Jeremiah 40
40
Jeremiah Is Set Free
1I was led away in chains along with the people of Judah and Jerusalem who were being taken to Babylonia. Nebuzaradan was the officer in charge of the guard, and while we were stopped at Ramah, the Lord caused him to set me free. 2Nebuzaradan said:
Jeremiah, the Lord your God warned your people that he would bring disaster on this land. 3But they continued to rebel against him, and now he has punished them just as he threatened.
4Today I am taking the chains off your wrists and setting you free! If you want to, you can come with me to Babylonia, and I will see that you are taken care of. Or if you decide to stay here, you can go wherever you wish. 5King Nebuchadnezzar#40.5 Nebuchadnezzar: See the note at 21.2. has chosen Gedaliah to rule Judah. You can live near Gedaliah, and he will provide for you, or you can live anywhere else you choose.
Nebuzaradan gave me a supply of food, then let me leave. 6I decided to stay with the people of Judah, and I went to live near Gedaliah in Mizpah.
The Harvest Is Brought In
7-8 #
2 K 25.22-24. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, together with Johanan and Jonathan, the two sons of Kareah, had been officers in Judah's army. And so had Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah from Maacah. They and their troops had been stationed outside Jerusalem and had not been captured. They heard that Gedaliah had been chosen to rule Judah, and that the poorest men, women, and children had not been taken away to Babylonia. So they went to Mizpah and met with their new ruler.
9Gedaliah told them, “There's no need to be afraid of the Babylonians. Everything will be fine, if we live peacefully and obey King Nebuchadnezzar.#40.9 Nebuchadnezzar: See the note at 21.2. 10I will stay here at Mizpah and meet with the Babylonian officials on each of their visits. But you must go back to your towns and bring in the harvest, then store the wine, olive oil, and dried fruit.”
11-12Earlier, when the Babylonians had invaded Judah, many of the Jews escaped to Moab, Ammon, Edom, and several other countries. But these Jews heard that the king of Babylonia had appointed Gedaliah as ruler of Judah, and that only a few people were left there. So the Jews in these other countries came back to Judah and helped with the grape and fruit harvest, which was especially large that year.
Gedaliah Is Murdered
13One day, Johanan got together with some of the other men who had been army officers, and they came to Mizpah and met with Gedaliah. 14They said, “Gedaliah, we came to warn you that King Baalis of Ammon hired Ishmael to murder you!”
Gedaliah refused to believe them, 15so Johanan went to Gedaliah privately and said, “Let me kill Ishmael. No one will find out who did it. There are only a few people left in Judah, but they are depending on you. And if you are murdered, they will be scattered or killed.”
16Gedaliah answered, “Don't kill Ishmael! What you've said about him can't be true.”
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Jeremiah 40: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 40
40
Jeremiah Decides to Remain in the Land
1The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard,#Hebrew “guards” had let him go from Ramah, where he had been taken#Literally “at his taking him bound in chains in the midst of all the exiles#Hebrew “exile” of Jerusalem and Judah who were being deported to Babylon. 2And the captain of the guard#Hebrew “guards” took Jeremiah and said to him, “Yahweh your God threatened this disaster to this place, 3and now he has brought it about,#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation and Yahweh has done just as#Literally “as that” he threatened. Because you sinned against Yahweh and did not listen to his voice, so this thing has happened to you. 4And so then look, I have released you today#Literally “the day” from the chains that were on your hands.#Hebrew “hand” If it is good in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, then come, and I will take care of you.#Literally “I will place my eye on you” But if it is bad in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, then refrain. Look, the whole land is before you.#Literally “to the face of you” To wherever it is good and right in your eyes to go, then go there.” 5While he still had not turned back, Nebuzaradan added, “Return to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed in an official position over the towns of Judah, and stay with him in the midst of the people. Or to wherever it is right in your eyes to go, then go there.”#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation Then the captain of the guard#Hebrew “guards” gave him an allowance of provisions and a present, and let him go. 6So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah and stayed with him in the midst of the people who were left in the land.
The Assassination of Gedaliah
7When all the commanders of the armies who were in the open country and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam in an official position in the land, and that he had put him in charge of#Literally “he had appointed to him” men, and women, and little children, and of the poor of the land, of all those who had not been deported to Babylon, 8then they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan, and Jehonathan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. 9And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and to their men, saying,#Literally “to say” “You must not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans. Stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. 10As for me,#Literally “And I” look, I am staying at Mizpah to represent you before#Literally “to the face of” the Chaldeans who come to us. But you, gather wine and summer fruit and oil, and put them in your vessels, and live in your towns that you have seized.” 11And also all the Judeans who were in Moab, and among the Ammonites,#Literally “sons of Ammon” and in Edom, and who were in all the lands, when they heard that the king of Babylon had given a remnant to Judah and that he had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, in an official position over them, 12then all the Judeans returned from all the places to which they were scattered. And they came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and they gathered wine and summer fruit that yielded in great abundance.#Literally “very numerous”
13And Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies who were in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah 14and said to him, “Are you at all aware#Literally “know you know” that Baalis, the king of the Ammonites,#Literally “sons of Ammon” has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, to kill you?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam would not believe them. 15Then Johanan the son of Kareah said to Gedaliah in secrecy at Mizpah, saying,#Literally “to say” “Please let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and nobody#Literally “not a man” will know. Why should he kill you, so that all of Judah who are gathered to you will be scattered, and the remnant of Judah will perish?” 16But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “You must not do this thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael.”
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