Lamentations 5

New International Version

5 Remember, Lord, what has happened to us;
    look, and see our disgrace.^(A)
²Our inheritance^(B) has been turned over to strangers,^(C)
    our homes^(D) to foreigners.^(E)
³We have become fatherless,
    our mothers are widows.^(F)
⁴We must buy the water we drink;^(G)
    our wood can be had only at a price.^(H)
⁵Those who pursue us are at our heels;
    we are weary^(I) and find no rest.^(J)
⁶We submitted to Egypt and Assyria^(K)
    to get enough bread.
⁷Our ancestors^(L) sinned and are no more,
    and we bear their punishment.^(M)
⁸Slaves^(N) rule over us,
    and there is no one to free us from their hands.^(O)
⁹We get our bread at the risk of our lives
    because of the sword in the desert.
¹⁰Our skin is hot as an oven,
    feverish from hunger.^(P)
¹¹Women have been violated^(Q) in Zion,
    and virgins in the towns of Judah.
¹²Princes have been hung up by their hands;
    elders^(R) are shown no respect.^(S)
¹³Young men toil at the millstones;
    boys stagger under loads of wood.
¹⁴The elders are gone from the city gate;
    the young men have stopped their music.^(T)
¹⁵Joy is gone from our hearts;
    our dancing has turned to mourning.^(U)
¹⁶The crown^(V) has fallen from our head.^(W)
    Woe to us, for we have sinned!^(X)
¹⁷Because of this our hearts^(Y) are faint,^(Z)
    because of these things our eyes^(AA) grow dim^(AB)
¹⁸for Mount Zion,^(AC) which lies desolate,^(AD)
    with jackals prowling over it.

¹⁹You, Lord, reign forever;^(AE)
    your throne endures^(AF) from generation to generation.
²⁰Why do you always forget us?^(AG)
    Why do you forsake^(AH) us so long?
²¹Restore^(AI) us to yourself, Lord, that we may return;
    renew our days as of old
²²unless you have utterly rejected us^(AJ)
    and are angry with us beyond measure.^(AK)

Read full chapter

Obadiah

New International Version

Obadiah’s Vision^(A)^(B)

¹The vision^(C) of Obadiah.

This is what the Sovereign Lord says about Edom^(D)—

We have heard a message from the Lord:
An envoy^(E) was sent to the nations to say,
“Rise, let us go against her for battle”^(F)—

²“See, I will make you small^(G) among the nations;
    you will be utterly despised.
³The pride^(H) of your heart has deceived you,
    you who live in the clefts of the rocks^[a]^(I)
    and make your home on the heights,
you who say to yourself,
    ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’^(J)
⁴Though you soar like the eagle
    and make your nest^(K) among the stars,
    from there I will bring you down,”^(L)
declares the Lord.^(M)
⁵“If thieves came to you,
    if robbers in the night—
oh, what a disaster awaits you!—
    would they not steal only as much as they wanted?
If grape pickers came to you,
    would they not leave a few grapes?^(N)
⁶But how Esau will be ransacked,
    his hidden treasures pillaged!
⁷All your allies^(O) will force you to the border;
    your friends will deceive and overpower you;
those who eat your bread^(P) will set a trap for you,^[b]
    but you will not detect it.

⁸“In that day,” declares the Lord,
    “will I not destroy^(Q) the wise men of Edom,
    those of understanding in the mountains of Esau?
⁹Your warriors, Teman,^(R) will be terrified,
    and everyone in Esau’s mountains
    will be cut down in the slaughter.
¹⁰Because of the violence^(S) against your brother Jacob,^(T)
    you will be covered with shame;
    you will be destroyed forever.^(U)
¹¹On the day you stood aloof
    while strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
    and cast lots^(V) for Jerusalem,
    you were like one of them.^(W)
¹²You should not gloat^(X) over your brother
    in the day of his misfortune,^(Y)
nor rejoice^(Z) over the people of Judah
    in the day of their destruction,^(AA)
nor boast^(AB) so much
    in the day of their trouble.^(AC)
¹³You should not march through the gates of my people
    in the day of their disaster,
nor gloat over them in their calamity^(AD)
    in the day of their disaster,
nor seize their wealth
    in the day of their disaster.
¹⁴You should not wait at the crossroads
    to cut down their fugitives,^(AE)
nor hand over their survivors
    in the day of their trouble.

¹⁵“The day of the Lord is near^(AF)
    for all nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you;
    your deeds^(AG) will return upon your own head.
¹⁶Just as you drank^(AH) on my holy hill,^(AI)
    so all the nations will drink^(AJ) continually;
they will drink and drink
    and be as if they had never been.^(AK)
¹⁷But on Mount Zion will be deliverance;^(AL)
    it will be holy,^(AM)
    and Jacob will possess his inheritance.^(AN)
¹⁸Jacob will be a fire
    and Joseph a flame;
Esau will be stubble,
    and they will set him on fire^(AO) and destroy^(AP) him.
There will be no survivors^(AQ)
    from Esau.”
The Lord has spoken.

