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Jeremiah 37-40
Common English Bible

Jeremiah falsely accused and imprisoned

37 Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah, Josiah’s son, to succeed Coniah, Jehoiakim’s son, as king of Judah. 2 Neither Zedekiah, his attendants, nor the people of the land listened to the Lord’s words spoken by the prophet Jeremiah.

3 Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal, Shelemiah’s son, and the priest Zephaniah, Maaseiah’s son, to Jeremiah the prophet with this plea: “Please pray for us to the Lord our God.” (4 Now Jeremiah hadn’t been imprisoned yet, so he was free to come and go among the people. 5 Pharaoh’s army had recently[a] set out from Egypt; when the Babylonians who were attacking Jerusalem learned of the Egyptian advance, they withdrew from Jerusalem.)

6 Then the Lord’s word came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7 The Lord, the God of Israel, proclaims: Tell the king of Judah who sent his emissaries to seek advice from me: “Pharaoh’s army that came to assist you is heading back to Egypt. 8 The Babylonians will return and attack this city. They will capture it and burn it down.”

9 The Lord proclaims: Don’t let yourself be deceived into thinking that the Babylonians will withdraw for good.[b] They won’t! 10 Even if you were to crush the entire Babylonian army that’s attacking you and only the wounded in their tents remained, they would rise up and burn this city down.

11 Now when the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem due to Pharaoh’s advance, 12 Jeremiah set out for the land of Benjamin to secure his share of the family property.[c] 13 He got as far as the Benjamin Gate in Jerusalem when the guard there named Irijah, Shelemiah’s son and Hananiah’s grandson, arrested the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “You are deserting to the Babylonians.”

14 “That’s a lie,” Jeremiah replied. “I’m not deserting to the Babylonians.” But Irijah wouldn’t listen to him. He arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials, 15 who were furious with him. They beat him and threw him into the house of the scribe Jonathan, which had been turned into a prison. 16 So Jeremiah was put in a cistern, which was like a dungeon, where he remained a long time.

17 Later King Zedekiah sent for him and questioned Jeremiah secretly in the palace: “Is there a word from the Lord?”

“There is,” Jeremiah replied. “You are going to be handed over to the king of Babylon.” 18 Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, “What have I done wrong to you or your attendants or this people that you should throw me into prison? 19 Where are your prophets now who prophesied that the king of Babylon wouldn’t attack you and this land? 20 Now, my master and king, I beg you, don’t send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I’ll die there.” 21 So King Zedekiah gave orders that Jeremiah be held in the prison quarters and that he receive a loaf of bread daily from the street vendors[d]—until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the prison quarters.

38 Shephatiah, Mattan’s son; Gedaliah, Pashhur’s son; Jucal, Shelemiah’s son; and Pashhur, Malchiah’s son heard what Jeremiah had been telling the people: 2 The Lord proclaims: Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and disease. But whoever surrenders to the Babylonians will live; yes, their lives will be spared. 3 The Lord proclaims: This city will certainly be handed over to the army of Babylon’s king, who will capture it.

4 Then the officials said to the king: “This man must be put to death! By saying such things, he is discouraging the few remaining troops left in the city, as well as all the people. This man doesn’t seek their welfare but their ruin!”

5 “He’s in your hands,” King Zedekiah said, “for the king can do nothing to stop you.” 6 So they seized Jeremiah, threw him into the cistern of the royal prince Malchiah, within the prison quarters, and lowered him down by ropes. Now there wasn’t any water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah began to sink into the mud.

7 Ebed-melech the Cushite, a court official in the royal palace, got word that they had thrown Jeremiah into the cistern. Since the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate, 8 Ebed-melech left the palace and said to the king: 9 “My master the king, these men have made a terrible mistake in treating the prophet Jeremiah the way they have; they have thrown him into the cistern where he will die of starvation, for there’s no bread left in the city.”

10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here and take Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” 11 So Ebed-melech took the men and returned to the palace, to an underground supply room, where he found some old rags and scraps of clothing.

Ebed-melech lowered them down the cistern by the ropes 12 and called to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and scraps of clothing under your arms and hold on to the ropes.” When Jeremiah did this, 13 they pulled him up by the ropes and got him out of the cistern. After that Jeremiah remained in the prison quarters.

