Jeremiah Remains in Judah

40 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after ^(A)Nebuzaradan captain of the bodyguard had released him from ^(B)Ramah, when he had taken him bound in ^(C)chains among all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon. ² Now the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, “The ^(D)Lord your God promised this disaster against this place; ³ and the Lord has brought it and done just as He promised. Because you people ^(E)sinned against the Lord and did not listen to His voice, this thing has happened to you. ⁴ But now, behold, I am ^(F)setting you free today from the chains that are on your hands. If ^[a]you would prefer to come with me to Babylon, come along, and I will ^[b]look after you; but if ^[c]you would prefer not to come with me to Babylon, ^[d]do not come. Look, the ^(G)whole land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right for you to go.” ⁵ As ^[e]Jeremiah was still not going back, ^[f]he said, “Go on back then to ^(H)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has ^(I)appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people; or else go anywhere it seems right for you to go.” So the captain of the bodyguard gave him a ^(J)ration and a ^(K)gift, and let him go. ⁶ Then Jeremiah went to ^(L)Mizpah to ^(M)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.

^7 (N)Now all the commanders of the 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 put him in charge of the men, women, and ^[g]children, those of the ^(O)poorest of the land who had not been exiled to Babylon. ⁸ So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with ^(P)Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, ^(Q)Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the ^(R)Netophathite, and ^(S)Jezaniah the son of the ^(T)Maacathite, both they and their men. ⁹ Then Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ^(U)swore to them and to their men, saying, “^(V)Do not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans; stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, so that it may go well for you. ¹⁰ Now as for me, behold, I am going to stay in Mizpah to ^(W)stand for you before the Chaldeans who come to us; but as for you, ^(X)gather wine, ^(Y)summer fruit, and oil, and put them in your storage vessels, and live in your cities that you have taken over.” ¹¹ Likewise, also all the Jews who were in ^(Z)Moab and among the sons of ^(AA)Ammon and in ^(AB)Edom, and who were in all the other countries, heard that the king of Babylon had ^[h]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 ^(AC)returned from all the places to which they had been scattered and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruit in great abundance.

¹³ Now Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, ¹⁴ and said to him, “Are you well aware that Baalis the king of the sons of ^(AD)Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take 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, “^(AE)Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no one will know! Why should he ^(AF)take your life, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered and the ^(AG)remnant of Judah would perish?” ¹⁶ But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “^(AH)Do not do this thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael.”

The Goal of Life

3 Finally, my brothers and sisters, ^(A)rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble for me, and it is a safeguard for you.

² Beware of the ^(B)dogs, beware of the ^(C)evil workers, beware of the ^[a]false circumcision; ³ for ^(D)we are the true ^[b]circumcision, who ^(E)worship in the Spirit of God and take ^(F)pride in ^(G)Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh, ⁴ although ^(H)I myself could boast as having confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he is confident in the flesh, I have more reason: ^5 (I)circumcised the eighth day, of the ^(J)nation of Israel, of the ^(K)tribe of Benjamin, a ^(L)Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, ^(M)a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, ^(N)a persecutor of the church; as to the ^(O)righteousness which is in the Law, found ^(P)blameless.

⁷ But ^(Q)whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ. ⁸ More than that, I count all things to be loss ^[c]in view of the surpassing value of ^[d](R)knowing ^(S)Christ Jesus my Lord, ^[e]for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, ⁹ and may be found in Him, not having ^(T)a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, ^(U)the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, ¹⁰ that I may ^(V)know Him and ^(W)the power of His resurrection and ^[f](X)the fellowship of His sufferings, being ^(Y)conformed to His death; ¹¹ if somehow I may ^(Z)attain to the resurrection from the dead.

¹² Not that I have already ^[g](AA)grasped it all or have already ^(AB)become perfect, but I press on if I may also ^(AC)take hold of that ^[h]for which I ^(AD)was even taken hold of by ^(AE)Christ Jesus. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: ^(AF)forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I ^(AG)press on toward the goal for the prize of the ^(AH)upward call of God in ^(AI)Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ Therefore, all who are ^[i](AJ)mature, let’s have this attitude; and if in anything you have a ^(AK)different attitude, ^(AL)God will reveal that to you as well; ¹⁶ however, let’s keep ^[j](AM)living by that same standard to which we have attained.

