Jeremiah 41:1-43:13 - LSB - Legacy Standard Bible

Jeremiah 41:1-43:13

Ishmael Strikes Down Gedaliah

^aNow it happened in the seventh month, that ^bIshmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to ^cGedaliah the son of Ahikam. And they ^dwere eating bread together there in Mizpah. 2 Then 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, as well as the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.
4 Now it happened on the ¹next day after putting Gedaliah to death, 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 frankincense in their hands to bring to the ^ghouse of Yahweh. 6 Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, ^aweeping as he went; and it happened that as he encountered them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!” 7 But it happened 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 ¹companions.
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 remained in Mizpah, over whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; thus Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and went to cross over to the sons of ^cAmmon.

Johanan Rescues the People

11 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the ^acommanders of the military 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 it happened as soon as all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that 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 ^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 military forces that were with him took from Mizpah ^aall the remnant of the people whom he had returned from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the mighty men who were men of war, the women, the little ones, and the eunuchs, whom he had returned from Gibeon. 17 And they went and stayed in ¹^aGeruth 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.

The People Ask Jeremiah to Pray

Then all the ¹commanders of the military 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 ^asupplication ¹come before you, and ^bpray for us to Yahweh your God, that is for all this remnant, because we remain but a ^cfew out of many, as your own eyes now see us, 3 that Yahweh 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 Yahweh your God in accordance with your words; and I will tell you the whole ¹message which ^bYahweh will answer you. I will ^cnot keep back a word from you.” 5 And they said to Jeremiah, “May ^aYahweh be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole ¹message with which Yahweh your God will send you to us. 6 Whether it is good or bad, we will ^alisten to the voice of Yahweh our God to whom we are sending you, so that good ^bmay come to us when we listen to the voice of Yahweh our God.”
7 Now it happened that at the ^aend of ten days the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah. 8 Then he called for Johanan the son of Kareah and all the ¹commanders of the military forces that were with him, and for all the people both small and great, 9 and said to them, “Thus ^asays Yahweh the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before Him: 10 ‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will ^abuild you up and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I have ¹^brelented of the calamity that I have done against you. 11 ^aDo not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,’ declares Yahweh, ‘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 return 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 Yahweh 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 now, listen to the word of Yahweh, O remnant of Judah. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “If you really set your face to enter ^aEgypt, and you will enter to sojourn 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 ¹follow closely after you there in Egypt, and you will die there. 17 So all the men who set their face to go to Egypt to sojourn there will die by the ^asword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; and they will ^bhave no survivors or any who escaped from the calamity that I am going to bring on them.”’”
18 For thus says Yahweh 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 Yahweh has spoken to you, O remnant of Judah, “Do not ^ago into Egypt!” You should clearly ^bknow that today I have ^ctestified against you. 20 For you have only ¹^aled yourselves astray; for it is you who sent me to Yahweh your God, saying, “Pray for us to Yahweh our God; and according to all that Yahweh our God says, tell us so, and we will do it.” 21 So I have ^atold you today, but you have ^bnot listened to the voice of Yahweh your God, even according to all that He has sent me to tell you. 22 So now, you should clearly know that you will ^adie by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, in the ^bplace where you desire to go to sojourn.

Jeremiah Taken to Egypt

But it happened that as soon as Jeremiah, whom Yahweh their God had sent, had ^afinished speaking to all the people all the words of Yahweh 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 ^bspeaking a lie! Yahweh our God has not sent you to say, ‘You are not to enter Egypt to sojourn 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 military forces and all the people ^bdid not listen to the voice of Yahweh to ^cstay in the land of Judah. 5 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the ¹commanders of the military forces took the ^aentire remnant of Judah, who had returned from all the nations to which they had been banished, in order to sojourn in the land of Judah— 6 the men, the women, the little ones, the ^aking’s daughters, and ^bevery person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam ¹and 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 listen to the voice of Yahweh) and went in as far as ^aTahpanhes.
8 Then the word of Yahweh 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 house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of ³some of the Jews; 10 and you will say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh 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 houses 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 ¹sacred pillars of ²Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire.”’”