Jeremiah 39-44

Legacy Standard Bible

The Walls of Jerusalem Torn Down

39 ^[a]Now when Jerusalem was captured ^[b](A)in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his military force came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it; ² in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the city was ^(B)breached. ³ Then all the ^(C)officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat down at the ^(D)Middle Gate: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the ^[c]Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the ^[d]Rab-mag, and all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon. ⁴ Now it happened that when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, they ^(E)fled and went out of the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate ^(F)between the two walls; and he went out toward the ^[e]Arabah. ⁵ But the military force of the ^(G)Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the ^[f](H)plains of Jericho; and they took him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at ^(I)Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he spoke judgment on him. ⁶ Then the ^(J)king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah ^(K)before his eyes at Riblah; the king of Babylon also slaughtered all the ^(L)nobles of Judah. ⁷ He then ^(M)blinded Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in ^(N)fetters of bronze to bring him to ^(O)Babylon. ⁸ The Chaldeans also ^(P)burned with fire the house of the king and the houses of the people, and they ^(Q)tore down the walls of Jerusalem. ⁹ And as for the rest of the people who remained in the city, the ^[g](R)defectors who had gone over to him and ^(S)the rest of the people who remained, ^(T)Nebuzaradan the ^(U)captain of the bodyguard took them away into exile in Babylon. ¹⁰ But some of the ^(V)poorest people who had nothing, ^(W)Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had them remain in the land of Judah and gave them vineyards and fields ^[h]at that time.

Jeremiah Delivered

¹¹ Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave a command about ^(X)Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying, ¹² “Take him and set your eyes to look after him and ^(Y)do nothing harmful to him, but rather deal with him just as he speaks to you.” ¹³ So Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard sent word, along with Nebushazban the ^[i]Rab-saris and Nergal-sar-ezer the ^[j]Rab-mag and all the leading officers of the king of Babylon; ¹⁴ they even sent and ^(Z)took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard and gave him over to ^(AA)Gedaliah, the son of ^(AB)Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he stayed among the people.

¹⁵ Now the word of Yahweh had come to Jeremiah while he was ^(AC)confined in the court of the guard, saying, ¹⁶ “Go and speak to ^(AD)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to bring My words on this city ^(AE)for ^[k]calamity and not for ^[l]prosperity; and they will ^(AF)take place before you on that day. ¹⁷ But I will ^(AG)deliver you on that day,” declares Yahweh, “and you will not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are terrified. ¹⁸ For I will certainly provide you escape, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own ^(AH)life as spoil because you have ^(AI)trusted in Me,” declares Yahweh.’”

Jeremiah Stays in Judah

40 The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after ^(AJ)Nebuzaradan captain of the bodyguard had released him from ^(AK)Ramah, when he had taken him bound in ^(AL)chains among all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon. ² And the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, “^(AM)Yahweh your God promised this calamity against this place; ³ and Yahweh has brought it on and done just as He promised. Because you people ^(AN)sinned against Yahweh and did not listen to His voice, therefore this thing has happened to you. ⁴ So now, behold, I am ^(AO)freeing you today from the chains which are on your hands. If it is good in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, come along, and I will set my eyes to look after you; but if it ^[m]is displeasing in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, ^[n]never mind. Look, the ^(AP)whole land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right in your eyes to go.” ⁵ But as ^[o]Jeremiah had not yet set out to return, ^[p]he said, “Return then to ^(AQ)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has ^(AR)appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people; or else go anywhere that is right in your eyes to go.” So the captain of the bodyguard gave him a ^(AS)ration and a ^(AT)gift and let him go. ⁶ Then Jeremiah went to ^(AU)Mizpah to ^(AV)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and stayed with him among the people who remained in the land.

^7 (AW)Then all the ^[q]commanders of the military forces that were in the field, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam over the land and that he had appointed him over the men, women, little ones, and those of the ^(AX)poorest of the land who had not been exiled to Babylon. ⁸ So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with ^(AY)Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and ^(AZ)Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the ^(BA)Netophathite, and ^(BB)Jezaniah the son of the ^(BC)Maacathite, both they and their men. ⁹ Then Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ^(BD)swore to them and to their men, saying, “^(BE)Do not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans; stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, that it may go well with you. ¹⁰ Now as for me, behold, I am going to stay at Mizpah to ^(BF)stand for you before the Chaldeans who come to us; but as for you, ^(BG)gather in wine and ^(BH)summer fruit and oil and put them in your storage vessels and stay in your cities that you have seized.” ¹¹ And also all the Jews, who were in ^(BI)Moab and among the sons of ^(BJ)Ammon and in ^(BK)Edom and who were in all the other lands, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant for Judah and that he had appointed over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. ¹² Then all the Jews ^(BL)returned from all the places to which they had been banished and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered in wine and summer fruit in great abundance.

