Gedaliah Murdered

41 ^(A)In the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at ^(B)Mizpah. As they ^(C)ate bread together there at Mizpah, ^2 (D)Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men with him rose up and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him, ^(E)whom the king of Babylon had appointed governor in the land. ³ Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at ^(F)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 ^(G)Shechem and ^(H)Shiloh and ^(I)Samaria, with ^(J)their beards shaved and ^(K)their clothes torn, and ^(L)their bodies gashed, ^(M)bringing grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord. ⁶ And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah came out from ^(N)Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. As he met them, he said to them, “Come in to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” ⁷ When they came into the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and cast them into a cistern. ⁸ But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death, for we have ^(O)stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the fields.” So he refrained and did not put them to death with their companions.

⁹ Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck down along with^[a] Gedaliah was the large cistern that ^(P)King Asa had made for defense against ^(Q)Baasha king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. ¹⁰ Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, ^(R)the king's daughters and all the people who were left at Mizpah, whom ^(S)Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to ^(T)the Ammonites.

¹¹ But when ^(U)Johanan the son of Kareah and ^(V)all the leaders of the forces with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, ¹² they took all their men and went to fight against Ishmael the son of Nethaniah. They came upon him at ^(W)the great pool that is in ^(X)Gibeon. ¹³ And when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and ^(Y)all the leaders of the forces with him, they rejoiced. ^14 (Z)So all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. ¹⁵ But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to ^(AA)the Ammonites. ¹⁶ Then Johanan the son of Kareah and ^(AB)all the leaders of the forces with him took from Mizpah all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam—soldiers, ^(AC)women, children, and eunuchs, whom Johanan brought back from ^(AD)Gibeon. ¹⁷ And they went and stayed at Geruth ^(AE)Chimham near ^(AF)Bethlehem, intending to go to Egypt ¹⁸ because of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, ^(AG)whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

Warning Against Going to Egypt

42 Then ^(AH)all the commanders of the forces, and ^(AI)Johanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah the son of ^(AJ)Hoshaiah, and all the people ^(AK)from the least to the greatest, came near ² and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Let ^(AL)our plea for mercy come before you, and ^(AM)pray to the Lord your God for us, for all ^(AN)this remnant—^(AO)because we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us— ³ that ^(AP)the Lord your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do.” ⁴ Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your request, and ^(AQ)whatever the Lord answers you I will tell you. ^(AR)I will keep nothing back from you.” ⁵ Then they said to Jeremiah, ^(AS)“May the Lord be a true and ^(AT)faithful witness against us ^(AU)if we do not act according to all the word ^(AV)with which the Lord your God sends you to us. ⁶ Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, ^(AW)that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.”

^7 (AX)At the end of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. ⁸ Then he summoned ^(AY)Johanan the son of Kareah and ^(AZ)all the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people ^(BA)from the least to the greatest, ⁹ and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(BB)to whom you sent me to present your plea for mercy before him: ¹⁰ If you will remain in this land, ^(BC)then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; ^(BD)for I relent of the disaster that I did to you. ^11 (BE)Do not fear the king of Babylon, ^(BF)of whom you are afraid. ^(BG)Do not fear him, declares the Lord, ^(BH)for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. ^12 (BI)I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land. ^13 (BJ)But if you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord your God ¹⁴ and saying, ‘No, ^(BK)we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or ^(BL)hear the sound of the trumpet or ^(BM)be hungry for bread, and we will dwell there,’ ¹⁵ then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(BN)If you set your faces to enter Egypt ^(BO)and go to live there, ¹⁶ then the sword ^(BP)that you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt, ^(BQ)and there you shall die. ¹⁷ All the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to live there shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. They shall have ^(BR)no remnant or survivor from the disaster that I will bring upon them.

¹⁸ “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(BS)As my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. ^(BT)You shall become an execration, a horror, a curse, and a taunt. You shall see this place no more. ¹⁹ The Lord has said to you, O remnant of Judah, ^(BU)‘Do not go to Egypt.’ ^(BV)Know for a certainty that I have warned you this day ²⁰ that you have gone astray at the cost of your lives. ^(BW)For you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ^(BX)‘Pray for us to the Lord our God, and ^(BY)whatever the Lord our God says, declare to us and we will do it.’ ²¹ And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God in anything ^(BZ)that he sent me to tell you. ^22 (CA)Now therefore know for a certainty that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live.”

