Jeremiah Is Set Free From His Chains

40 A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. It came after Nebuzaradan, the commander of the royal guard, had set him free at Ramah. Jeremiah was being held by chains when Nebuzaradan found him. Jeremiah was among all the prisoners from Jerusalem and Judah. They were being taken to Babylon. ² But the commander of the guard found Jeremiah. The commander said to him, “The Lord your God ordered that this place be destroyed. ³ And now he has brought it about. He has done exactly what he said he would do. All these things have happened because you people sinned against the Lord. You didn’t obey him. ⁴ But today I’m setting you free from the chains on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon if you want to. I’ll take good care of you there. But if you don’t want to come, then don’t. The whole country lies in front of you. Go anywhere you want to.” ⁵ But before Jeremiah turned to go, Nebuzaradan continued, “Go back to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. The king of Babylon has appointed Gedaliah to be over the towns of Judah. Go and live with him among your people. Or go anywhere else you want to.” Ahikam was the son of Shaphan.

The commander gave Jeremiah food and water. He also gave him a gift. Then he let Jeremiah go. ⁶ So Jeremiah went to Mizpah to see Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. Jeremiah stayed with him. Jeremiah lived among the people who were left behind in the land.

Gedaliah Is Murdered

⁷ Some of Judah’s army officers and their men were still in the open country. They heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor over Judah. Gedaliah was the son of Ahikam. The king had put Gedaliah in charge of the men, women and children who were still there. They were the poorest people in the land. They hadn’t been taken to Babylon. ⁸ When the army officers and their men heard these things, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, came. So did Johanan and Jonathan, the sons of Kareah. Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth, also came. The sons of Ephai from Netophah came too. And so did Jaazaniah, the son of the Maakathite. All their men came with them. ⁹ Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, made a promise. He made the promise to give hope to all these men. He spoke in a kind way to them. He said, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Babylonians. Make your homes in the land of Judah. Serve the king of Babylon. Then things will go well with you. ¹⁰ I myself will stay at Mizpah. I’ll speak for you to the officials of Babylon who come to us. But you must harvest the wine, summer fruit and olive oil. Put them in your jars. Store them up. And live in the towns you have taken over.”

¹¹ All the Jews in Moab, Ammon and Edom heard what had happened. So did the Jews in all the other countries. They heard that the king of Babylon had left some people behind in Judah. They also heard that he had appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, as governor over them. Ahikam was the son of Shaphan. ¹² When they heard these things, all of them came back to the land of Judah. They went to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They came from all the countries where they had been scattered. And they harvested a large amount of wine and summer fruit.

¹³ Johanan and all the other army officers still in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. Johanan was the son of Kareah. ¹⁴ The officers spoke to Gedaliah. They said, “Don’t you know that Baalis has sent someone to take your life? Baalis is the king of Ammon. He has sent Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah.” But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, didn’t believe them.

¹⁵ Then Johanan, the son of Kareah, spoke in private to Gedaliah in Mizpah. He said, “Let me go and kill Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah. No one will know about it. Why should he take your life? Why should he cause all the Jews gathered around you to be scattered? Why should he cause the people who remain in Judah to die?”

¹⁶ But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, spoke to Johanan, the son of Kareah. He said, “Don’t do an awful thing like that! What you are saying about Ishmael isn’t true.”

41 In the seventh month Ishmael came with ten men to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. Ishmael was the son of Nethaniah. Nethaniah was the son of Elishama. Ishmael was a member of the royal family. He had been one of the king’s officers. Ishmael and his ten men were eating together at Mizpah. ² They got up and struck down Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, with their swords. They killed him even though the king of Babylon had appointed him as governor over Judah. Ahikam was the son of Shaphan. ³ Ishmael also killed all the men of Judah who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah. And he killed the Babylonian soldiers who were there.

⁴ On the next day, people still hadn’t found out that Gedaliah had been murdered. ⁵ On that day 80 men came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria. They had shaved off their beards. They had torn their clothes. And they had cut themselves. They brought grain offerings and incense with them. They took them to the Lord’s house. ⁶ Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, went out from Mizpah to meet them. He was weeping as he went. When he met them, he said, “Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam.” ⁷ They went with him into the city. Then Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and the men who were with him killed them. And they threw them into an empty well. ⁸ But ten of the men had spoken to Ishmael. They had said, “Don’t kill us! We have some wheat and barley. We also have olive oil and honey. We’ve hidden all of it in a field.” So he didn’t kill them along with the others. ⁹ But he had thrown into the empty well all the bodies of the men he had killed. That included Gedaliah’s body. The well was the one King Asa had made. He had made it when he strengthened Mizpah against attack by Baasha, the king of Israel. Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, filled it with the bodies of those he had killed.

