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.
Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 40
40
1The word that came to Yirmeyahu from יהוה after Neḇuzaraḏan, chief of the guard, had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all the exiles from Yerushalayim and Yehuḏah, who were being exiled to Baḇel.
2And the chief of the guard took Yirmeyahu and said to him, “יהוה your Elohim has spoken this evil on this place.
3“And יהוה has brought it on, and has done, as He has said. Because you have sinned against יהוה, and did not obey His voice, therefore this matter has come upon you.
4“And now, see, I loosen you today from the chains that were on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me to Baḇel, come, and I shall look after you. But if it seems wrong for you to come with me to Baḇel, remain here. See, all the land is before you, go wherever it seems good and right for you to go.”
5And before he replied, Neḇuzaraḏan said, “Or go back to Geḏalyah son of Aḥiqam, son of Shaphan, whom the sovereign of Baḇel has made governor over the cities of Yehuḏah, and dwell with him among the people, or go wherever it seems right for you to go.” And the chief of the guard gave him provisions and a gift and let him go.
6So Yirmeyahu went to Geḏalyah son of Aḥiqam, to Mitspah, and dwelt with him among the people who were left in the land.
7And all the commanders of the armies who were in the fields, they and their men, heard that the sovereign of Baḇel had made Geḏalyahu son of Aḥiqam governor in the land, and had put him in charge of the men, and women, and children, and the poor of the land who had not been exiled to Baḇel.
8So they came to Geḏalyah at Mitspah – Yishma‛ĕl the son of Nethanyahu, and Yoḥanan and Yonathan the sons of Qarĕaḥ, and Serayah the son of Tanḥumeth, and the sons of Ophai the Netophathite and Yezanyahu the son of a Ma‛aḵathite, they and their men.
9And Geḏalyahu son of Aḥiqam, son of Shaphan, swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid of serving the Kasdim. Dwell in the land and serve the sovereign of Baḇel, and it shall be well with you.
10“And I, see, I am dwelling at Mitspah, to serve the Kasdim who come to us. But you, gather wine and summer fruit and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities which you have taken.”
11Also, when all the Yehuḏim who were in Mo’aḇ, and among the Ammonites, and in Eḏom, and who were in all the lands, heard that the sovereign of Baḇel had left a remnant of Yehuḏah, and that he had set over them Geḏalyahu son of Aḥiqam, son of Shaphan,
12then all the Yehuḏim returned from all the places where they had been driven, and came to the land of Yehuḏah, to Geḏalyahu at Mitspah, and gathered wine and summer fruit in large quantities.
13And Yoḥanan son of Qarĕaḥ and all the commanders of the army that were in the fields came to Geḏalyahu at Mitspah,
14and they said to him, “Do you certainly know that Ba‛alis sovereign of the Ammonites has sent Yishma‛ĕl son of Nethanyah to strike you – a being?” But Geḏalyahu son of Aḥiqam would not believe them.
15Then Yoḥanan son of Qarĕaḥ spoke secretly to Geḏalyahu in Mitspah, saying, “Please let me go and strike Yishma‛ĕl son of Nethanyah, without anyone knowing it. Why should he murder you, and so let all the Yehuḏim who are gathered to you be scattered, and the remnant in Yehuḏah perish?”
16But Geḏalyahu son of Aḥiqam said to Yoḥanan son of Qarĕaḥ, “Do not do this matter, for what you are saying about Yishma‛ĕl is not true.”
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