¹⁷ Brothers and sisters, ^(AN)join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the ^(AO)pattern you have in us. ¹⁸ For ^(AP)many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even as I ^(AQ)weep, that they are the enemies of ^(AR)the cross of Christ, ¹⁹ whose end is destruction, whose god is their ^[k](AS)appetite, and whose ^(AT)glory is in their shame, who ^(AU)have their minds on earthly things. ²⁰ For ^(AV)our ^[l]citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly ^(AW)wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; ²¹ who will ^(AX)transform the body of our lowly condition into ^(AY)conformity with ^[m]His ^(AZ)glorious body, ^(BA)by the exertion of the power that He has even to ^(BB)subject all things to Himself.

Gedaliah Is Murdered

41 ^(A)Now in the seventh month ^(B)Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal ^[a]family and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to ^(C)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. While they ^(D)were eating bread together there in Mizpah, ² Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him rose up, and ^(E)struck and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and ^(F)put to death the one ^(G)whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. ³ Ishmael also struck and killed all the Jews who were with him, that is with Gedaliah in Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

⁴ Now it happened on the ^[b]next day after the killing of Gedaliah, when no one knew about it, ⁵ that eighty men ^(H)came from ^(I)Shechem, from ^(J)Shiloh, and from ^(K)Samaria with ^(L)their beards shaved off, their clothes torn, and ^[c]their bodies ^(M)gashed, having grain offerings and incense in their hands to bring to the ^(N)house of the Lord. ⁶ Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah left Mizpah to meet them, ^(O)weeping as he went; and as he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!” ⁷ Yet it turned out that as soon as they came inside the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him ^(P)slaughtered them and threw 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 ^(Q)supplies of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field.” So he refrained and did not put them to death along with their companions.

⁹ Now as for the cistern where Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck and killed ^[d]because of Gedaliah, it was the ^(R)one that King Asa had constructed on ^(S)account of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead. ¹⁰ Then Ishmael took captive all the ^(T)remnant of the people who were in Mizpah, the ^(U)king’s daughters and all the people who were left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had put in the custody of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and proceeded to cross over to the sons of ^(V)Ammon.

Johanan Rescues the People

¹¹ But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the ^(W)commanders of the forces that were with him heard about all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done. ¹² So they took all the men and went to ^(X)fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and they found him by the ^(Y)large ^[e]pool that is in Gibeon. ¹³ Now as soon as all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, they were joyful. ¹⁴ So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. ¹⁵ But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah ^(Z)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 forces that were with him took from Mizpah ^(AA)all the remnant of the people whom he had ^[f]recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the men who were ^[g]soldiers, the women, the ^[h]children, and the high officials, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. ¹⁷ And they went and stayed in ^[i](AB)Geruth Chimham, which is beside Bethlehem, in order to ^(AC)proceed into Egypt ¹⁸ because of the Chaldeans; for they were ^(AD)afraid of them, since Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom ^(AE)the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

Mary Anoints Jesus

12 ^(A)Therefore, six days before ^(B)the Passover, Jesus came to ^(C)Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² So they made Him a dinner there, and ^(D)Martha was serving; and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. ^3 (E)Mary then took a ^[a]pound of very expensive ^(F)perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴ But ^(G)Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, the one who intended to ^[b]betray Him, *said, ⁵ “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred ^[c]denarii and the proceeds given to poor people?” ⁶ Now he said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he ^(H)kept the money box, he used to ^[d]steal from ^(I)what was put into it. ⁷ Therefore Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it ^[e]for ^(J)the day of My burial. ^8 (K)For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”

⁹ The ^(L)large crowd of the Jews then learned that He was there; and they came, not on account of Jesus only, but so that they might also see Lazarus, ^(M)whom He raised from the dead. ¹⁰ But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also, ¹¹ because ^(N)on account of him ^(O)many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry

¹² On the next day, when ^(P)the large crowd that had come to ^(Q)the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, ¹³ they took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began shouting, “^(R)Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, indeed, the ^(S)King of Israel!” ¹⁴ Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: ¹⁵ “^(T)Do not fear, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” ^16 (U)These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus ^(V)was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things for Him. ¹⁷ So ^(W)the ^[f]people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify about Him. ^18 (X)For this reason also the ^[g]people went to meet Him, ^(Y)because they heard that He had performed this ^[h]sign. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said ^[i]to one another, “You see that you are not accomplishing anything; look, the world has gone after Him!”