Old/New Testament

Jeremiah Returns to Judah

40 The word which came to Jeremiah from Adonai, after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had released him from Ramah. He had taken him bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were being exiled to Babylon. ² Now the captain of the guard had taken Jeremiah and said to him: “Adonai your God pronounced this evil against this place, ³ and Adonai brought it about and did just as He said. Because you have sinned against Adonai and have not listened to His voice, this thing has happened to you. ^{[a] 4} But now behold, I am freeing you this day from the chains that are on your hand. If it is good in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you. But if it is evil in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, stop. Look, the whole land is before you—wherever it seems good and right to you to go, there go.”

⁵ But he would not turn back. “Go back then to Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go anywhere it seems right in your eyes to go.”

Then the captain of the guard gave him a ration and a gift, and let him go. ⁶ So Jeremiah went to the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.

Gedaliah Appointed Governor

⁷ Now all the commanders of the forces that were in the field—they and their men—heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land, and had put him in charge of the men, and women and children, the poorest of the land who were not carried away captive to Babylon. ⁸ So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—including Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah son of the Maacathite—they and their men. ⁹ Then Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan swore to them and to their men, saying: “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you. ¹⁰ As for me, look, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who come to us. But as for you, gather wine, summer fruit and oil, and put them in your jars, and dwell in your cities that you have taken over.”

¹¹ Also when all the Jews who were in Moab, among Ammon’s children, in Edom, and in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had appointed over them Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, ¹² then all the Jews returned out of all places where they had been driven, and came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruit in great abundance.

¹³ Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were in the field came to Gedaliah to Mizpah ¹⁴ and said to him, “Are you aware that Baalis the king of Ammon’s children has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.

¹⁵ Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke privately to Gedaliah at Mizpah, saying, “Let me go now, and I will slay Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he take your life, so that all the Jews that are gathered to you would be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?’

¹⁶ But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Don’t do this thing! For what you are saying about Ishmael is a lie.”

Gedaliah Assassinated

41 Now it was in the seventh month, that Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama—of royal descent and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men—came to Gedaliah son of Ahikam to Mizpah. While they were eating bread there together in Mizpah, ² Ishmael son of Nethaniah rose up with the ten men that were with him and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan with the sword—putting to death the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. ³ Ishmael also slew all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Chaldean soldiers who were found there.

⁴ Now it was the next day after he had slain Gedaliah, when no one knew about it, ⁵ that 80 men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, with their beards shaved off, their clothes rent, and having gashed themselves, with grain offerings and frankincense in their hand to bring to the House of Adonai. ⁶ So Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went, and as he came to meet them, he said to them: “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.”

⁷ Yet it was that as soon as they came within of the city that Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them within the cistern-pit. ⁸ However ten men were found among them that said to Ishmael: “Don’t kill us! For we have hidden stores in the field—wheat, barley, oil and honey!” So he held off and did not kill them along with their companions.

⁹ Now the cistern where Ishmael cast all the corpses of the men whom he killed, because they were on Gedaliah’s side, was the one which King Asa had made for fear of King Baasa of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.

¹⁰ Then Ishmael carried away captive all the rest of the people that were in Mizpah, including the king’s daughters—all the people who were left in Mizpah over whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had put under the charge of Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and set off to cross over to Ammon’s children.

¹¹ But Johanan son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces that were with him heard about all the evil that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had done. ¹² So they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great pool in Gibeon.

¹³ Now when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, they were glad. ¹⁴ So all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went over to Johanan son of Kareah. ¹⁵ But Ishmael son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to Ammon’s children. ¹⁶ Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him took all the remnant of the people whom he had rescued from Ishmael son of Nethaniah from Mizpah, after he had murdered Gedaliah son of Ahikam—the men, the soldiers, women, children, and court officials whom he had brought back from Gibeon— ¹⁷ and they left and stayed at Chimham’s lodge, which is near Beth-lehem, in order to go on to enter Egypt, ¹⁸ away from the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them, since Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

Warning Against Flight to Egypt

42 Then all the commanders of the forces, Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, approached ² and said to the prophet Jeremiah, “Please, let our petition be presented before you, and pray to Adonai your God on our behalf,^[b] for all this remnant—for we who are left are but a few out of many, as you are seeing with your own eyes— ³ that Adonai your God may tell us the way we should go and what we should do.”

