Jeremiah 41-42

English Standard Version

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.”