14 King Zedekiah ordered that the prophet Jeremiah be brought to him at the third entrance of the Lord’s temple, where the king said to Jeremiah, “I want to ask you something, and don’t hide anything from me.”

15 Jeremiah replied, “If I do, you’ll kill me! And if I tell you what to do, you won’t listen to me!”

16 So King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah behind closed doors, “As the Lord lives, who has given us this life, I won’t put you to death and I won’t hand you over to those who seek to kill you.”

17 So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah: “The Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, you and your family will live, and this city will not be burned down. 18 If you don’t surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, the city will be handed over to the Babylonians, who will burn it down, and you won’t escape from them.”

19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I’m afraid that I will fall into the hands of the Judeans who have defected to the Babylonians, and they will torture me.”

20 “That won’t happen,” Jeremiah replied, “if you obey the Lord, whose message I bring. You will survive, and all will go well for you. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has shown me: 22 All the women left in the palace of the king of Judah will be led out to the officers of the king of Babylon. And they will say:

‘Your trusted friends have betrayed you;
        they have deceived you;
    now that your feet are stuck in the mud,
        they are nowhere to be found.’

23 “All your wives and children will be led out to the Babylonians, and you yourself won’t escape from them. The king of Babylon will capture you, and this city will be burned down.”

24 Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “No one is to know about these matters or else you will die. 25 If the officials find out that we met, and they come and say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king. Don’t hide anything from us; otherwise, we’ll kill you. So what did the king say to you?’ 26 you should say to them, ‘I was begging the king not to send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’”

27 Then all the officials approached Jeremiah to question him. And he responded exactly as the king had instructed him. So they stopped interrogating him because the conversation between the king and Jeremiah[e] hadn’t been overheard. 28 Jeremiah remained in the prison quarters until Jerusalem was captured.

Fall of Jerusalem

39 In the ninth year and the tenth month of Judah’s King Zedekiah, Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar and his entire army came against Jerusalem and surrounded it. 2 In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, on the ninth day of the fourth month, they broke through the city walls. 3 Then all the commanding officers of the king of Babylon—Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo,[f] Sarsechim the chief officer, Nergal-sharezer the field commander—entered it and took their places at the middle gate with the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.

4 When Judah’s King Zedekiah and his troops saw them, they tried to escape at night through the royal gardens and the gate between the two walls, toward the desert plain. 5 But the Babylonian[g] army chased them down and caught Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They arrested him and brought him before Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah in the land of Hamath. There the king put him on trial. 6 The king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah’s children at Riblah before his very own eyes, and the king of Babylon slaughtered all the officials of Judah. 7 Then he gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in chains, and dragged him off to Babylon.

8 The Babylonians burned down the royal palace and the houses of the people, and they destroyed the Jerusalem walls. 9 Nebuzaradan the captain of the special guard rounded up the rest of the people who were left in the city, including those who had defected to the Babylonians, and deported them to Babylon. 10 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the special guard left some of the poorest people in the land of Judah. He gave them vineyards and fields at that time.

11 Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar gave orders concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the special guard: 12 “Find Jeremiah and look after him; don’t harm him but do whatever he asks from you.” 13 So Nebuzaradan the captain of the special guard, Nebushazban the chief officer, Nergal-sharezer the field commander, and all the commanders of the king of Babylon 14 sent orders[h] to release Jeremiah from the prison quarters. They entrusted him to Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son and Shaphan’s grandson, so that Jeremiah could move about freely[i] among the people.

15 The Lord’s word came to Jeremiah when he was still confined to the prison quarters: 16 Go and say to Ebed-melech the Cushite that the Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: I’m about to fulfill my words concerning this city, for harm and not for good. You will witness it for yourself on that day. 17 But on that day, declares the Lord:

I will rescue you;
    you won’t be handed over to those you dread.
18 I will defend you;
    you won’t die in battle.
You will escape with your life,
    because you have trusted in me,
        declares the Lord.

