Insurrection Against Gedaliah

41 Now it came to pass in the seventh month ^(A)that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal ^[a]family and of the officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at ^(B)Mizpah. And there they ate bread together in Mizpah. ² Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, arose and ^(C)struck Gedaliah the son of ^(D)Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him whom the king of Babylon had made ^(E)governor over the land. ³ Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with him, that is, with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

⁴ And it happened, on the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, when as yet no one knew it, ⁵ that certain men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men ^(F)with their beards shaved and their clothes torn, having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to ^(G)the house of the Lord. ⁶ Now Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went along; and it happened as he met them that he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!” ⁷ So it was, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah ^(H)killed them and cast them into the midst of a ^[b]pit, he and the men who were with him. ⁸ But ten men were found among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us, for we have treasures of wheat, barley, oil, and honey in the field.” So he desisted and did not kill them among their brethren. ⁹ Now the ^[c]pit into which Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had slain, because of Gedaliah, was ^(I)the same one Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. ¹⁰ Then Ishmael carried away captive all the ^(J)rest of the people who were in Mizpah, ^(K)the king’s daughters and all the people who remained in Mizpah, ^(L)whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive and departed to go over to ^(M)the Ammonites.

¹¹ But when ^(N)Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces that were with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, ¹² they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah; and they found him by ^(O)the great pool that is in Gibeon. ¹³ So it was, when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, that they were glad. ¹⁴ Then all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. ¹⁵ But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the Ammonites.

¹⁶ Then Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, took from Mizpah all the ^(P)rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah after he had murdered Gedaliah the son of Ahikam—the mighty men of war and the women and the children and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. ¹⁷ And they departed and dwelt in the habitation of ^(Q)Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, as they went on their way to ^(R)Egypt, ¹⁸ because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had murdered Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, ^(S)whom the king of Babylon had made governor in the land.

The Flight to Egypt Forbidden

42 Now all the captains of the forces, ^(T)Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, came near ² and said to Jeremiah the prophet, ^(U)“Please, let our petition be acceptable to you, and ^(V)pray for us to the Lord your God, for all this remnant (since we are left but ^(W)a few of many, as you can see), ³ that the Lord your God may show us ^(X)the way in which we should walk and the thing we should do.”

⁴ Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard. Indeed, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words, and it shall be, that ^(Y)whatever the Lord answers you, I will declare it to you. I will ^(Z)keep nothing back from you.”

⁵ So they said to Jeremiah, ^(AA)“Let the Lord be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do according to everything which the Lord your God sends us by you. ⁶ Whether it is ^[d]pleasing or ^[e]displeasing, we will ^(AB)obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we send you, ^(AC)that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.”

⁷ And it happened after ten days that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. ⁸ Then he called Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, ⁹ and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before Him: ¹⁰ ‘If you will still remain in this land, then ^(AD)I will build you and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up. For I ^(AE)relent concerning the disaster that I have brought upon you. ¹¹ Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not be afraid of him,’ says the Lord, ^(AF)‘for I am with you, to save you and deliver you from his hand. ¹² And ^(AG)I will show you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and cause you to return to your own land.’

¹³ “But if ^(AH)you say, ‘We will not dwell in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord your God, ¹⁴ saying, ‘No, but we will go to the land of ^(AI)Egypt where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor be hungry for bread, and there we will dwell’— ¹⁵ Then hear now the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah! Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you ^(AJ)wholly^[f] set ^(AK)your faces to enter Egypt, and go to dwell there, ¹⁶ then it shall be that the ^(AL)sword which you feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; the famine of which you were afraid shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there you shall die. ¹⁷ So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to dwell there. They shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. And ^(AM)none of them shall remain or escape from the disaster that I will bring upon them.’

¹⁸ “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘As My anger and My fury have been ^(AN)poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will My fury be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And ^(AO)you shall be an oath, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more.’

¹⁹ “The Lord has said concerning you, O remnant of Judah, ^(AP)‘Do not go to Egypt!’ Know certainly that I have ^[g]admonished you this day. ²⁰ For you ^[h]were hypocrites in your hearts when you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the Lord our God, and according to all that the Lord your God says, so declare to us and we will do it.’ ²¹ And I have this day declared it to you, but you have ^(AQ)not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, or anything which He has sent you by me. ²² Now therefore, know certainly that you ^(AR)shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to dwell.”