¹³ Now Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that were in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah ¹⁴ and said to him, “Do you indeed know that Baalis the king of the sons of ^(BM)Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to strike down your life?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them. ¹⁵ Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “^(BN)Let me go and strike down Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know! Why should he ^(BO)strike down your life, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered and the ^(BP)remnant of Judah would perish?” ¹⁶ But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “^(BQ)Do not do this thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael.”

Ishmael Strikes Down Gedaliah

41 ^(BR)Now it happened in the seventh month, that ^(BS)Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to ^(BT)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And they ^(BU)were eating bread together there in Mizpah. ² Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him arose and ^(BV)struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and ^(BW)put to death the one ^(BX)whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. ³ Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with him, that is with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

⁴ Now it happened on the ^[r]next day after putting Gedaliah to death, when no one knew about it, ⁵ that eighty men ^(BY)came from ^(BZ)Shechem, from ^(CA)Shiloh, and from ^(CB)Samaria with ^(CC)their beards shaved off and their clothes torn and ^[s]their bodies ^(CD)gashed, having grain offerings and frankincense in their hands to bring to the ^(CE)house of Yahweh. ⁶ Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, ^(CF)weeping as he went; and it happened that as he encountered them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!” ⁷ But it happened that as soon as they came inside the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men that were with him ^(CG)slaughtered them and cast them into the cistern. ⁸ But ten men who were found among them said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death; for we have ^(CH)stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field.” So he refrained and did not put them to death along with their ^[t]companions.

⁹ Now as for the cistern where Ishmael had cast all the corpses of the men whom he had struck down ^[u]because of Gedaliah, it was the ^(CI)one that King Asa had made on ^(CJ)account of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. ¹⁰ Then Ishmael took captive all the ^(CK)remnant of the people who were in Mizpah, the ^(CL)king’s daughters and all the people who remained in Mizpah, over whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; thus Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and went to cross over to the sons of ^(CM)Ammon.

Johanan Rescues the People

¹¹ But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the ^(CN)commanders of the military forces that were with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done. ¹² So they took all the men and went to ^(CO)fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and they found him by the ^(CP)great ^[v]pool that is in Gibeon. ¹³ Now it happened as soon as all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that were with him, they were glad. ¹⁴ So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and returned and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. ¹⁵ But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah ^(CQ)escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the sons of Ammon. ¹⁶ Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that were with him took from Mizpah ^(CR)all the remnant of the people whom he had returned from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the mighty men who were men of war, the women, the little ones, and the eunuchs, whom he had returned from Gibeon. ¹⁷ And they went and stayed in ^[w](CS)Geruth Chimham, which is beside Bethlehem, in order to ^(CT)proceed into Egypt ¹⁸ because of the Chaldeans; for they were ^(CU)afraid of them, since Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom ^(CV)the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

The People Ask Jeremiah to Pray

42 Then all the ^[x]commanders of the military forces, ^(CW)Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people ^(CX)both small and great approached ² and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our ^(CY)supplication ^[y]come before you, and ^(CZ)pray for us to Yahweh your God, that is for all this remnant, because we remain but a ^(DA)few out of many, as your own eyes now see us, ³ that Yahweh your God may tell us the ^(DB)way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.” ⁴ Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I am going to ^(DC)pray to Yahweh your God in accordance with your words; and I will tell you the whole ^[z]message which ^(DD)Yahweh will answer you. I will ^(DE)not keep back a word from you.” ⁵ And they said to Jeremiah, “May ^(DF)Yahweh be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole ^[aa]message with which Yahweh your God will send you to us. ⁶ Whether it is good or bad, we will ^(DG)listen to the voice of Yahweh our God to whom we are sending you, so that good ^(DH)may come to us when we listen to the voice of Yahweh our God.”