Jeremiah’s release

40 Jeremiah received the Lord’s word after Nebuzaradan the captain of the special guard had released him from Ramah. He had been bound in chains there along with all the other detainees from Jerusalem and Judah who were being sent off to Babylon. 2 The captain of the special guard located Jeremiah and said to him, “The Lord your God declared that a great disaster would overtake this place. 3 Now the Lord has made it happen. He has done just as he warned because all of you have sinned against the Lord and haven’t obeyed him. That’s why this has happened to you. 4 But I’m setting you free from the chains on your hands. If you would like, come with me to Babylon, and I’ll take care of you. If you would rather not come with me, that’s fine too. Now, the whole land lies before you; go wherever you want. 5 If you decide to remain here,[j] stay with Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son and Shaphan’s grandson—the Babylonian appointee in charge of the cities of Judah. Stay with him and the people he rules or go wherever you want.” Then the captain of the special guard gave him ample provisions and let him go. 6 Jeremiah went to Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son at Mizpah, and he stayed with him and the people who remained in the land.

Gedaliah’s provisional government

7 Some of the army officers and their troops were still hiding out in the countryside when they heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son, over the region, responsible for the men, women, and children who were the poorest in the land and who hadn’t been deported to Babylon. 8 So they went out to meet Gedaliah at Mizpah: Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son; Johanan and Jonathan, Kareah’s sons; Seraiah son of Tanhumeth; the sons of Ephai the Netophathite; Jezaniah son of the Maacathite; and their troops. 9 Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son and Shaphan’s grandson, firmly assured them all: “Don’t be afraid of serving the Babylonians. Remain in the land, serve the king of Babylon, and all will go well for you. 10 But me? I will stay at Mizpah so I can speak on your behalf when the Babylonians arrive. But you? Settle down in the towns you have taken; harvest the grapes, the summer fruits and figs, and then store them in your containers.”

11 In the same way, all the Judeans living in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and in other countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a few people in the land and that he had put Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son and Shaphan’s grandson, in charge of them. 12 So they left the places where they had been scattered and returned to the land, to Gedaliah at Mizpah. There they gathered large amounts of grapes and summer fruits.

13 Johanan, Kareah’s son, and all the army officers in the countryside approached Gedaliah at Mizpah 14 and said to him, “Are you aware that King Baalis of Ammon has sent Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, to kill you?” But Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son, wouldn’t believe them. 15 Still Johanan, Kareah’s son, met with Gedaliah secretly at Mizpah and said to him, “Let me go and kill Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son; no one needs to knows about this matter. Otherwise, he’ll kill you, and all the Judeans who have gathered around you will be scattered, and the few who are left will perish.”

16 But Gedaliah son of Ahikam told Johanan, Kareah’s son, “Don’t do such a thing, for what you are saying about Ishmael is wrong.”

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 37:5 Heb lacks recently.
  2. Jeremiah 37:9 Heb lacks for good.
  3. Jeremiah 37:12 Heb uncertain
  4. Jeremiah 37:21 Or from the street of the bakers
  5. Jeremiah 38:27 Heb lacks between the king and Jeremiah.
  6. Jeremiah 39:3 Or Nergal-sharezer the Simmagir
  7. Jeremiah 39:5 Heb Chaldean and hereafter through Jeremiah
  8. Jeremiah 39:14 Heb lacks orders.
  9. Jeremiah 39:14 Heb uncertain
  10. Jeremiah 40:5 Heb uncertain
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Jeremiah 37-40
New International Version

Jeremiah in Prison

37 Zedekiah(A) son of Josiah was made king(B) of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin[a](C) son of Jehoiakim. 2 Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention(D) to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.

3 King Zedekiah, however, sent(E) Jehukal(F) son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah(G) son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray(H) to the Lord our God for us.”

4 Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison.(I) 5 Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt,(J) and when the Babylonians[b] who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew(K) from Jerusalem.(L)

6 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire(M) of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched(N) out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt.(O) 8 Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture(P) it and burn(Q) it down.’

9 “This is what the Lord says: Do not deceive(R) yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not! 10 Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian[c] army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn(S) this city down.”

11 After the Babylonian army had withdrawn(T) from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, 12 Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property(U) among the people there. 13 But when he reached the Benjamin Gate,(V) the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”(W)

14 “That’s not true!” Jeremiah said. “I am not deserting to the Babylonians.” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested(X) Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten(Y) and imprisoned(Z) in the house(AA) of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.

