Jeremiah with Gedaliah the Governor

40 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he took him bound in fetters along with all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon.^{(A) 2} The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, “The Lord your God threatened this place with this disaster,^{(B) 3} and now the Lord has brought it about and has done as he said, because all of you sinned against the Lord and did not obey his voice. Therefore this thing has come upon you.^{(C) 4} Now look, I have just released you today from the fetters on your hands. If you wish to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will take good care of you, but if you do not wish to come with me to Babylon, you need not come. See, the whole land is before you; go wherever you think it good and right to go.^{(D) 5} If you remain,^[a] then return to Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon appointed governor of the towns of Judah, and stay with him among the people, or go wherever you think it right to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him an allowance of food and a present and let him go.^{(E) 6} Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.^(F)

⁷ When all the leaders of the forces in the open country and their troops heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam governor in the land and had committed to him men, women, and children, those of the poorest of the land who had not been taken into exile to Babylon,^{(G) 8} they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan^[b] son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ophai the Netophathite, Jezaniah son of the Maacathite, they and their troops.^{(H) 9} Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan swore to them and their troops, saying, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall go well with you. ¹⁰ As for me, I am staying at Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us, but as for you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and store them in your vessels, and live in the towns that you have taken over.”^{(I) 11} Likewise, when all the Judeans who were in Moab and among the Ammonites and in Edom and in other lands heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan as governor over them,^{(J) 12} then all the Judeans returned from all the places to which they had been scattered and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and they gathered wine and summer fruits in great abundance.^(K)

¹³ Now Johanan son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah^{(L) 14} and said to him, “Are you at all aware that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam would not believe them.^{(M) 15} Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah at Mizpah, “Please let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one else will know. Why should he take your life, so that all the Judeans who are gathered around you would be scattered and the remnant of Judah would perish?”^{(N) 16} But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Do not do such a thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael.”^(O)

3 Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord.

Breaking with the Past

To write the same things to you is not troublesome to me, and for you it is a source of steadfastness.

² Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh!^{[a](A) 3} For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God^[b] and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh^(B)— ⁴ even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh.

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;^{(C) 6} as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

⁷ Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.^{(D) 8} More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ^{(E) 9} and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but one that comes through faith in Christ,^[c] the righteousness from God based on faith.^{(F) 10} I want to know Christ^[d] and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.^(G)

Pressing toward the Goal

¹² Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal,^[e] but I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ^[f] has laid hold of me.^{(H) 13} Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have laid hold^[g] of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,^{(I) 14} I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly^[h] call of God in Christ Jesus.^{(J) 15} Let those of us, then, who are mature^[i] think this way, and if you think differently about anything, this, too, God will reveal to you.^{(K) 16} Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.^(L)

¹⁷ Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us.^{(M) 18} For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears.^{(N) 19} Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.^{(O) 20} But our citizenship^[j] is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. ²¹ He will transform the body of our humiliation^[k] that it may be conformed to the body of his glory,^[l] by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.^(P)

Insurrection against Gedaliah

41 In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama, of the royal family, one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. As they ate bread together there at Mizpah,^{(A) 2} Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan with the sword and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had appointed governor in the land.^{(B) 3} Ishmael also killed all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah and the Chaldean soldiers who happened to be there.

⁴ On the day after the murder of Gedaliah, before anyone knew of it, ⁵ eighty men arrived from Shechem and Shiloh and Samaria with their beards shaved and their clothes torn and their bodies gashed, bringing grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord.^{(C) 6} And Ishmael son of Nethaniah came out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. As he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.”^{(D) 7} When they reached the middle of the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and threw them^[a] into a cistern.^{(E) 8} But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us, for we have stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the fields.” So he refrained and did not kill them along with their companions.

⁹ Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck down alongside Gedaliah was the one that King Asa had made for defense against King Baasha of Israel; Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled that cistern with those whom he had killed.^{(F) 10} Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, the king’s daughters and all the people who were left at Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had committed to Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.^(G)

¹¹ But when Johanan son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him heard of all the crimes that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had done,^{(H) 12} they took all their men and went to fight against Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They came upon him at the great pool that is in Gibeon.^{(I) 13} And when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him, they were glad.^{(J) 14} So all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned around and came back and went to Johanan son of Kareah. ¹⁵ But Ishmael son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the Ammonites.^{(K) 16} Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him took all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah from Mizpah after he had slain Gedaliah son of Ahikam—soldiers, women, children, and eunuchs, whom Johanan^[b] brought back from Gibeon.^{[c](L) 17} And they set out and stopped at Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem, intending to go to Egypt^{(M) 18} because of the Chaldeans, for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.^(N)

Mary Anoints Jesus

12 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.^{(A) 2} There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him.^{(B) 3} Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped them^[a] with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.^{(C) 4} But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ⁵ “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” ⁶ (He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) ⁷ Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it^[b] so that she might keep it for the day of my burial.^{(D) 8} You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”^(E)

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

⁹ When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹ since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.^(F)

Jesus’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

¹² The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,

¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

¹⁶ His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him.^{(I) 17} So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify.^{[c] 18} It was also because they heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd went to meet him. ¹⁹ The Pharisees then said to one another, “You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”^(J)