⁹ Gedaliah made a serious promise to them that he would not hurt them. He said, ‘Do not be afraid to serve the soldiers from Babylon. Make your homes here in our land, but agree to serve the king of Babylon. If you do that, you will be successful. ¹⁰ I myself will stay here in Mizpah. If Babylon's officers come to visit me, I will speak on your behalf. But you should go and live in the towns that you have taken for yourselves. Then you can eat the things that you grow in your fields. You can pick grapes to make wine and olives to make oil. You can pick dates and figs. You can store these things in jars.’

¹¹ There were people of Judah who had run away to live in Moab, Ammon, Edom and other countries. They heard the news that the king of Babylon had let some people continue to live in Judah. They also heard that he had chosen Ahikam's son Gedaliah to be their ruler.