Jeremiah 40-42
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 40
Jeremiah Still in Judah. 1 The word[a] which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after Nebuzaradan, captain of the bodyguard, had released him in Ramah, where he found him a prisoner in chains among the captives of Jerusalem and Judah being exiled to Babylon.(A) 2 The captain of the bodyguard took charge of Jeremiah and said to him, “The Lord, your God, decreed ruin for this place. 3 Now he has made it happen, accomplishing what he decreed; because you sinned against the Lord and did not listen to his voice, this decree has been realized against you. 4 Now, I release you today from the chains upon your hands; if you want to come with me to Babylon, then come: I will look out for you. But if you do not want to come to Babylon, very well. See, the whole land lies before you; go wherever you think good and proper.(B) 5 Or go to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has set over the cities of Judah. Stay with him among the people. Or go wherever you want!” The captain of the bodyguard gave him food and gifts and let him go.(C) 6 So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, in Mizpah,[b] and dwelt with him among the people left in the land.(D)
7 When the military leaders still in the field with their soldiers heard that the king of Babylon had set Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, over the land and had put him in charge of men, women, and children, from the poor of the land who had not been deported to Babylon, 8 they and their soldiers came to Gedaliah in Mizpah: Ishmael, son of Nethaniah; Johanan, son of Kareah; Seraiah, son of Tanhumeth; the sons of Ephai of Netophah; and Jezaniah of Beth-maacah. 9 Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men: “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, so that everything may go well with you.(E) 10 As for me, I will remain in Mizpah, as your representative before the Chaldeans when they come to us. You, for your part, harvest the wine, the fruit, and the oil, store them in jars, and remain in the cities you occupied.” 11 Then all the Judahites in Moab, in Ammon, in Edom, and those in all other lands heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had set over them Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan. 12 They all returned to the land of Judah from the places to which they had scattered. They went to Gedaliah at Mizpah and had a rich harvest of wine and fruit.
Assassination of Gedaliah. 13 Now Johanan, son of Kareah, and all the military leaders in the field came to Gedaliah in Mizpah 14 and said to him, “Surely you are aware that Baalis, the Ammonite king,[c] has sent Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, to assassinate you?”(F) But Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, would not believe them. 15 Then Johanan, son of Kareah, said secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah: “Please let me go and kill Ishmael, son of Nethaniah; no one will know it. What if he assassinates you? All the Judahites who have now rallied behind you would scatter and the remnant of Judah would perish.” 16 Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, answered Johanan, son of Kareah, “You must not do that. What you are saying about Ishmael is a lie!”
Chapter 41
1 In the seventh month, Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of royal descent, one of the king’s nobles, came with ten men to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, at Mizpah.(G) While they were together at table in Mizpah, 2 Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, and the ten with him, stood up and struck down Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with swords. They killed him, since the king of Babylon had set him over the land; 3 Ishmael also killed all the Judahites of military age who were with Gedaliah and the Chaldean soldiers stationed there.
4 The day after the murder of Gedaliah, before anyone learned about it, 5 eighty men, in ragged clothes, with beards shaved off and gashes on their bodies, came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, bringing grain offerings and incense for the house of the Lord. 6 Weeping as he went, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, set out from Mizpah to meet them. “Come to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam,” he said as he met them. 7 Once they were inside the city, Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, and his men slaughtered them and threw them into the cistern. 8 Ten of them said to Ishmael: “Do not kill us! We have stores of wheat and barley, oil and honey hidden in the field.” So he spared them and did not kill them as he had killed their companions. 9 The cistern into which Ishmael threw all the bodies of the men he had killed was the large one King Asa made to defend himself against Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, filled this cistern with the slain.(H)
10 Ishmael led away the rest of the people left in Mizpah, including the princesses,[d] whom Nebuzaradan, captain of the bodyguard, had consigned to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam. With these captives, Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, set out to cross over to the Ammonites.
Flight to Egypt. 11 But when Johanan, son of Kareah, and the other army leaders with him heard about the crimes Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, had committed, 12 they took all their men and set out to attack Ishmael, son of Nethaniah. They overtook him at the great pool in Gibeon.[e] 13 At the sight of Johanan, son of Kareah, and the other army leaders, the people with Ishmael rejoiced; 14 all of those whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah went back to Johanan, son of Kareah. 15 But Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, escaped from Johanan with eight men and fled to the Ammonites. 16 Then Johanan, son of Kareah, and all the military leaders took charge of all the rest of the people whom Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, had taken away from Mizpah after he killed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam—the soldiers, the women with children, and court officials, whom he brought back from Gibeon. 17 They set out and stopped at Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem, intending to go into Egypt. 18 They were afraid of the Chaldeans, because Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, had slain Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had set over the land.