Jeremiah Taken to Egypt

43 When Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people all these words of the Lord their God, with which the Lord their God had sent him to them, ² Azariah the son of ^(CB)Hoshaiah and ^(CC)Johanan the son of Kareah and ^(CD)all the insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The Lord our God did not send you to say, ^(CE)‘Do not go to Egypt to live there,’ ³ but ^(CF)Baruch the son of Neriah ^(CG)has set you against us, ^(CH)to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may kill us or take us into exile in Babylon.” ⁴ So ^(CI)Johanan the son of Kareah and all ^(CJ)the commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah. ⁵ But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took ^(CK)all the remnant of Judah who had returned to live in the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been driven— ^6 (CL)the men, the women, the children, ^(CM)the princesses, and every person whom ^(CN)Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with ^(CO)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan; also Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. ⁷ And they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And they arrived at ^(CP)Tahpanhes.

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in ^(CQ)Tahpanhes: ⁹ “Take in your hands large stones and hide them in the mortar in the pavement that is at the entrance to Pharaoh's palace in ^(CR)Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah, ¹⁰ and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^(CS)my servant, ^(CT)and I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden, and he will spread his royal canopy over them. ¹¹ He shall come ^(CU)and strike the land of Egypt, ^(CV)giving over to the pestilence those who are doomed to the pestilence, to captivity those who are doomed to captivity, and to the sword those who are doomed to the sword. ^12 (CW)I shall kindle a fire ^(CX)in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them ^(CY)and carry them away captive. ^(CZ)And he shall clean the land of Egypt ^(DA)as a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin, and he shall go away from there in peace. ¹³ He shall break the ^(DB)obelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt, ^(DC)and the temples of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire.’”

Judgment for Idolatry

44 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who lived in the land of Egypt, at ^(DD)Migdol, at ^(DE)Tahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of ^(DF)Pathros, ² “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this day ^(DG)they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, ³ because of the evil that they committed, ^(DH)provoking me to anger, ^(DI)in that they went to make offerings ^(DJ)and serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. ^4 (DK)Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ ^5 (DL)But they did not listen ^(DM)or incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. ^6 (DN)Therefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, ^(DO)and they became a waste and a desolation, as at this day. ⁷ And now thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil ^(DP)against yourselves, to cut off from you ^(DQ)man and woman, ^(DR)infant and child, from the midst of Judah, leaving you no remnant? ^8 (DS)Why do you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, ^(DT)making offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to live, so that you may be cut off and become ^(DU)a curse and a taunt among all the nations of the earth? ⁹ Have you forgotten the evil of your fathers, ^(DV)the evil of the kings of Judah, ^(DW)the evil of their^[b] wives, your own evil, ^(DX)and the evil of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁰ They have not humbled themselves even to this day, ^(DY)nor have they feared, nor walked in my law and my statutes that I set before you and before your fathers.

¹¹ “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(DZ)Behold, I will set my face against you for harm, to cut off all Judah. ¹² I will take the remnant of Judah who have ^(EA)set their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live, and they shall all be consumed. ^(EB)In the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine ^(EC)they shall be consumed. ^(ED)From the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine, ^(EE)and they shall become an oath, a horror, ^(EF)a curse, and a taunt. ^13 (EG)I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, ^14 (EH)so that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive ^(EI)or return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return to dwell there. For they shall not return, ^(EJ)except some fugitives.”