⁷ Now it happened that at the ^(DI)end of ten days the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah. ⁸ Then he called for Johanan the son of Kareah and all the ^[ab]commanders of the military forces that were with him, and for all the people both small and great, ⁹ and said to them, “Thus ^(DJ)says Yahweh the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before Him: ¹⁰ ‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will ^(DK)build you up and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I have ^[ac](DL)relented of the calamity that I have done against you. ^11 (DM)Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,’ declares Yahweh, ‘for ^(DN)I am with you to save you and deliver you from his hand. ¹² I will also show you compassion, so that ^(DO)he will have compassion on you and return you to your own soil. ¹³ But if you are going to say, “We will ^(DP)not stay in this land,” so as not to listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, ¹⁴ saying, “No, but we will ^(DQ)go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or ^(DR)hear the sound of a trumpet or hunger for bread, and we will stay there,” ¹⁵ then now, listen to the word of Yahweh, O remnant of Judah. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “If you really set your face to enter ^(DS)Egypt, and you will enter to sojourn there, ¹⁶ then the ^(DT)sword, which you are afraid of, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are anxious, will ^[ad]follow closely after you there in Egypt, and you will die there. ¹⁷ So all the men who set their face to go to Egypt to sojourn there will die by the ^(DU)sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; and they will ^(DV)have no survivors or any who escaped from the calamity that I am going to bring on them.”’”

¹⁸ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “As My ^(DW)anger and wrath have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a ^(DX)curse, an object of horror, an imprecation, and a reproach; and ^(DY)you will see this place no more.” ¹⁹ Yahweh has spoken to you, O remnant of Judah, “Do not ^(DZ)go into Egypt!” You should clearly ^(EA)know that today I have ^(EB)testified against you. ²⁰ For you have only ^[ae](EC)led yourselves astray; for it is you who sent me to Yahweh your God, saying, “Pray for us to Yahweh our God; and according to all that Yahweh our God says, tell us so, and we will do it.” ²¹ So I have ^(ED)told you today, but you have ^(EE)not listened to the voice of Yahweh your God, even according to all that He has sent me to tell you. ²² So now, you should clearly know that you will ^(EF)die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, in the ^(EG)place where you desire to go to sojourn.

Jeremiah Taken to Egypt

43 But it happened that as soon as Jeremiah, whom Yahweh their God had sent, had ^(EH)finished speaking to all the people all the words of Yahweh their God—that is, all these words— ² Azariah the ^(EI)son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are ^(EJ)speaking a lie! Yahweh our God has not sent you to say, ‘You are not to enter Egypt to sojourn there’; ³ but ^(EK)Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us to give us over into the hand of the Chaldeans, so they will put us to death or exile us to Babylon.” ⁴ So ^(EL)Johanan the son of Kareah and all the ^[af]commanders of the military forces and all the people ^(EM)did not listen to the voice of Yahweh to ^(EN)stay in the land of Judah. ⁵ But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the ^[ag]commanders of the military forces took the ^(EO)entire remnant of Judah, who had returned from all the nations to which they had been banished, in order to sojourn in the land of Judah— ⁶ the men, the women, the little ones, the ^(EP)king’s daughters, and ^(EQ)every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam ^[ah]and grandson of Shaphan, together with ^(ER)Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah— ⁷ and they entered the land of Egypt (for they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh) and went in as far as ^(ES)Tahpanhes.

⁸ Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah in ^(ET)Tahpanhes, saying, ⁹ “Take some large stones in your ^[ai]hands and hide them in the mortar in the ^[aj]brick terrace which is at the entrance of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of ^[ak]some of the Jews; ¹⁰ and you will say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am going to send and get ^(EU)Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^(EV)My servant, and I am going to set his throne right over these stones that I have hidden; and he will spread his ^(EW)canopy over them. ¹¹ He will also come and ^(EX)strike the land of Egypt; those who are meant for death will be given over to death, and those for captivity to captivity, and ^(EY)those for the sword to the sword. ¹² And ^[al]I shall set fire to the houses of the ^(EZ)gods of Egypt, and he will burn them and take them captive. So he will ^(FA)wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself with his garment, and he will depart from there safely. ¹³ He will also shatter the ^[am]sacred pillars of ^[an]Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire.”’”

