Jeremiah 40-44 - LSB - Legacy Standard Bible

Jeremiah 40-44

Jeremiah Stays in Judah

The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after ^aNebuzaradan captain of the bodyguard had released him from ^bRamah, when he had taken him bound in ^cchains among all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon. 2 And the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, “^aYahweh your God promised this calamity against this place; 3 and Yahweh has brought it on and done just as He promised. Because you people ^asinned against Yahweh and did not listen to His voice, therefore this thing has happened to you. 4 So now, behold, I am ^afreeing you today from the chains which are on your hands. If it is good in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, come along, and I will set my eyes to look after you; but if it ¹is displeasing in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, ²never mind. Look, the ^bwhole land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right in your eyes to go.” 5 But as ¹Jeremiah had not yet set out to return, ²he said, “Return then to ^aGedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has ^bappointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people; or else go anywhere that is right in your eyes to go.” So the captain of the bodyguard gave him a ^cration and a ^dgift and let him go. 6 Then Jeremiah went to ^aMizpah to ^bGedaliah the son of Ahikam and stayed with him among the people who remained in the land.
7 ^aThen all the ¹commanders of the military forces that were in the field, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam over the land and that he had appointed him over the men, women, little ones, and those of the ^bpoorest of the land who had not been exiled to Babylon. 8 So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with ^aIshmael the son of Nethaniah, and ^bJohanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the ^cNetophathite, and ^dJezaniah the son of the ^eMaacathite, both they and their men. 9 Then Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ^aswore to them and to their men, saying, “^bDo not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans; stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, that it may go well with you. 10 Now as for me, behold, I am going to stay at Mizpah to ^astand for you before the Chaldeans who come to us; but as for you, ^bgather in wine and ^csummer fruit and oil and put them in your storage vessels and stay in your cities that you have seized.” 11 And also all the Jews, who were in ^aMoab and among the sons of ^bAmmon and in ^cEdom and who were in all the other lands, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant for Judah and that he had appointed over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. 12 Then all the Jews ^areturned from all the places to which they had been banished and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered in wine and summer fruit in great abundance.
13 Now Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that were in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah 14 and said to him, “Do you indeed know that Baalis the king of the sons of ^aAmmon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to strike down your life?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them. 15 Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “^aLet me go and strike down Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know! Why should he ^bstrike down your life, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered and the ^cremnant of Judah would perish?” 16 But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “^aDo not do this thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael.”

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.”’”

Wrath Against the Israelites in Egypt

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, 2 “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are a ^awaste place and no one lives in them 3 ^abecause of their evil which they did so as to ^bprovoke Me to anger by continuing to ^cburn incense and to ^dserve other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, nor your fathers. 4 Yet I ^asent you all My slaves the prophets, rising up early and sending, saying, “Oh, do not do this ^babominable thing which I hate.” 5 But ^athey did not listen or incline their ears to turn from their evil, so as not to burn incense to other gods. 6 Therefore My ^awrath and My anger were poured out and burned in the ^bcities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so they have become a waste place and a ^cdesolation as it is this day. 7 So now, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, “Why are you ^adoing great evil against yourselves, so as to ^bcut off from you man and woman, infant and nursing baby, from among Judah, leaving yourselves without remnant, 8 ^aprovoking Me to anger with the works of your hands, ^bburning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you are entering to sojourn, so that you might be cut off and become an ^cimprecation and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? 9 Have you forgotten the ^aevil of your fathers, the evil of the kings of Judah, and the evil of their wives, your own evil, and the evil of your wives, which they did in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10 But they ^ahave not become ¹contrite even to this day, nor have they feared nor ^bwalked in My law or My statutes, which I have put before you and before your fathers.”’
11 “Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am going to ^aset My face against you for your evil demise, even to cut off all Judah. 12 And I will ^atake away the remnant of Judah who have set their face on entering the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they will all ¹^bmeet their end in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword and ¹meet their end by famine. Both small and great will die by the sword and famine; and they will become a ^ccurse, an object of horror, an imprecation, and a reproach. 13 And I will ^apunish those who live in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence. 14 So there will be ^ano one who escapes or any survivors for the remnant of Judah who have entered the land of Egypt to sojourn there and then to return to the land of Judah, to which they are ¹^blonging to return to live; for none will ^creturn except a few who escape.’”
15 Then ^aall the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, ¹including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered to Jeremiah, saying, 16 “As for the ¹^amessage that you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh, ^bwe are not going to listen to you! 17 But rather we will certainly ^acarry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, ¹by burning incense to the ^bqueen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as ^cwe ourselves, our fathers, our kings, and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had ^dplenty of ²food and were well off and saw no evil. 18 But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have ^alacked everything and have ¹met our end by the sword and by famine.” 19 “And,” said the women, “when we were ^aburning incense to the queen of heaven and ¹were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it ^bwithout our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes ²in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”
20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women—even to all the people who were answering him with such a word—saying, 21 “As for the ¹^asmoking sacrifices that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the ^bstreets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not Yahweh ^cremember them and did not all this come upon His heart? 22 So Yahweh was ^ano longer able to bear it, ^bbecause of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations which you have done; thus your land has become a ^cwaste place, an object of horror, and an imprecation, without an inhabitant, as it is this day. 23 Because you have burned incense and have sinned against Yahweh and ^anot listened to the voice of Yahweh or ^bwalked in His law, His statutes, or His testimonies, therefore this ^cevil has befallen you, as it has this day.”
24 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “^aHear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are ^bin the land of Egypt, 25 thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: ‘As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, “We will ^acertainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” ¹^bGo ahead and establish your vows, and certainly perform your vows!’ 26 ¹Nevertheless, hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt, ‘Behold, I have ^asworn by My great name,’ says Yahweh, ‘^bnever shall My name be called upon again by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “^cAs Lord Yahweh lives.” 27 Behold, I am watching over them ^afor ¹evil and not for good, and ^ball the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will ²meet their end by the sword and by famine until they ³are completely consumed. 28 ^aThose who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt to the land of Judah ¹^bfew in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to sojourn there will know ^cwhose word will be established, Mine or theirs. 29 This will be the ^asign to you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that ^bMy words will surely be established against you for ¹evil.’ 30 Thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am going to give over ^aPharaoh Hophra king of Egypt to the hand of his enemies, to the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave over ^bZedekiah king of Judah to the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and was seeking his life.’”