Chapter 42
1 Then all the military leaders, including Johanan, son of Kareah, Azariah, son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, 2 approached Jeremiah the prophet and said, “Please grant our petition; pray for us to the Lord, your God, for all this remnant. As you see, only a few of us remain, but once we were many. 3 May the Lord, your God, show us the way we should take and what we should do.” 4 “Very well!” Jeremiah the prophet answered them: “I will pray to the Lord, your God, as you desire; whatever the Lord answers, I will tell you; I will withhold nothing from you.”(I) 5 And they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not follow all the instructions the Lord, your God, sends us through you.(J) 6 Whether we like it or not, we will obey the command of the Lord, our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us for obeying the command of the Lord, our God.”(K)
7 Ten days passed before the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8 Then he called Johanan, son of Kareah, his army leaders, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, 9 and said to them: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to offer your petition: 10 If indeed you will remain in this land, I will build you up, and not tear you down; I will plant you, not uproot you; for I repent of the evil I have done you.(L) 11 Do not fear the king of Babylon, as you do now. Do not fear him—oracle of the Lord—for I am with you to save you, to rescue you from his power.(M) 12 I will take pity on you, so that he will have pity on you and let you return to your land.(N) 13 But if you keep saying, “We will not stay in this land,” thus disobeying the voice of the Lord, your God, 14 and saying, “No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war, nor hear the trumpet alarm, nor hunger for bread. There we will live!”(O) 15 then listen to the word of the Lord, remnant of Judah: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you are set on going to Egypt and settling down there once you arrive, 16 the sword you fear shall overtake you in the land of Egypt; the hunger you dread shall pursue you to Egypt and there you shall die.(P) 17 All those determined to go to Egypt to live shall die by the sword, famine, and disease: not one shall survive or escape the evil that I am bringing upon them.(Q) 18 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Just as my furious wrath was poured out upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my anger be poured out on you when you reach Egypt. You shall become a malediction and a horror, a curse and a reproach, and you shall never see this place again.(R)
19 The Lord has spoken to you, remnant of Judah. Do not go to Egypt! Mark well that I am warning you this day. 20 At the cost of your lives you have been deceitful, for you yourselves sent me to the Lord, your God, saying, “Pray for us to the Lord, our God; whatever the Lord, our God, shall say, tell us and we will do it.” 21 Today I have told you, but you have not listened to the voice of the Lord your God, in anything that he has sent me to tell you.(S) 22 Have no doubt about this: you shall die by the sword, famine, and disease in the place where you want to go and live.(T)
Footnotes
- 40:1 The word: this “word” does not actually appear until 42:7.
- 40:6 While Jerusalem had suffered a great deal of damage, the Babylonian leaders’ selection of Mizpah as their local headquarters was probably as much a symbolic statement as it was a utilitarian move: Jerusalem and its political and religious worldview had given way to disorder and no longer existed as a symbol of order.
- 40:14 In an attempt, perhaps, to weaken Babylon’s hold on the area and to add Judah to the Ammonite kingdom, Baalis supported Ishmael’s claim to the throne of David (cf. 41:1 for Ishmael’s genealogy).
- 41:10 The princesses: the women of Judah’s royal house.
- 41:12 Gibeon: modern El-Jib; northwest of Jerusalem. A huge pit carved into limestone provided water in time of siege, here called the great pool, lit., “many waters”; cf. 2 Sm 2:12–14.
Ben Sira 19:18-26
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
How to Recognize True Wisdom[a]
20 All wisdom is fear of the Lord;
and in all wisdom, the observance of the Law.[b](A)
22 The knowledge of wickedness is not wisdom,
nor is there prudence in the counsel of sinners.
23 There is a shrewdness that is detestable,
while the fool may be free from sin.
24 Better are the God-fearing who have little understanding
than those of great intelligence who violate the Law.
25 There is a shrewdness keen but dishonest,
and there are those who are duplicitous to win a judgment.
26 There is the villain bowed in grief,
but full of deceit within.