¹⁰ Nebuzaradan was the commander of the royal guard. He had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over all the people at Mizpah. But Ishmael made prisoners of the people left at Mizpah. These prisoners included women who were members of the royal court. The prisoners also included everyone else left at Mizpah. Then Ishmael started out to go across the Jordan River to the land of Ammon.

¹¹ Johanan, the son of Kareah, was told what had happened. And so were all the other army officers with him. They heard about all the crimes Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had committed. ¹² So they brought all their men together. Then they went to fight against Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah. They caught up with him near the large pool in Gibeon. ¹³ Ishmael had many people with him. They saw Johanan, the son of Kareah. And they saw the other army officers who were with him. So the people who had been forced to go with Ishmael were glad. ¹⁴ Ishmael had taken those people from Mizpah as prisoners. But now they turned and went over to the side of Johanan, the son of Kareah. ¹⁵ But Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and eight of his men escaped from Johanan. They ran away to the land of Ammon.

Some Jews Take Jeremiah to Egypt

¹⁶ Then Johanan, the son of Kareah, led away all the people of Mizpah who were still alive. All the other army officers with Johanan helped him do this. He had taken them away from Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah. That happened after Ishmael had murdered Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. The people Johanan had taken away included soldiers, women, children and court officials. He had brought them from Gibeon. ¹⁷ They went on their way. They stopped at Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem. They were going to Egypt. ¹⁸ They wanted to get away from the Babylonians. They were afraid of them. That’s because Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had killed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. The king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor over Judah.

42 Then all the army officers approached Jeremiah. They included Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah, the son of Hoshaiah. All the people from the least important of them to the most important also came. ² All of them said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please listen to our appeal. Pray to the Lord your God. Pray for all of us who are left here. Once there were many of us. But as you can see, only a few of us are left now. ³ So pray to the Lord your God. Pray that he’ll tell us where we should go. Pray that he’ll tell us what we should do.”

⁴ “I’ve heard you,” Jeremiah the prophet replied. “I’ll certainly pray to the Lord your God. I’ll do what you have asked me to do. In fact, I’ll tell you everything the Lord says. I won’t keep anything back from you.”

⁵ Then they said to Jeremiah, “We’ll do everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us to do. If we don’t, may he be a true and faithful witness against us. ⁶ It doesn’t matter whether what you say is in our favor or not. We’re asking you to pray to the Lord our God. And we’ll obey him. Things will go well with us. That’s because we will obey the Lord our God.”

⁷ Ten days later a message came to Jeremiah from the Lord. ⁸ So Jeremiah sent for Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the other army officers with him. Jeremiah also gathered together all the people from the least important of them to the most important. ⁹ He said to all of them, “The Lord is the God of Israel. You asked me to present your appeal to him. He told me, ¹⁰ ‘Stay in this land. Then I will build you up. I will not tear you down. I will plant you. I will not pull you up by the roots. I have decided to stop bringing trouble on you. ¹¹ Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon. You are afraid of him now. Do not be,’ announces the Lord. ‘I am with you. I will keep you safe. I will save you from his power. ¹² I will show you my loving concern. Then he will have concern for you. And he will let you return to your land.’

¹³ “But suppose you say, ‘We won’t stay in this land.’ If you do, you will be disobeying the Lord your God. ¹⁴ And suppose you say, ‘No! We’ll go and live in Egypt. There we won’t have to face war anymore. We won’t hear the trumpets of war. And we won’t get hungry.’ ¹⁵ Then listen to what the Lord says to you who are left in Judah. He is the Lord who rules over all. He is the God of Israel. He says, ‘Have you already made up your minds to go to Egypt? Are you going to make your homes there? ¹⁶ Then the war you fear will catch up with you there. The hunger you are afraid of will follow you into Egypt. And you will die there. ¹⁷ In fact, that will happen to all those who go and make their homes in Egypt. All of them will die of war, hunger and plague. Not one of them will live. None of them will escape the trouble I will bring on them.’ ¹⁸ He is the Lord who rules over all. He is the God of Israel. He says, ‘My great anger has been poured out on those who used to live in Jerusalem. In the same way, it will be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. People will use your name in a curse. They will be shocked at you. They will say bad things about you. And they will say you are shameful. You will never see this place again.’

¹⁹ “The Lord has spoken to you who are left in Judah. He has said, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Here is something you can be sure of. I am warning you about it today. ²⁰ You made a big mistake when you asked me to pray to the Lord your God. You said, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us. Tell us everything he says. We’ll do it.’ ²¹ I have told you today what the Lord your God wants you to do. But you still haven’t obeyed him. You haven’t done anything he sent me to tell you to do. ²² So here is something else you can be sure of. You will die of war, hunger and plague. You want to go and make your homes in Egypt. But you will die there.”