²⁴ Gedaliah took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid of the Babylonian officials,” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.”

²⁴ “Son of man, the people living in those ruins^(A) in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many;^(B) surely the land has been given to us as our possession.’^{(C) 25} Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you eat^(D) meat with the blood^(E) still in it and look to your idols and shed blood, should you then possess the land?^{(F) 26} You rely on your sword, you do detestable things,^(G) and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife.^(H) Should you then possess the land?’

²⁷ “Say this to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, those who are left in the ruins will fall by the sword, those out in the country I will give to the wild animals to be devoured, and those in strongholds and caves will die of a plague.^{(I) 28} I will make the land a desolate waste, and her proud strength will come to an end, and the mountains^(J) of Israel will become desolate so that no one will cross them.^{(K) 29} Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolate^(L) waste because of all the detestable things they have done.’^(M)

⁶ They also led away all those whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan—the men, the women,^(A) the children and the king’s daughters. And they took Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch^(B) son of Neriah along with them.

⁹ Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid to serve^(A) the Babylonians,^[a](B)” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.^{(C) 10} I myself will stay at Mizpah^(D) to represent you before the Babylonians who come to us, but you are to harvest the wine,^(E) summer fruit and olive oil, and put them in your storage jars,^(F) and live in the towns you have taken over.”^(G)

²³ So the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king promised him on oath.^(A)

¹¹ She said, “Then let the king invoke the Lord his God to prevent the avenger^(A) of blood from adding to the destruction, so that my son will not be destroyed.”

“As surely as the Lord lives,” he said, “not one hair^(B) of your son’s head will fall to the ground.^(C)”