¹⁵ Then all the men who knew that ^(EK)their wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in ^(EL)Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: ¹⁶ “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, ^(EM)we will not listen to you. ^17 (EN)But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to ^(EO)the queen of heaven ^(EP)and pour out drink offerings to her, ^(EQ)as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster. ¹⁸ But since we left off making offerings to ^(ER)the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything ^(ES)and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” ¹⁹ And the women said,^[c] “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven ^(ET)and poured out drink offerings to her, was it ^(EU)without our husbands' approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

²⁰ Then Jeremiah said to all the people, ^(EV)men and women, all the people who had given him this answer: ^21 (EW)“As for the offerings that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your officials, and the people of the land, ^(EX)did not the Lord remember them? Did it not come into his mind? ^22 (EY)The Lord could no longer bear your evil deeds and ^(EZ)the abominations that you committed. ^(FA)Therefore your land has become ^(FB)a desolation and a waste and a curse, ^(FC)without inhabitant, as it is this day. ²³ It is because you made offerings ^(FD)and because you sinned against the Lord and did not obey the voice of the Lord or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his testimonies ^(FE)that this disaster has happened to you, as at this day.”

²⁴ Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, ^(FF)all you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. ²⁵ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(FG)You and your wives have declared with your mouths, and have fulfilled it with your hands, saying, ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made, ^(FH)to make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Then confirm your vows and perform your vows! ²⁶ Therefore hear the word of the Lord, ^(FI)all you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ^(FJ)Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord, ^(FK)that my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, ^(FL)saying, ‘As the Lord God lives.’ ^27 (FM)Behold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. ^(FN)All the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end of them. ^28 (FO)And those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, ^(FP)few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live, ^(FQ)shall know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. ²⁹ This shall be the sign to you, declares the Lord, that I will punish you in this place, in order that you may know that ^(FR)my words will surely stand against you for harm: ³⁰ Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will give ^(FS)Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies ^(FT)and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave ^(FU)Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.”

Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

18 When Jesus had spoken these words, ^(A)he went out with his disciples across ^(B)the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. ² Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew ^(C)the place, for ^(D)Jesus often met there with his disciples. ^3 (E)So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. ⁴ Then Jesus, ^(F)knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, ^(G)“Whom do you seek?” ⁵ They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.”^[a] Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. ^6 (H)When Jesus^[b] said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. ⁷ So he asked them again, ^(I)“Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” ⁸ Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” ^9 (J)This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” ¹⁰ Then Simon Peter, ^(K)having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant^[c] and cut off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) ¹¹ So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; ^(L)shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

Jesus Faces Annas and Caiaphas

¹² So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews^[d] arrested Jesus and bound him. ¹³ First they ^(M)led him to ^(N)Annas, for he was the father-in-law of ^(O)Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. ¹⁴ It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews ^(P)that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people.

Peter Denies Jesus

^15 (Q)Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, ^16 (R)but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. ^17 (S)The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” ¹⁸ Now the servants^[e] and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. ^(T)Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

The High Priest Questions Jesus

^19 (U)The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. ²⁰ Jesus answered him, “I have spoken ^(V)openly ^(W)to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. ^(X)I have said nothing in secret. ²¹ Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.” ²² When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, ^(Y)“Is that how you answer the high priest?” ²³ Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?” ^24 (Z)Annas then sent him bound to ^(AA)Caiaphas the high priest.

Peter Denies Jesus Again

^25 (AB)Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” ²⁶ One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of ^(AC)the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you ^(AD)in the garden with him?” ²⁷ Peter again denied it, and ^(AE)at once a rooster crowed.

Jesus Before Pilate

^28 (AF)Then they led Jesus ^(AG)from the house of Caiaphas to ^(AH)the governor's headquarters.^[f] It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters, ^(AI)so that they would not be defiled, ^(AJ)but could eat the Passover. ^29 (AK)So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” ³⁰ They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” ³¹ Pilate said to them, ^(AL)“Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” ^32 (AM)This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken ^(AN)to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

My Kingdom Is Not of This World

^33 (AO)So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, ^(AP)“Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” ³⁵ Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, ^(AQ)“My kingdom ^(AR)is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, ^(AS)my servants would have been fighting, that ^(AT)I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” ³⁷ Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, ^(AU)“You say that I am a king. ^(AV)For this purpose I was born and for this purpose ^(AW)I have come into the world—^(AX)to bear witness to the truth. ^(AY)Everyone who is ^(AZ)of the truth ^(BA)listens to my voice.” ³⁸ Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

After he had said this, ^(BB)he went back outside to the Jews and told them, ^(BC)“I find no guilt in him. ^39 (BD)But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” ⁴⁰ They cried out again, ^(BE)“Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.^[g]