40 The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, hath sent him from Ramah, in his taking him -- and he a prisoner in chains -- in the midst of all the removal of Jerusalem and of Judah, who are removed to Babylon.

² And the chief of the executioners taketh Jeremiah, and saith unto him, `Jehovah thy God hath spoken this evil concerning this place,

³ and Jehovah bringeth [it] in, and doth as He spake, because ye have sinned against Jehovah, and have not hearkened to His voice, even this thing hath been to you.

⁴ `And now, lo, I have loosed thee to-day from the chains that [are] on thy hand; if good in thine eyes to come with me [to] Babylon, come, and I keep mine eye upon thee: and if evil in thine eyes to come with me to Babylon, forbear; see, all the land [is] before thee, whither [it be] good, and whither [it be] right in thine eyes to go -- go.' --

⁵ and while he doth not reply -- `Or turn back unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath appointed over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him in the midst of the people, or whithersoever it is right in thine eyes to go -- go.' And the chief of the executioners giveth to him for the way, and a gift, and sendeth him away,

⁶ and Jeremiah cometh in unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam, to Mizpah, and dwelleth with him, in the midst of the people who are left in the land.

⁷ And all the heads of the forces that [are] in the field hear, they and their men, that the king of Babylon hath appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land, and that he hath charged him [with] men, and women, and infants, and of the poor of the land, of those who have not been removed to Babylon;

⁸ and they come in unto Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan sons of Kareah, and Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah son of the Maachathite, they and their men.

⁹ And swear to them doth Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, and to their men, saying, `Be not afraid of serving the Chaldeans, abide in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it is well for you;

¹⁰ and I, lo, I am dwelling in Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who are come in unto us, and ye, gather ye wine, and summer fruit, and oil, and put in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that ye have taken.'

¹¹ And also all the Jews who [are] in Moab, and among the sons of Ammon, and in Edom, and who [are] in all the lands, have heard that the king of Babylon hath given a remnant to Judah, and that he hath appointed over them Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan,

¹² and all the Jews from all the places whither they have been driven, turn back and enter the land of Judah, unto Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and they gather wine and summer fruit -- very much.

¹³ And Johanan son of Kareah, and all the heads of the forces that [are] in the field, have come in unto Gedaliah to Mizpah,

¹⁴ and they say unto him, `Dost thou really know that Baalis king of the sons of Ammon hath sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to smite thy soul?' And Gedaliah son of Ahikam hath not given to them credence.

¹⁵ And Johanan son of Kareah hath spoken unto Gedaliah in secret, in Mizpah, saying, `Let me go, I pray thee, and I smite Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one doth know; why doth he smite thy soul? and scattered have been all Judah who are gathered unto thee, and perished hath the remnant of Judah.'

¹⁶ And Gedaliah son of Ahikam saith unto Johanan son of Kareah, `Thou dost not do this thing, for falsehood thou art speaking concerning Ishmael.'

41 And it cometh to pass, in the seventh month, come hath Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and of the chiefs of the king, and ten men with him, unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam, to Mizpah, and they eat there bread together in Mizpah.

² And Ishmael son of Nethaniah riseth, and the ten men who have been with him, and they smite Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword, and he putteth him to death whom the king of Babylon hath appointed over the land.

³ And all the Jews who have been with him, with Gedaliah, in Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who have been found there -- the men of war -- hath Ishmael smitten.

⁴ And it cometh to pass, on the second day of the putting of Gedaliah to death, (and no one hath known,)

⁵ that men come in from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria -- eighty men -- with shaven beards, and rent garments, and cutting themselves, and an offering and frankincense in their hand, to bring in to the house of Jehovah.

⁶ And Ishmael son of Nethaniah goeth forth to meet them, from Mizpah, going on and weeping, and it cometh to pass, at meeting them, that he saith unto them, `Come in unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam.'

⁷ And it cometh to pass, at their coming in unto the midst of the city, that Ishmael son of Nethaniah doth slaughter them, at the midst of the pit, he and the men who [are] with him.

⁸ And ten men have been found among them, and they say unto Ishmael, `Do not put us to death, for we have things hidden in the field -- wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey.' And he forbeareth, and hath not put them to death in the midst of their brethren.

⁹ And the pit whither Ishmael hath cast all the carcases of the men whom he hath smitten along with Gedaliah, is that which the king Asa made because of Baasha king of Israel -- it hath Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled with the pierced.

¹⁰ And Ishmael taketh captive all the remnant of the people who [are] in Mizpah, the daughters of the king, and all the people who are left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzar-Adan, chief of the executioners, hath committed [to] Gedaliah son of Ahikam, and Ishmael son of Nethaniah taketh them captive, and goeth to pass over unto the sons of Ammon.

