Jeremiah 40
40
Jeremiah and the Remnant with Gedaliah
1The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after that Neb´uzar-a´dan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon. 2And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The Lord thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place. 3Now the Lord hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you. 4And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go. 5Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedali´ah the son of Ahi´kam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go. 6Then went Jeremiah unto Gedali´ah the son of Ahi´kam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.
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2 Kgs 25.22-24. Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedali´ah the son of Ahi´kam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon; 8then they came to Gedali´ah to Mizpah, even Ish´ma-el the son of Nethani´ah, and Jo´hanan and Jonathan the sons of Kare´ah, and Serai´ah the son of Tan´humeth, and the sons of E´phai the Netoph´athite, and Jezani´ah the son of a Ma-ach´athite, they and their men. 9And Gedali´ah the son of Ahi´kam the son of Shaphan sware unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chalde´ans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. 10As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to serve the Chalde´ans, which will come unto us: but ye, gather ye wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that ye have taken. 11Likewise when all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and that were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedali´ah the son of Ahi´kam the son of Shaphan; 12even all the Jews returned out of all places whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedali´ah, unto Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.
Ishmael's Conspiracy against Gedaliah
13Moreover Jo´hanan the son of Kare´ah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedali´ah to Mizpah, 14and said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Ba´alis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ish´ma-el the son of Nethani´ah to slay thee? But Gedali´ah the son of Ahi´kam believed them not. 15Then Jo´hanan the son of Kare´ah spake to Gedali´ah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ish´ma-el the son of Nethani´ah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish? 16But Gedali´ah the son of Ahi´kam said unto Jo´hanan the son of Kare´ah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ish´ma-el.
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
Jeremiah 40
40
Jeremiah Is Set Free
1The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. This was after Nebuzaradan, commander of the guards, had set Jeremiah free at the city of Ramah. He had found Jeremiah in Ramah bound in chains. He was with all the captives from Jerusalem and Judah. They were being taken away to Babylon. 2When commander Nebuzaradan found Jeremiah, Nebuzaradan said to him, “The Lord your God announced this disaster would come to this place. 3And now the Lord has done everything he said he would do. This disaster happened because the people of Judah sinned against the Lord. You people did not obey the Lord. 4But now I will set you free. I am taking the chains off your wrists. If you want to, come with me to Babylon. And I will take good care of you. But if you don’t want to come, then don’t. Look, the whole country is open to you.” 5Before Jeremiah turned to leave, Nebuzaradan said, “Or go back to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. The king of Babylon has chosen Gedaliah to be governor over the towns of Judah. Go and live with Gedaliah among the people. Or go anywhere you want.”
Then Nebuzaradan gave Jeremiah some food and a present and let him go. 6So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. And Jeremiah stayed with him there. He lived among the people who were left behind in Judah.
The Short Rule of Gedaliah
7There were some officers and their men from the army of Judah. These men were still out in the open country. They heard that the king of Babylon had put Gedaliah son of Ahikam in charge. He was put in charge of the people who were left in the land: the men, women and children who were very poor. They were the ones who were not carried off to Babylon as captives. 8So these soldiers came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan sons of Kareah. Also Seraiah son of Tanhumeth and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite came. And Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite and their men came.
9Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, made a promise to them. Gedaliah said, “Do not be afraid to serve the Babylonians. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon. Then everything will go well for you. 10I myself will live in Mizpah. I will speak for you before the Babylonians who come here. You harvest the wine, the summer fruit and the oil. Put what you harvest in your storage jars. Live in the towns you control.”
11Some Jews were in Moab, Ammon, Edom and other countries. They heard that the king of Babylon had left a few Jews alive in the land. And they heard the king of Babylon had chosen Gedaliah as governor over them. (Gedaliah was the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan.) 12When the people of Judah heard this news, they came back to Judah. They came back to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They came from all the countries where they had been scattered. They gathered a large harvest of wine and summer fruit.
13Johanan son of Kareah came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. All the army officers of Judah still in the open country also came. 14Johanan and the officers with him said to Gedaliah, “Don’t you know that Baalis king of the Ammonite people wants you dead? He has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to kill you.” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.
15Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in private at Mizpah. He said to Gedaliah, “Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah. No one will know anything about it. We should not let Ishmael kill you. All the Jews gathered around you would be scattered to different countries again. Then the few people of Judah who are left alive would be lost.”
16But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Do not kill Ishmael! The things you are saying about Ishmael are not true!”
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