¹⁹People from the Negev will occupy
    the mountains of Esau,
and people from the foothills will possess
    the land of the Philistines.^(AR)
They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria,^(AS)
    and Benjamin^(AT) will possess Gilead.
²⁰This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan
    will possess the land as far as Zarephath;^(AU)
the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
    will possess the towns of the Negev.^(AV)
²¹Deliverers^(AW) will go up on^[c] Mount Zion
    to govern the mountains of Esau.
    And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.^(AX)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Obadiah 1:3 Or of Sela
Obadiah 1:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
Obadiah 1:21 Or from

2 Kings 25:22-26

New International Version

²²Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah^(A) son of Ahikam,^(B) the son of Shaphan, to be over the people he had left behind in Judah. ²³When all the army officers and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jaazaniah the son of the Maakathite, and their men. ²⁴Gedaliah took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid of the Babylonian officials,” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.”

²⁵In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood, came with ten men and assassinated^(C) Gedaliah and also the men of Judah and the Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah.^(D) ²⁶At this, all the people from the least to the greatest, together with the army officers, fled to Egypt^(E) for fear of the Babylonians.

Read full chapter

Jeremiah 40:7-41:18

New International Version

Gedaliah Assassinated^(A)

⁷When all the army officers and their men who were still in the open country heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam as governor^(B) over the land and had put him in charge of the men, women and children who were the poorest^(C) in the land and who had not been carried into exile to Babylon, ⁸they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah^(D)—Ishmael^(E) son of Nethaniah, Johanan^(F) and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite,^(G) and Jaazaniah^[a] the son of the Maakathite,^(H) and their men. ⁹Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid to serve^(I) the Babylonians,^[b]^(J)” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.^(K) ¹⁰I myself will stay at Mizpah^(L) to represent you before the Babylonians who come to us, but you are to harvest the wine,^(M) summer fruit and olive oil, and put them in your storage jars,^(N) and live in the towns you have taken over.”^(O)

¹¹When all the Jews in Moab,^(P) Ammon, Edom^(Q) and all the other countries^(R) heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as governor over them, ¹²they all came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, from all the countries where they had been scattered.^(S) And they harvested an abundance of wine and summer fruit.

¹³Johanan^(T) son of Kareah and all the army officers still in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah^(U) ¹⁴and said to him, “Don’t you know that Baalis king of the Ammonites^(V) has sent Ishmael^(W) son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.

¹⁵Then Johanan^(X) son of Kareah said privately to Gedaliah in Mizpah, “Let me go and kill^(Y) Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he take your life and cause all the Jews who are gathered around you to be scattered^(Z) and the remnant^(AA) of Judah to perish?”

¹⁶But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan^(AB) son of Kareah, “Don’t do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is not true.”

41 In the seventh month Ishmael^(AC) son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood and had been one of the king’s officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating together there, ²Ishmael^(AD) son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword,^(AE) killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed^(AF) as governor over the land.^(AG) ³Ishmael also killed all the men of Judah who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Babylonian^[c] soldiers who were there.

⁴The day after Gedaliah’s assassination, before anyone knew about it, ⁵eighty men who had shaved off their beards,^(AH) torn their clothes^(AI) and cut^(AJ) themselves came from Shechem,^(AK) Shiloh^(AL) and Samaria,^(AM) bringing grain offerings and incense^(AN) with them to the house of the Lord.^(AO) ⁶Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping^(AP) as he went. When he met them, he said, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.”^(AQ) ⁷When they went into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern.^(AR) ⁸But ten of them said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us! We have wheat and barley, olive oil and honey, hidden in a field.”^(AS) So he let them alone and did not kill them with the others. ⁹Now the cistern where he threw all the bodies of the men he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one King Asa^(AT) had made as part of his defense^(AU) against Baasha^(AV) king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead.

¹⁰Ishmael made captives of all the rest of the people^(AW) who were in Mizpah—the king’s daughters^(AX) along with all the others who were left there, over whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.^(AY)

¹¹When Johanan^(AZ) son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him heard about all the crimes Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed, ¹²they took all their men and went to fight^(BA) Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They caught up with him near the great pool^(BB) in Gibeon. ¹³When all the people^(BC) Ishmael had with him saw Johanan son of Kareah and the army officers who were with him, they were glad. ¹⁴All the people Ishmael had taken captive at Mizpah^(BD) turned and went over to Johanan son of Kareah. ¹⁵But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped^(BE) from Johanan and fled to the Ammonites.

Flight to Egypt

¹⁶Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers^(BF) who were with him led away all the people of Mizpah who had survived,^(BG) whom Johanan had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had assassinated Gedaliah son of Ahikam—the soldiers, women, children and court officials he had recovered from Gibeon. ¹⁷And they went on, stopping at Geruth Kimham^(BH) near Bethlehem^(BI) on their way to Egypt^(BJ) ¹⁸to escape the Babylonians.^[d] They were afraid^(BK) of them because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah^(BL) son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.