¹¹ And hear doth Johanan son of Kareah, and all the heads of the forces that [are] with him, of all the evil that Ishmael son of Nethaniah hath done,

¹² and they take all the men, and go to fight with Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and they find him at the great waters that [are] in Gibeon.

¹³ And it cometh to pass, when all the people who [are] with Ishmael see Johanan son of Kareah, and all the heads of the forces who [are] with him, that they rejoice.

¹⁴ And all the people whom Ishmael hath taken captive from Mizpah turn round, yea, they turn back, and go unto Johanan son of Kareah.

¹⁵ And Ishmael son of Nethaniah hath escaped, with eight men, from the presence of Johanan, and he goeth unto the sons of Ammon.

¹⁶ And Johanan son of Kareah, and all the heads of the forces who [are] with him, take all the remnant of the people whom he hath brought back from Ishmael son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah -- after he had smitten Gedaliah son of Ahikam -- mighty ones, men of war, and women, and infants, and eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon,

¹⁷ and they go and abide in the habitations of Chimham, that [are] near Beth-Lehem, to go to enter Egypt,

¹⁸ from the presence of the Chaldeans, for they have been afraid of them, for Ishmael son of Nethaniah had smitten Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

42 And they come nigh -- all the heads of the forces, and Johanan son of Kareah, and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest --

² and they say unto Jeremiah the prophet, `Let, we pray thee, our supplication fall before thee, and pray for us unto Jehovah thy God, for all this remnant; for we have been left a few out of many, as thine eyes do see us;

³ and Jehovah thy God doth declare to us the way in which we walk, and the thing that we do.'

⁴ And Jeremiah the prophet saith unto them, `I have heard: lo, I am praying unto Jehovah your God according to your words, and it hath come to pass, the whole word that Jehovah answereth you, I declare to you -- I do not withhold from you a word.'

⁵ And they have said to Jeremiah, `Jehovah is against us for a witness true and faithful, if -- according to all the word with which Jehovah thy God doth send thee unto us -- we do not so.

⁶ Whether good or evil, to the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom we are sending thee, we do hearken; because it is good for us when we hearken to the voice of Jehovah our God.'

⁷ And it cometh to pass, at the end of ten days, that there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah,

⁸ and he calleth unto Johanan son of Kareah, and unto all the heads of the forces that [are] with him, and to all the people, from the least even unto the greatest,

⁹ and he saith unto them, `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me, to cause your supplication to fall before Him:

¹⁰ `If ye do certainly dwell in this land, then I have builded you up, and I throw not down; and I have planted you, and I pluck not up; for I have repented concerning the evil that I have done to you.

¹¹ Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, whom ye are afraid of; be not afraid of him -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- for with you [am] I, to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

¹² And I give to you mercies, and he hath pitied you, and caused you to turn back unto your own ground.

¹³ `And if ye are saying, We do not dwell in this land -- not to hearken to the voice of Jehovah your God,

¹⁴ saying, No; but the land of Egypt we enter, that we see no war, and the sound of a trumpet do not hear, and for bread be not hungry; and there do we dwell.

¹⁵ And now, therefore, hear ye a word of Jehovah, O remnant of Judah: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: If ye really set your faces to enter Egypt, and have gone in to sojourn there,

¹⁶ then it hath come to pass, the sword that ye are afraid of, doth there overtake you, in the land of Egypt; and the hunger, because of which ye are sorrowful, doth there cleave after you in Egypt, and there ye die.

¹⁷ `Thus are all the men who have set their faces to enter Egypt to sojourn there; they die -- by sword, by hunger, and by pestilence, and there is not to them a remnant and an escaped one, because of the evil that I am bringing in upon them;

¹⁸ for thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: As poured out hath been Mine anger and My fury on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so poured out is My fury upon you in your entering Egypt, and ye have been for an execration, and for an astonishment, and for a reviling, and for a reproach, and ye do not see any more this place.

¹⁹ `Jehovah hath spoken against you, O remnant of Judah, do not enter Egypt: know certainly that I have testified against you to-day;

²⁰ for ye have shewed yourselves perverse in your souls, for ye sent me unto Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us unto Jehovah our God, and according to all that Jehovah our God saith, so declare to us, and we have done [it];

²¹ and I declare to you to-day, and ye have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah your God, and to anything with which He hath sent me unto you.

²² And now, know ye certainly that by sword, by famine, and by pestilence ye die, in the place that ye have desired to go in to sojourn there.'