Gedaliah Assassinated by Ishmael

41 In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family and one of the king’s chief officers, came with 10 men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. They ate a meal together there in Mizpah, ² but then Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the 10 men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword; he killed the one the king of Babylon had appointed in the land. ³ Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Chaldean soldiers who were there.^(A)

⁴ On the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, when no one knew yet, ⁵ 80 men came from Shechem, Shiloh,^(B) and Samaria^(C) who had shaved their beards,^(D) torn their garments, and gashed themselves, and who were carrying grain and incense offerings to bring to the temple of the Lord.^{(E) 6} Ishmael son of Nethaniah came out of Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. When he encountered them, he said: “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam!” ⁷ But when they came into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and threw them into^[a] a cistern.

⁸ However, there were 10 men among them who said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us, for we have hidden treasure in the field—wheat, barley, oil, and honey!” So he stopped and did not kill them along with their companions. ⁹ Now the cistern where Ishmael had thrown all the corpses of the men he had struck down was a large one^[b] that King Asa had made in the encounter with Baasha king of Israel.^(F) Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.

¹⁰ Then Ishmael took captive all the remnant of the people of Mizpah including the daughters of the king—all those who remained in Mizpah over whom Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set off to cross over to the Ammonites.^(G)

The Captives Rescued by Johanan

¹¹ When Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies^(H) with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had done, ¹² they took all their men and went to fight with Ishmael son of Nethaniah and found him by the great pool in Gibeon.^{(I) 13} When all the people with Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the army with him, they rejoiced, ¹⁴ and all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and rejoined Johanan son of Kareah. ¹⁵ But Ishmael son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the Ammonites. ¹⁶ Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies with him then took from Mizpah all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam—men, soldiers, women, children, and court officials whom he brought back from Gibeon. ¹⁷ They left, stopping in Geruth Chimham,^(J) which is near Bethlehem, in order to make their way into Egypt, ¹⁸ away from the Chaldeans. For they feared them because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed in the land.^(K)

The People Seek Jeremiah’s Counsel

42 Then all the commanders of the armies, along with Johanan son of Kareah,^(L) Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest,^(M) approached ² Jeremiah the prophet and said, “May our petition come before you;^(N) pray to the Lord your God on our behalf,^(O) on behalf of this entire remnant (for few of us remain out of the many,^(P) as you can see with your own eyes), ³ that the Lord your God may tell us the way we should walk and the thing we should do.”

⁴ So Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard. I will now pray to the Lord your God according to your words, and every word that the Lord answers you I will tell you; I won’t withhold a word from you.”^(Q)

⁵ And they said to Jeremiah, “As for every word the Lord your God sends you to tell us, if we don’t act accordingly, may the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us.^{(R) 6} Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you so that it may go well with us.^(S) We will certainly obey the voice of the Lord our God!”

Jeremiah’s Advice to Stay

⁷ Now at the end of 10 days, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, ⁸ and he summoned Johanan son of Kareah, all the commanders of the armies who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest.

⁹ He said to them, “This is what the Lord says, the God of Israel to whom you sent me to bring your petition before Him: ¹⁰ ‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will rebuild and not demolish you,^(T) and I will plant and not uproot you, because I relent concerning the disaster^(U) that I have brought on you. ¹¹ Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon^(V) whom you now fear; don’t be afraid of him’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘because I am with you to save you^(W) and deliver you from him. ¹² I will grant you compassion,^(X) and he^[c] will have compassion on you and allow you to return to your own soil. ¹³ But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’^(Y) so as not to obey the voice of the Lord your God, ¹⁴ and if you say, ‘No, instead we’ll go to the land of Egypt^(Z) where we will not see war or hear the sound of the ram’s horn^(AA) or hunger for food, and we’ll live there,’ ¹⁵ then hear the word of the Lord, remnant of Judah! This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: If you are firmly resolved to go to Egypt^(AB) and live there for a while, ¹⁶ then the sword^(AC) you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine you are worried about will follow on your heels^[d] there to Egypt, and you will die there. ¹⁷ All who resolve to go to Egypt to live there for a while will die by the sword, famine, and plague. They will have no one escape or survive from the disaster I will bring on them.’