John 8:1-30
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 8
A Woman Caught in Adultery.[a] [53 Then each went to his own house, 1 while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.[b](A) 2 But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. 4 They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.[c] So what do you say?”(B) 6 They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.[d] 7 [e]But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them,(C) “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. 10 Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”(D) 11 She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, [and] from now on do not sin any more.”](E)
The Light of the World.[f] 12 Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”(F) 13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You testify on your own behalf, so your testimony cannot be verified.” 14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I do testify on my own behalf, my testimony can be verified,[g] because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I come from or where I am going.(G) 15 You judge by appearances,[h] but I do not judge anyone.(H) 16 And even if I should judge, my judgment is valid, because I am not alone, but it is I and the Father who sent me.(I) 17 Even in your law[i] it is written that the testimony of two men can be verified.(J) 18 I testify on my behalf and so does the Father who sent me.”(K) 19 So they said to him, “Where is your father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”(L) 20 He spoke these words while teaching in the treasury in the temple area. But no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.(M)
Jesus, the Father’s Ambassador.[j] 21 He said to them again, “I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin.[k] Where I am going you cannot come.”(N) 22 [l]So the Jews said, “He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world.(O) 24 That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM,[m] you will die in your sins.”(P) 25 [n]So they said to him, “Who are you?”(Q) Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the beginning. 26 I have much to say about you in condemnation. But the one who sent me is true, and what I heard from him I tell the world.”(R) 27 They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father. 28 So Jesus said [to them], “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me.(S) 29 The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him.” 30 Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.
Jesus and Abraham.[o]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 7:53–8:11 The story of the woman caught in adultery is a later insertion here, missing from all early Greek manuscripts. A Western text-type insertion, attested mainly in Old Latin translations, it is found in different places in different manuscripts: here, or after Jn 7:36 or at the end of this gospel, or after Lk 21:38, or at the end of that gospel. There are many non-Johannine features in the language, and there are also many doubtful readings within the passage. The style and motifs are similar to those of Luke, and it fits better with the general situation at the end of Lk 21, but it was probably inserted here because of the allusion to Jer 17:13 (cf. note on Jn 8:6) and the statement, “I do not judge anyone,” in Jn 8:15. The Catholic Church accepts this passage as canonical scripture.
- 8:1 Mount of Olives: not mentioned elsewhere in the gospel tradition outside of passion week.
- 8:5 Lv 20:10 and Dt 22:22 mention only death, but Dt 22:23–24 prescribes stoning for a betrothed virgin.
- 8:6 Cf. Jer 17:13 (RSV): “Those who turn away from thee shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water”; cf. Jn 7:38.
- 8:7 The first stones were to be thrown by the witnesses (Dt 17:7).
- 8:12–20 Jesus the light of the world. Jesus replaces the four torches of the illumination of the temple as the light of joy.
- 8:14 My testimony can be verified: this seems to contradict Jn 5:31, but the emphasis here is on Jesus’ origin from the Father and his divine destiny. Where I am going: indicates Jesus’ passion and glorification.
- 8:15 By appearances: literally, “according to the flesh.” I do not judge anyone: superficial contradiction of Jn 5:22, 27, 30; here the emphasis is that the judgment is not by material standards.
- 8:17 Your law: a reflection of later controversy between church and synagogue.
- 8:21–30 He whose ambassador I am is with me. Jesus’ origin is from God; he can reveal God.
- 8:21 You will die in your sin: i.e., of disbelief; cf. Jn 8:24. Where I am going you cannot come: except through faith in Jesus’ passion-resurrection.
- 8:22 The Jews suspect that he is referring to his death. Johannine irony is apparent here; Jesus’ death will not be self-inflicted but destined by God.
- 8:24, 28 I AM: an expression that late Jewish tradition understood as Yahweh’s own self-designation (Is 43:10); see note on Jn 4:26. Jesus is here placed on a par with Yahweh.
- 8:25 What I told you from the beginning: this verse seems textually corrupt, with several other possible translations: “(I am) what I say to you”; “Why do I speak to you at all?” The earliest attested reading (Bodmer Papyrus P66) has (in a second hand), “I told you at the beginning what I am also telling you (now).” The answer here (cf. Prv 8:22) seems to hinge on a misunderstanding of Jn 8:24 “that I AM” as “what I am.”
- 8:31–59 Jesus’ origin (“before Abraham”) and destiny are developed; the truth will free them from sin (Jn 8:34) and death (Jn 8:51).
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