Wrath Against the Israelites in Egypt

44 The word that came to Jeremiah for all the Jews living in the land of Egypt, those who were living in ^(FB)Migdol, ^(FC)Tahpanhes, ^(FD)Memphis, and the land of ^(FE)Pathros, saying, ² “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are a ^(FF)waste place and no one lives in them ^3 (FG)because of their evil which they did so as to ^(FH)provoke Me to anger by continuing to ^(FI)burn incense and to ^(FJ)serve other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, nor your fathers. ⁴ Yet I ^(FK)sent you all My slaves the prophets, rising up early and sending, saying, “Oh, do not do this ^(FL)abominable thing which I hate.” ⁵ But ^(FM)they did not listen or incline their ears to turn from their evil, so as not to burn incense to other gods. ⁶ Therefore My ^(FN)wrath and My anger were poured out and burned in the ^(FO)cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so they have become a waste place and a ^(FP)desolation as it is this day. ⁷ So now, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, “Why are you ^(FQ)doing great evil against yourselves, so as to ^(FR)cut off from you man and woman, infant and nursing baby, from among Judah, leaving yourselves without remnant, ^8 (FS)provoking Me to anger with the works of your hands, ^(FT)burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you are entering to sojourn, so that you might be cut off and become an ^(FU)imprecation and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? ⁹ Have you forgotten the ^(FV)evil of your fathers, the evil of the kings of Judah, and the evil of their wives, your own evil, and the evil of your wives, which they did in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁰ But they ^(FW)have not become ^[ao]contrite even to this day, nor have they feared nor ^(FX)walked in My law or My statutes, which I have put before you and before your fathers.”’

¹¹ “Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am going to ^(FY)set My face against you for your evil demise, even to cut off all Judah. ¹² And I will ^(FZ)take away the remnant of Judah who have set their face on entering the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they will all ^[ap](GA)meet their end in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword and ^[aq]meet their end by famine. Both small and great will die by the sword and famine; and they will become a ^(GB)curse, an object of horror, an imprecation, and a reproach. ¹³ And I will ^(GC)punish those who live in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence. ¹⁴ So there will be ^(GD)no one who escapes or any survivors for the remnant of Judah who have entered the land of Egypt to sojourn there and then to return to the land of Judah, to which they are ^[ar](GE)longing to return to live; for none will ^(GF)return except a few who escape.’”

¹⁵ Then ^(GG)all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, ^[as]including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered to Jeremiah, saying, ¹⁶ “As for the ^[at](GH)message that you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh, ^(GI)we are not going to listen to you! ¹⁷ But rather we will certainly ^(GJ)carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, ^[au]by burning incense to the ^(GK)queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as ^(GL)we ourselves, our fathers, our kings, and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had ^(GM)plenty of ^[av]food and were well off and saw no evil. ¹⁸ But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have ^(GN)lacked everything and have ^[aw]met our end by the sword and by famine.” ¹⁹ “And,” said the women, “when we were ^(GO)burning incense to the queen of heaven and ^[ax]were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it ^(GP)without our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes ^[ay]in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

²⁰ Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women—even to all the people who were answering him with such a word—saying, ²¹ “As for the ^[az](GQ)smoking sacrifices that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the ^(GR)streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not Yahweh ^(GS)remember them and did not all this come upon His heart? ²² So Yahweh was ^(GT)no longer able to bear it, ^(GU)because of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations which you have done; thus your land has become a ^(GV)waste place, an object of horror, and an imprecation, without an inhabitant, as it is this day. ²³ Because you have burned incense and have sinned against Yahweh and ^(GW)not listened to the voice of Yahweh or ^(GX)walked in His law, His statutes, or His testimonies, therefore this ^(GY)evil has befallen you, as it has this day.”

²⁴ Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “^(GZ)Hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are ^(HA)in the land of Egypt, ²⁵ thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: ‘As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, “We will ^(HB)certainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” ^[ba](HC)Go ahead and establish your vows, and certainly perform your vows!’ ^26 [bb]Nevertheless, hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt, ‘Behold, I have ^(HD)sworn by My great name,’ says Yahweh, ‘^(HE)never shall My name be called upon again by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “^(HF)As Lord Yahweh lives.” ²⁷ Behold, I am watching over them ^(HG)for ^[bc]evil and not for good, and ^(HH)all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will ^[bd]meet their end by the sword and by famine until they ^[be]are completely consumed. ^28 (HI)Those who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt to the land of Judah ^[bf](HJ)few in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to sojourn there will know ^(HK)whose word will be established, Mine or theirs. ²⁹ This will be the ^(HL)sign to you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that ^(HM)My words will surely be established against you for ^[bg]evil.’ ³⁰ Thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am going to give over ^(HN)Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt to the hand of his enemies, to the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave over ^(HO)Zedekiah king of Judah to the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and was seeking his life.’”