Old/New Testament

Jeremiah Is Set Free

40 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had released him at Ramah. Jeremiah had been captured and bound in chains with all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried into exile in Babylon. ² When the captain of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, “The Lord your God pronounced this disaster on this place, ³ and the Lord has brought it about and has done what he said he would do. This took place because you people^[a] sinned against the Lord and did not obey him. ⁴ But now, today, I am removing the chains from your wrists. If you wish, come with me to Babylon. I will take care of you. But if this does not seem good to you, then don’t come. The whole land is before you. If there is a place that seems good and right to you, go there.” ⁵ But before Jeremiah turned away, he added, “Or you can go to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan. The king of Babylon has made him governor over the cities of Judah. You can live with him among the people. Go wherever it seems right for you to go.”

Then the commander of the guard gave him a gift and some food and released him. ⁶ Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and lived with him among the people who had been left behind in the land.

Gedaliah Is Assassinated

⁷ All the army officers who were still in the field and all their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam to be governor of the land, and that he had given him authority over the men, women, children, and over the poorest people of the land—those who were not carried away into exile in Babylon. ⁸ They and their men went to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Ja’azaniah^[b] the son of the Ma’acathite. ⁹ Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, swore an oath in the presence of them and their men. He said, “Do not be afraid of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. ¹⁰ As for me, I will certainly stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. As for you, store up wine, summer fruit, and oil, put it into your jars, and live in the towns you have taken over.”

¹¹ When all the Jews who were in Moab, among the Ammonites, in Edom, and in other lands heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah, and that he had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, over them, ¹² all those Jews returned from all the places they had been scattered. They returned to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah. There they stored up a large amount of wine and summer fruit.

¹³ Then Johanan son of Kareah and the army officers who were still in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah ¹⁴ and said to him, “Do you know that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to assassinate you?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.

¹⁵ Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah at Mizpah, “I urge you, let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah. No one will know. Why should he assassinate you and cause all the Jews who are gathered around you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish?”

¹⁶ But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Do not do this! What you are saying about Ishmael is false.”

41 In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, a descendant of the royal family and one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating a meal together there, ² Ishmael son of Nethaniah got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with a sword, killing the man the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land. ³ Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah and also the Chaldean soldiers they found there.

⁴ The next day, the day after Gedaliah was assassinated, before anyone knew about it, ⁵ men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria—eighty men in all—with their beards shaved, their clothing torn, and their bodies gashed.^[c] They came bringing grain offerings and incense to the House of the Lord. ⁶ Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. As he met them he said, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.” ⁷ When they got to the middle of the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men with him began to kill them, throwing their bodies into a cistern. ⁸ But ten of them said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us! We have food hidden in the countryside: wheat, barley, oil, and honey!”

So he stopped and did not murder them along with the others. ⁹ Now the cistern into which Ishmael threw all the dead bodies of the murdered men was a large one,^[d] which had been built by King Asa to defend against Ba’asha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the murdered men.

¹⁰ Then Ishmael made prisoners of all the people who were left in Mizpah, including the king’s daughters and the others who were left there in Mizpah—people whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had placed under the care of Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them as prisoners and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.

¹¹ But when Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers with him heard about all the crimes that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed, ¹² they took all of their men and went to attack Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They caught up with him by the great pool at Gibeon. ¹³ When all the people with Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him, they were glad. ¹⁴ All of the people whom Ishmael had taken prisoner turned back and went to Johanan son of Kareah. ¹⁵ But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped from Johanan and went over to the Ammonites.

¹⁶ Then Johanan son of Kareah and the army officers with him took all the survivors from Mizpah, whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam—the soldiers, the women, the children, and the court officials that Johanan had brought back from Gibeon. ¹⁷ They left there and stayed at Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem. They were on the way to Egypt ¹⁸ because they were afraid of the Chaldeans, since Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.

The People Ask Jeremiah to Pray for Them

42 Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached Jeremiah. ² They said to him, “Please hear our request and pray to the Lord your God for us, for this group of survivors. As you can see, only a few of us are left, though once there were 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 prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Certainly, I will pray to the Lord your God as you have asked. I will tell you whatever the Lord answers. I will keep nothing back from you.”

⁵ Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not do everything the Lord your God directs you to tell us. ⁶ Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, of whom you are inquiring for us. May it go well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.”

⁷ Ten days later, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. ⁸ He called Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers with him, along with all of the people from the least to the greatest, ⁹ and he reported this to them:

Some Will Enter God’s Rest

4 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be fearful that any one of you may be judged to have failed to reach it. ² In fact, we have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did. But the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united in faith with those who did listen. ³ Indeed, we who believe are going to enter his rest.

It happened just as he vowed when he said:

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. ⁴ For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in this way:

⁵ And again in this statement:

⁶ Therefore, since it is still the case that some do enter this rest, and yet those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not enter because of disobedience, ⁷ God again set a certain day, namely, “today,” when he later said through David, as quoted before:

⁸ For, if Joshua had given them rest, then God would not have spoken later about another day.

⁹ So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. ¹⁰ For the one who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God rested from his work. ¹¹ Therefore, let us make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience.

¹² For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to the point of dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, even being able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart. ¹³ And there is no creature hidden from him, but everything is uncovered and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we will give an account.

Jesus Is Our High Priest

¹⁴ Therefore, since we have a great high priest, who has gone through the heavens, namely, Jesus the Son of God, let us continue to hold on to our confession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin. ¹⁶ So let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.