⁴ Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them: “I have heard you. Agreed: I will pray to Adonai your God according to your words, and it will be that every word Adonai will answer you, I will declare it to you—I will not keep a word from you.”

⁵ Then they said to Jeremiah: “Let Adonai be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accord with every word that Adonai your God sends you to us. ⁶ Whether it be good or evil, we will obey the voice of Adonai our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us, when we obey the voice of Adonai our God.”

⁷ Now it was at the end of ten days that the word of Adonai came to Jeremiah. ⁸ Then he called Johanan son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest, ⁹ and said to them, “Thus says Adonai, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before Him: ¹⁰ ‘If you will still stay in this land, then will I build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you. For I will relent concerning the calamity that I have done to you. ¹¹ Do not be not afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you dread—do not be afraid of him”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“for I am with you to save you, and deliver you from his hand. ¹² I will also show you compassion and he will have compassion on you, and restore you to your own soil. ¹³ But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ so that you do not obey the voice of Adonai your God, ¹⁴ saying: ‘No, instead we’ll go into the land of Egypt, where we will see no war or hear the sound of a shofar or hunger for food, and live there’ ¹⁵ now therefore hear the word of Adonai, O remnant of Judah, thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: If you really set your faces to enter Egypt, and go to sojourn there, ¹⁶ then it will come to pass that the sword, which you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine about which you are anxious will follow hard after you there in Egypt—and there you will die. ¹⁷ So will it be for all the people who set their faces to enter Egypt to sojourn there—they will die by the sword, by famine and by plague. So none of them will remain or escape from the calamity that I will bring on them.’”

¹⁸ For thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “As My anger and My fury were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will My fury be poured out on you, if you will enter Egypt. You will be an execration, a horror, a curse, and a disgrace, and you will never see this place again.”

¹⁹ Adonai has spoken concerning you, O remnant of Judah: “Do not go to Egypt. Know for sure that I have forewarned you this day! ²⁰ For you have led your own souls in error, since it was you who sent me to Adonai your God, saying: ‘Pray to Adonai our God on our behalf, and in accord with all that Adonai our God will say, so declare to us, and we will do it. ²¹ So I have this day declared it to you, but you will not obey the voice of Adonai your God in anything for which He has sent me to you. ²² Now therefore know for sure that you will die by the sword, by famine, and by plague, in the place whither you desired to go to sojourn there.”

Make Every Effort to Enter God’s Rest

4 Let us fear then! Though a promise of entering His rest is left open, some of you would seem to have fallen short. ² For we also have had Good News proclaimed to us, just as they did. But the word they heard did not help them, because they were not unified with those who listened in faith. ³ For we who have trusted are entering into that rest. It is just as God has said,

even though His works were finished since the foundation of the world. ⁴ For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works,” ^{[b] 5} and again in this passage:

⁶ So then it remains for some to enter into it; yet those who formerly had Good News proclaimed to them did not enter because of disobedience. ⁷ Again, God appoints a certain day—“Today”—saying through David after so long a time, just as it has been said before,

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. ⁹ So there remains a Shabbat rest for the people of God. ¹⁰ For the one who has entered God’s rest has also ceased from his own work, just as God did from His.

¹¹ Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through the same pattern of disobedience. ¹² For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword—piercing right through to a separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³ No creature is hidden from Him, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.^[e]

Yeshua, Our Compassionate Kohen Gadol

¹⁴ Therefore, since we have a great Kohen Gadol who has passed through the heavens, Yeshua Ben-Elohim, let us hold firmly to our confessed allegiance. ¹⁵ For we do not have a kohen gadol who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all the same ways—yet without sin. ¹⁶ Therefore let us draw near to the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need.