16 Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. 17 Then King Zedekiah sent(AB) for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked(AC) him privately,(AD) “Is there any word from the Lord?”

“Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be delivered(AE) into the hands of the king of Babylon.”

18 Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What crime(AF) have I committed against you or your attendants or this people, that you have put me in prison? 19 Where are your prophets(AG) who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’? 20 But now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition before you: Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there.”(AH)

21 King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread(AI) in the city was gone.(AJ) So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.(AK)

Jeremiah Thrown Into a Cistern

38 Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur(AL), Jehukal[d](AM) son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people when he said, 2 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague,(AN) but whoever goes over to the Babylonians[e] will live. They will escape with their lives; they will live.’(AO) 3 And this is what the Lord says: ‘This city will certainly be given into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.’”(AP)

4 Then the officials(AQ) said to the king, “This man should be put to death.(AR) He is discouraging(AS) the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.”

5 “He is in your hands,”(AT) King Zedekiah answered. “The king can do nothing(AU) to oppose you.”

6 So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard.(AV) They lowered Jeremiah by ropes(AW) into the cistern; it had no water in it,(AX) only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.(AY)

7 But Ebed-Melek,(AZ) a Cushite,[f] an official[g](BA) in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate,(BB) 8 Ebed-Melek went out of the palace and said to him, 9 “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern,(BC) where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread(BD) in the city.”

10 Then the king commanded Ebed-Melek the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”

11 So Ebed-Melek took the men with him and went to a room under the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothes from there and let them down with ropes(BE) to Jeremiah in the cistern. 12 Ebed-Melek the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes.” Jeremiah did so, 13 and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.(BF)

Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah Again

14 Then King Zedekiah sent(BG) for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the Lord. “I am going to ask you something,” the king said to Jeremiah. “Do not hide(BH) anything from me.”

15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me.”

16 But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly(BI) to Jeremiah: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has given us breath,(BJ) I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who want to kill you.”(BK)

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender(BL) to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live.(BM) 18 But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hands(BN) of the Babylonians and they will burn(BO) it down; you yourself will not escape(BP) from them.’”

19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid(BQ) of the Jews who have gone over(BR) to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.”

20 “They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey(BS) the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well(BT) with you, and your life(BU) will be spared. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has revealed to me: 22 All the women(BV) left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you:

“‘They misled you and overcame you—
    those trusted friends(BW) of yours.
Your feet are sunk in the mud;(BX)
    your friends have deserted you.’

23 “All your wives and children(BY) will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape(BZ) from their hands but will be captured(CA) by the king of Babylon; and this city will[h] be burned down.”(CB)

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know(CC) about this conversation, or you may die. 25 If the officials hear that I talked with you, and they come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us or we will kill you,’ 26 then tell(CD) them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house(CE) to die there.’”

27 All the officials did come to Jeremiah and question him, and he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had heard his conversation with the king.

28 And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard(CF) until the day Jerusalem was captured.

The Fall of Jerusalem(CG)

This is how Jerusalem(CH) was taken: 39 1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah(CI) king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar(CJ) king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege(CK) to it. 2 And on the ninth day of the fourth(CL) month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the city wall(CM) was broken through.(CN) 3 Then all the officials(CO) of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officials of the king of Babylon. 4 When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled; they left the city at night by way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls,(CP) and headed toward the Arabah.[i](CQ)

5 But the Babylonian[j] army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah(CR) in the plains of Jericho. They captured(CS) him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah(CT) in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. 6 There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also killed all the nobles(CU) of Judah. 7 Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes(CV) and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.(CW)

8 The Babylonians[k] set fire(CX) to the royal palace and the houses of the people and broke down the walls(CY) of Jerusalem. 9 Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard carried into exile to Babylon the people who remained in the city, along with those who had gone over to him,(CZ) and the rest of the people.(DA) 10 But Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people, who owned nothing; and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.

