Jeremiah 40-44
Jeremiah Remains in Judah
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord 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 Now the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, “The aLord your God promised this calamity against this place; 3 and the Lord has brought it on and done just as He promised. Because you people asinned against the Lord and did not listen to His voice, therefore this thing has happened to you. 4 But now, behold, I am afreeing you today from the chains which are on your hands. If you would prefer to come with me to Babylon, come along, and I will look after you; but if you would prefer not to come with me to Babylon, never mind. Look, the bwhole land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right for you to go.” 5 As Jeremiah was still not going back, he said, “Go on back 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 it seems right for you 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 were left in the land.
7 aNow all the commanders of the 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 put him in charge of the men, women and children, 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 live in your cities that you have taken over.” 11 Likewise, also all the Jews who were in aMoab and among the sons of bAmmon and in cEdom and who were in all the other countries, 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 driven away 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 forces that were in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah 14 and said to him, “Are you well aware that Baalis the king of the sons of aAmmon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take 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 kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know! Why should he btake 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.”
Gedaliah Is Murdered
aIn the seventh month bIshmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family 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 next 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 their 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 because 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.
Johanan Rescues the People
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 pool 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 recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the men who were soldiers, the women, the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. 17 And they went and stayed in 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.
Warning against Going to Egypt
Then all the commanders 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 come 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 message 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 message with which the Lord your God will send you to us. 6 Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, 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 commanders 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 will 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 in 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 mind 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 mind 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 adeceived 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 obeyed 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
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 commanders 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 commanders 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 children, the aking’s daughters and bevery person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and 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 hands and hide them in the mortar in the brick terrace which is at the entrance of Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of some 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 I 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 obelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt; and the temples of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire.”’”
Conquest of Egypt Predicted
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 the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen all the calamity that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are in aruins and no one lives in them, 3 abecause of their wickedness which they committed so as to bprovoke Me to anger by continuing to cburn sacrifices and to dserve other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, nor your fathers. 4 Yet I asent you all My servants the prophets, again and again, 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 wickedness, so as not to burn sacrifices 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 ruin and a cdesolation as it is this day. 7 Now then thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, “Why are you adoing great harm to yourselves, so as to bcut off from you man and woman, child and infant, from among Judah, leaving yourselves without remnant, 8 aprovoking Me to anger with the works of your hands, bburning sacrifices to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you are entering to reside, so that you might be cut off and become a ccurse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? 9 Have you forgotten the awickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10 But they ahave not become contrite even to this day, nor have they feared nor bwalked in My law or My statutes, which I have set before you and before your fathers.”’
11 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am going to aset My face against you for woe, even to cut off all Judah. 12 And I will atake away the remnant of Judah who have set their mind on entering the land of Egypt to reside there, and they will all bmeet their end in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword and meet 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 refugees or survivors for the remnant of Judah who have entered the land of Egypt to reside there and then to return to the land of Judah, to which they are blonging to return and live; for none will creturn except a few refugees.’”
15 Then aall the men who were aware that their wives were burning sacrifices to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, responded to Jeremiah, saying, 16 “As for the amessage that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, bwe are not going to listen to you! 17 But rather we will certainly acarry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, by burning sacrifices to the bqueen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as cwe ourselves, our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had dplenty of food and were well off and saw no misfortune. 18 But since we stopped burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have alacked everything and have met our end by the sword and by famine.” 19 “And,” said the women, “when we were aburning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it bwithout our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”
Calamity for the Jews
20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women—even to all the people who were giving him such an answer—saying, 21 “As for the asmoking sacrifices that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the bstreets of Jerusalem, you and your forefathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the Lord cremember them and did not all this come into His mind? 22 So the Lord was ano longer able to endure it, bbecause of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations which you have committed; thus your land has become a cruin, an object of horror and a curse, without an inhabitant, as it is this day. 23 Because you have burned sacrifices and have sinned against the Lord and anot obeyed the voice of the Lord or bwalked in His law, His statutes or His testimonies, therefore this ccalamity has befallen you, as it has this day.”
24 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “aHear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are bin the land of Egypt, 25 thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, as follows: ‘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 sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” bGo ahead and confirm your vows, and certainly perform your vows!’ 26 Nevertheless hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt, ‘Behold, I have asworn by My great name,’ says the Lord, ‘bnever shall My name be invoked again by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “cAs the Lord God lives.” 27 Behold, I am watching over them afor harm and not for good, and ball the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will meet their end by the sword and by famine until they are completely gone. 28 aThose who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt to the land of Judah bfew in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to reside there will know cwhose word will stand, Mine or theirs. 29 This will be the asign to you,’ declares the Lord, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that bMy words will surely stand against you for harm.’ 30 Thus says the Lord, ‘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.’”
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