JEREMIAH 40-41

¹ The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah after Neb·uʹzar·adʹan the chief of the guard let him go free from Raʹmah. He had taken him there bound with handcuffs, and he was among all the exiles of Jerusalem and of Judah who were being deported to Babylon.

² Then the chief of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him: “Jehovah your God foretold this calamity against this place,

³ and Jehovah has brought it about just as he said, because you people sinned against Jehovah and did not obey his voice. That is why this has happened to you.

⁴ Now I am releasing you today from the handcuffs that were on your hands. If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you. But if you do not want to come with me to Babylon, do not come. See! The entire land is before you. Go wherever you choose.”

⁵ The chief of the guard then gave him a food allowance and a gift and let him go.

⁶ So Jeremiah went to Ged·a·liʹah the son of A·hiʹkam at Mizʹpah and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.

⁷ In time all the army chiefs who were in the field with their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Ged·a·liʹah the son of A·hiʹkam over the land and that he had appointed him over the men, women, and children from the poor people of the land who had not been deported to Babylon.

⁸ So they came to Ged·a·liʹah at Mizʹpah. They were Ishʹma·el the son of Neth·a·niʹah, Jo·haʹnan and Jonʹa·than the sons of Ka·reʹah, Se·raiʹah the son of Tan·huʹmeth, the sons of Eʹphai the Ne·tophʹa·thite, and Jez·a·niʹah the son of the Ma·acʹa·thite, together with their men.

⁹ Ged·a·liʹah the son of A·hiʹkam the son of Shaʹphan swore an oath to them and to their men, saying: “Do not be afraid of serving the Chal·deʹans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.

¹⁰ As for me, I will stay in Mizʹpah to represent you to the Chal·deʹans who come to us. But you should gather wine, summer fruits, and oil and put them in your storage containers and settle in the cities that you have taken over.”

¹¹ And all the Jews who were in Moʹab, Amʹmon, and Eʹdom, as well as those who were in all the other lands, also heard that the king of Babylon had let a remnant stay in Judah and that he had appointed over them Ged·a·liʹah the son of A·hiʹkam the son of Shaʹphan.

¹² So all the Jews began returning from all the places to which they had been dispersed, and they came into the land of Judah, to Ged·a·liʹah at Mizʹpah. And they gathered wine and summer fruits in very great quantity.

¹³ Jo·haʹnan the son of Ka·reʹah and all the army chiefs who were in the field came to Ged·a·liʹah at Mizʹpah.

¹⁴ They said to him: “Do you not know that Baʹa·lis, the king of the Amʹmon·ites, has sent Ishʹma·el the son of Neth·a·niʹah to kill you?” But Ged·a·liʹah the son of A·hiʹkam did not believe them.

¹⁵ Then Jo·haʹnan the son of Ka·reʹah secretly told Ged·a·liʹah in Mizʹpah: “I want to go and strike down Ishʹma·el the son of Neth·a·niʹah, and no one will know. Why should he kill you, and why should all the people of Judah who have gathered to you be scattered and the remnant of Judah perish?”

¹⁶ But Ged·a·liʹah the son of A·hiʹkam said to Jo·haʹnan the son of Ka·reʹah: “Do not do this, for what you are saying concerning Ishʹma·el is a lie.”

¹ In the seventh month Ishʹma·el son of Neth·a·niʹah son of E·lishʹa·ma, who was of the royal line and one of the principal men of the king, came with ten other men to Ged·a·liʹah the son of A·hiʹkam at Mizʹpah. As they were eating a meal together in Mizʹpah,

² Ishʹma·el the son of Neth·a·niʹah and the ten men who were with him rose up and struck down Ged·a·liʹah the son of A·hiʹkam the son of Shaʹphan with the sword. So he put to death the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

³ Ishʹma·el also struck down all the Jews who were with Ged·a·liʹah in Mizʹpah, as well as the Chal·deʹan soldiers who were there.

⁴ On the second day after Ged·a·liʹah had been put to death, before anyone knew about it,

⁵ there came 80 men from Sheʹchem, from Shiʹloh, and from Sa·marʹi·a. Their beards were shaved off, their garments were ripped apart, they had cut themselves, and they had grain offerings and frankincense in their hand to bring to the house of Jehovah.

⁶ So Ishʹma·el the son of Neth·a·niʹah went out from Mizʹpah to meet them, weeping as he walked along. When he encountered them, he said to them: “Come to Ged·a·liʹah the son of A·hiʹkam.”

⁷ But when they came into the city, Ishʹma·el the son of Neth·a·niʹah and his men slaughtered them and threw them into the cistern.

⁸ But there were ten men among them who said to Ishʹma·el: “Do not put us to death, for we have hidden stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey in the field.” So he refrained from putting them to death along with their brothers.

⁹ Now Ishʹma·el threw all the carcasses of the men he had killed into a great cistern, the one that King Aʹsa had made because of King Baʹa·sha of Israel. This was the cistern that Ishʹma·el the son of Neth·a·niʹah filled with the slain men.

¹⁰ Ishʹma·el took captive all the rest of the people in Mizʹpah, including the daughters of the king and all the people left in Mizʹpah, whom Neb·uʹzar·adʹan the chief of the guard had put in the custody of Ged·a·liʹah the son of A·hiʹkam. Ishʹma·el the son of Neth·a·niʹah took them captive and went off to cross over to the Amʹmon·ites.

¹¹ When Jo·haʹnan the son of Ka·reʹah and all the army chiefs who were with him heard about all the evil that Ishʹma·el the son of Neth·a·niʹah had done,

¹² they took all the men and went off to fight against Ishʹma·el the son of Neth·a·niʹah, and they found him by the great waters in Gibʹe·on.

¹³ All the people who were with Ishʹma·el rejoiced when they saw Jo·haʹnan the son of Ka·reʹah and all the army chiefs with him.

¹⁴ Then all the people whom Ishʹma·el had taken captive from Mizʹpah turned around and went back with Jo·haʹnan the son of Ka·reʹah.

¹⁵ But Ishʹma·el the son of Neth·a·niʹah and eight of his men escaped from Jo·haʹnan and went to the Amʹmon·ites.

¹⁶ Jo·haʹnan the son of Ka·reʹah and all the army chiefs who were with him took with them the rest of the people from Mizʹpah, those whom they had rescued from Ishʹma·el the son of Neth·a·niʹah after he had struck down Ged·a·liʹah the son of A·hiʹkam. They brought the men, the soldiers, the women, the children, and the court officials back from Gibʹe·on.

¹⁷ So they went and stayed in the lodging place of Chimʹham next to Bethʹle·hem, intending to go on into Egypt

¹⁸ because of the Chal·deʹans. For they had become afraid of them, since Ishʹma·el the son of Neth·a·niʹah had struck down Ged·a·liʹah the son of A·hiʹkam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.