41 In the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the king’s family, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam at Mizpah. He came with one of the head captains of the king, and ten other men. While they were eating bread together there in Mizpah, ² Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him rose up and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword. They killed the one whom the king of Babylon had chosen to rule the land. ³ Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Babylonian soldiers who were found there.

⁴ The next day, before anyone knew that Gedaliah had been killed, ⁵ eighty men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria. Their hair was cut from their faces, their clothes were torn, and their bodies were cut. They came with grain gifts and special perfume in their hands to bring to the house of the Lord. ⁶ Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, crying as he went. As he met them he said, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” ⁷ When they came inside the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him killed them, and threw them into the well. ⁸ But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us! For we have stores of grain, barley, oil and honey hidden in the field.” So he did not kill them with their friends.

⁹ The well where Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men he had killed because of Gedaliah was the one that King Asa had made because of his fear of Baasha, king of Israel. Ishmael the son the Nethaniah filled it with the dead. ¹⁰ Then he put all the rest of the Jews in chains who were in Mizpah, the king’s daughters and all the people left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the prison soldiers, had put under the rule of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them and started to cross over to the sons of Ammon.

¹¹ But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the armies that were with him, heard about all the bad things that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done. ¹² So they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah. They found him by the large pool in Gibeon. ¹³ When all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and the captains of the armies with him, they were glad. ¹⁴ So all the people Ishmael had taken from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. ¹⁵ But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah got away from Johanan with eight men and went to the sons of Ammon. ¹⁶ Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the armies that were with him took all the rest of the people whom Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had taken away from Mizpah after he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. They took the soldiers, the women, the children, and the servants, whom Johanan had brought back from Gibeon, ¹⁷ and they went and stayed in GeruthChimham near Bethlehem. They were on their way to Egypt ¹⁸ because of the Babylonians. For they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had chosen to rule the land.

The People Want to Go to Egypt

42 Then all the captains of the armies, Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people both small and great, came near ² and said to Jeremiah the man of God, “Hear what we ask of you. Pray to the Lord your God for us, for all these people who are left. As you see, only a few of us are left out of many. ³ Pray that the Lord your God may show us the way we should go and what we should do.” ⁴ Then Jeremiah the man of God said to them, “I have heard you. I will pray to the Lord your God as you ask. And I will tell you the whole answer that the Lord gives. I will not keep anything from you.” ⁵ Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be true and faithful to speak against us if we do not do all that the Lord your God tells you we must do. ⁶ If it is good or bad, we will listen to the voice of the Lord our God to Whom we are sending you. It will go well with us if we listen to the voice of the Lord our God.”

⁷ At the end of ten days the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. ⁸ Then he called for Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the armies that were with him, and for all the people both small and great. ⁹ And he said to them, “This is what the Lord the God of Israel says, to Whom you sent me to bring Him what you asked for: ¹⁰ ‘If you will stay in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down. I will plant you and not pull you up by the roots. For I will change My mind about the trouble that I have given you. ¹¹ Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, who now fills you with fear. Do not be afraid of him,’ says the Lord. ‘For I am with you to save you and take you from his hands. ¹² I will show you loving-pity, so that he will have pity on you and let you stay in your own land. ¹³ But if you say, “We will not stay in this land,” and will not listen to the voice of the Lord your God, ¹⁴ and if you say, “No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the sound of a horn or be hungry for bread, and we will stay there,” ¹⁵ then listen to the Word of the Lord, O you who are left of Judah. This is what the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says: “If you set your mind to go into Egypt, and go to live there, ¹⁶ then the sword which you are afraid of will come to you there in the land of Egypt. The hunger you are worried about will follow after you there in Egypt. And there you will die. ¹⁷ So all the men who set their mind to go and live in Egypt will die by the sword and hunger and disease. They will have no one left alive and no one who will get away from the trouble that I will bring to them.’”

¹⁸ “For the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, ‘As My anger has been poured out on the people of Jerusalem, so My anger will be poured out on you when you go into Egypt. You will become a curse, and object of hate. People will say bad things against you. You will be put to shame. And you will never see this place again.’ ¹⁹ O people who are left of Judah, the Lord has said to you, ‘Do not go into Egypt!’ Know for sure that I have told you of the danger today. ²⁰ You have fooled yourselves. You sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us. Whatever the Lord our God says, tell us and we will do it.’ ²¹ So I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the Lord your God in anything that He told me to tell you. ²² So now be sure and know that you will die by the sword and hunger and disease, in the place where you want to go to live.”