¹⁸ “For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as My anger and fury were poured out on Jerusalem’s residents,^(AD) so will My fury pour out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing, scorn,^(AE) execration, and disgrace, and you will never see this place again.’ ¹⁹ The Lord has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah: ‘Don’t go to Egypt.’ Know for certain that I have warned you today!^{(AF) 20} You have led your own selves astray because you are the ones who sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray to the Lord our God on our behalf, and as for all that the Lord our God says, tell it to us, and we’ll act accordingly.’ ²¹ For I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God in everything He has sent me to tell you. ²² Now therefore, know for certain that by the sword, famine, and plague you will die in the place where you desired to go to live for a while.”

Jeremiah’s Counsel Rejected

43 When Jeremiah had finished speaking to all the people all the words of the Lord their God—all these words the Lord their God had sent him to give them— ² then Azariah^[e] son of Hoshaiah,^(AG) Johanan son of Kareah, and all the other arrogant men responded to Jeremiah, “You are speaking a lie! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to live there for a while!’ ³ Rather, Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Chaldeans to put us to death or to deport us to Babylon!”

⁴ So Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies did not obey the voice of the Lord to stay in the land of Judah. ⁵ Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies took the whole remnant of Judah,^(AH) those who had returned from all the nations where they had been banished to live in the land of Judah for a while— ⁶ the men, women, children, king’s daughters, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, had allowed to remain with Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan,^(AI) along with Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah— ⁷ and they went to the land of Egypt because they did not obey the voice of the Lord. They went as far as Tahpanhes.^(AJ)

God’s Sign to the People in Egypt

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah at Tahpanhes: ⁹ “Pick up some large stones and set them in the mortar of the brick pavement that is at the opening of Pharaoh’s palace at Tahpanhes. Do this in the sight of the Judean men ¹⁰ and tell them: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will place his throne on these stones that I have embedded, and he will pitch his pavilion over them. ¹¹ He will come and strike down the land of Egypt^(AK)—those destined for death, to death; those destined for captivity, to captivity; and those destined for the sword,^(AL) to the sword. ¹² I^[f] will kindle a fire in the temples of Egypt’s gods,^(AM) and he will burn them and take them prisoner. He will clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd picks lice off^[g] his garment,^(AN) and he will leave there unscathed. ¹³ He will smash the sacred pillars of the sun temple^[h][i] in the land of Egypt and burn down the temples of the Egyptian gods.”

Final Exhortations

13 Let brotherly love^(A) continue. ² Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.^{(B) 3} Remember the prisoners, as though you were in prison with them, and the mistreated, as though you yourselves were suffering bodily.^{[a] 4} Marriage must be respected by all, and the marriage bed kept undefiled, because God will judge immoral people and adulterers.^{(C) 5} Your life should be free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you.^{(D)[b] 6} Therefore, we may boldly say:

⁷ Remember your leaders who have spoken God’s word to you. As you carefully observe the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith.^{(F) 8} Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.^{(G) 9} Don’t be led astray by various kinds of strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established by grace and not by foods, since those involved in them have not benefited.^{(H) 10} We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle do not have a right to eat.^{(I) 11} For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the most holy place by the high priest^(J) as a sin offering are burned outside the camp.^{(K) 12} Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the gate,^(L) so that He might sanctify^[d] the people by His own blood. ¹³ Let us then go to Him outside the camp, bearing His disgrace.^{(M) 14} For we do not have an enduring city here; instead, we seek the one to come.^{(N) 15} Therefore, through Him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that confess His name.^{(O) 16} Don’t neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.^{(P) 17} Obey your leaders^[e] and submit to them, for they keep watch^(Q) over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. ¹⁸ Pray for us; for we are convinced that we have a clear conscience, wanting to conduct ourselves honorably in everything.^{(R) 19} And I especially urge you to pray^[f] that I may be restored to you very soon.

Benediction and Farewell

²⁰ Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep^(S)—with the blood of the everlasting covenant,^{(T) 21} equip^[g] you with all that is good to do His will, working in us what is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ. Glory belongs to Him forever and ever.^[h](U) Amen.

²² Brothers, I urge you to receive this message of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. ²³ Be aware that our brother Timothy has been released. If he comes soon enough, he will be with me when I see you. ²⁴ Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who are from Italy greet you. ²⁵ Grace be with all of you.^(V)