold anything from you.” ⁵ They in their turn said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not follow all the instructions that the Lord, your God, will send us. ⁶ Whether or not what he has to say is to our liking, we will obey the voice of the Lord, our God, to whom we are sending you, so that all may go well with us when we heed his instructions.”

⁷ After ten days had passed, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. ⁸ Then he summoned Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all of the military commanders who were with him, as well as all the people, from the least to the greatest, ⁹ and he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition:

¹⁰ “ ‘If you resolve to remain in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you. For I deeply regret the disaster that I have inflicted upon you. ¹¹ Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon whom at this moment you so greatly fear. You have no reason to be frightened of him, says the Lord, for I am with you to ensure your safety and to rescue you from his power. ¹² I will have compassion on you, and he will then treat you mercifully and allow you to return to your land.

¹³ “ ‘However, if you persist in your stubborn refusal to stay in this land, thereby disobeying the voice of the Lord, your God, ¹⁴ and you say, “We are determined to go to Egypt, where we will not be forced to endure further war or hear the trumpet’s call to battle or be hungry for bread; it is there that we will stay,” ¹⁵ then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you are determined to go to Egypt, and if you actually do make that journey and settle there, ¹⁶ then the sword you fear so greatly will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, the famine you dread will continue to afflict you to the same degree in Egypt, and it is there that you will perish.

¹⁷ “ ‘All those people who are determined to go to Egypt and settle there will die by the sword, famine, or plague. Not a single person will survive or escape the disaster that I will inflict upon them. ¹⁸ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Just as my anger and my fury were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will become an object of execration and horror, of cursing and ridicule, and you will never again see this place.’

¹⁹ “The Lord has spoken clearly to you in regard to this matter, O remnant of Judah. Do not go to Egypt. You can never make the claim that I did not give you a solemn warning. ²⁰ You were not speaking sincerely when you yourselves sent me to the Lord, your God, saying, ‘Intercede for us with the Lord, our God. Make known to us exactly what the Lord, our God, says, and we will do it.’

²¹ “Today I have told you what you wanted to know, but you have refused to obey the voice of the Lord, your God, in anything that he sent me to tell you. ²² Therefore, do not nurture any doubt that you will die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you wish to go and settle.”