11 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had given these orders about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard: 12 “Take him and look after him; don’t harm(DB) him but do for him whatever he asks.” 13 So Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard, Nebushazban a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officers(DC) of the king of Babylon 14 sent and had Jeremiah taken out of the courtyard of the guard.(DD) They turned him over to Gedaliah(DE) son of Ahikam,(DF) the son of Shaphan,(DG) to take him back to his home. So he remained among his own people.(DH)

15 While Jeremiah had been confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the Lord came to him: 16 “Go and tell Ebed-Melek(DI) the Cushite, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill my words(DJ) against this city—words concerning disaster,(DK) not prosperity. At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes. 17 But I will rescue(DL) you on that day, declares the Lord; you will not be given into the hands of those you fear. 18 I will save(DM) you; you will not fall by the sword(DN) but will escape with your life,(DO) because you trust(DP) in me, declares the Lord.’”

Jeremiah Freed

40 The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had released him at Ramah.(DQ) He had found Jeremiah bound in chains among all the captives(DR) from Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried into exile to Babylon. 2 When the commander(DS) of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, “The Lord your God decreed(DT) this disaster(DU) for this place.(DV) 3 And now the Lord has brought it about; he has done just as he said he would. All this happened because you people sinned(DW) against the Lord and did not obey(DX) him. 4 But today I am freeing(DY) you from the chains(DZ) on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon, if you like, and I will look after you; but if you do not want to, then don’t come. Look, the whole country lies before you; go wherever you please.”(EA) 5 However, before Jeremiah turned to go,[l] Nebuzaradan added, “Go back to Gedaliah(EB) son of Ahikam,(EC) the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed(ED) over the towns(EE) of Judah, and live with him among the people, or go anywhere else you please.”(EF)

Then the commander gave him provisions and a present(EG) and let him go. 6 So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah(EH) and stayed with him among the people who were left behind in the land.

Gedaliah Assassinated(EI)

7 When all the army officers and their men who were still in the open country heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam as governor(EJ) over the land and had put him in charge of the men, women and children who were the poorest(EK) in the land and who had not been carried into exile to Babylon, 8 they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah(EL)—Ishmael(EM) son of Nethaniah, Johanan(EN) and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite,(EO) and Jaazaniah[m] the son of the Maakathite,(EP) and their men. 9 Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid to serve(EQ) the Babylonians,[n](ER)” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.(ES) 10 I myself will stay at Mizpah(ET) to represent you before the Babylonians who come to us, but you are to harvest the wine,(EU) summer fruit and olive oil, and put them in your storage jars,(EV) and live in the towns you have taken over.”(EW)

11 When all the Jews in Moab,(EX) Ammon, Edom(EY) and all the other countries(EZ) heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as governor over them, 12 they all came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, from all the countries where they had been scattered.(FA) And they harvested an abundance of wine and summer fruit.

13 Johanan(FB) son of Kareah and all the army officers still in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah(FC) 14 and said to him, “Don’t you know that Baalis king of the Ammonites(FD) has sent Ishmael(FE) son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.

15 Then Johanan(FF) son of Kareah said privately to Gedaliah in Mizpah, “Let me go and kill(FG) Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he take your life and cause all the Jews who are gathered around you to be scattered(FH) and the remnant(FI) of Judah to perish?”

16 But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan(FJ) son of Kareah, “Don’t do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is not true.”

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 37:1 Hebrew Koniah, a variant of Jehoiachin
  2. Jeremiah 37:5 Or Chaldeans; also in verses 8, 9, 13 and 14
  3. Jeremiah 37:10 Or Chaldean; also in verse 11
  4. Jeremiah 38:1 Hebrew Jukal, a variant of Jehukal
  5. Jeremiah 38:2 Or Chaldeans; also in verses 18, 19 and 23
  6. Jeremiah 38:7 Probably from the upper Nile region
  7. Jeremiah 38:7 Or a eunuch
  8. Jeremiah 38:23 Or and you will cause this city to
  9. Jeremiah 39:4 Or the Jordan Valley
  10. Jeremiah 39:5 Or Chaldean
  11. Jeremiah 39:8 Or Chaldeans
  12. Jeremiah 40:5 Or Jeremiah answered
  13. Jeremiah 40:8 Hebrew Jezaniah, a variant of Jaazaniah
  14. Jeremiah 40:9 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 10
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Jeremiah 36
Jeremiah 41
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