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Jewish Bible (Tanakh)
you shall not be delivered into the hands of the men you dread. 18I will rescue you, and you shall not fall by the sword. e-You shall escape with your life,-e because you trusted Me—declares the LORD.”

40The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after Nebuzaradan, the chief of the guards, set him free at Ramah, to which he had taken him, chained in fetters, among those from Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon.

2The chief of the guards took charge of Jeremiah, and he said to him, “The LORD your God threatened this place with this disaster; 3and now the LORD has brought it about. He has acted as He threatened, because you sinned against the LORD and did not obey Him. That is why this has happened to you. 4Now, I release you this day from the fetters which were on your hands. If you would like to go with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you. And if you don’t want to come with me to Babylon, you need not. See, the whole land is before you: go wherever seems good and right to you.”—5a-But [Jeremiah] still did not turn back.-a—“Or go to Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has put in charge of the towns of Judah, and stay with him among the people, or go wherever you want to go.”

The chief of the guards gave him an allowance of food, and dismissed him. 6So Jeremiah came to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.

7The officers of the troops in the open country, and their men with them, heard that the king of Babylon had put Gedaliah son of Ahikam in charge of the region, and that he had put in his charge the men, women, and children—of the poorest in the land—those who had not been exiled to Babylon. 8So they with their men came 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 Jezaniah son of the Maacathite. 9Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan reassuredb them and 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 with you. 10I am going to stay in Mizpah to attend upon the Chaldeans who will come to us. But you may gather wine and figsc and oil and put them in your own vessels, and settle in the towns you have occupied.”

11Likewise, all the Judeans who were in Moab, Ammon, and Edom, or who were in other lands, heard that the king of Babylon had let a remnant stay in Judah, and that he had put Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan in charge of them. 12All these Judeans returned from all the places to which they had scattered. They came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and they gathered large quantities of wine and figs.c

13Johanan son of Kareah, and all the officers of the troops in the open country, came to Gedaliah at Mizpah 14and said to him, “Do you know that King Baalis of Ammon has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to kill you?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam would not believe them. 15Johanan son of Kareah also said secretly to Gedaliah at Mizpah, “Let me go and strike down Ishmael son of Nethaniah before anyone knows about it; otherwise he will kill you, and all the Judeans who have gathered about you will be dispersed, and the remnant of Judah will perish!”

16But Gedaliah son of Ahikam answered Johanan son of Kareah, “Do not do such a thing: what you are saying about Ishmael is not true!”
41In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama, who was of royal descent and one of the king’s commanders, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah; and they ate together there at Mizpah. 2Then Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him arose and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan with the sword and killed him, because the king of Babylon had put him in charge of the land. 3Ishmael also killed all the Judeans who were with him—with Gedaliah in Mizpah—and the Chaldean soldiers who were stationed there.

4The second day after Gedaliah was killed, when no one yet knew about it, 5eighty men came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, their beards shaved, their garments torn, and their bodies gashed, carrying meal offerings and frankincense to present at the House of the LORD. 6Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he walked. As he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.” 7When they came inside the town, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them [and threw their bodies] into a cistern.

8But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us! We have stores hidden in a field—wheat, barley, oil, and honey.” So he stopped, and did not kill them along with their fellows.—9The cistern into which Ishmael threw all the corpses of the men he had killed a-in the affair of Gedaliah was the one that-a King Asa had constructed on account of King Baasha of Israel. That was the one which Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled with corpses.— 10Ishmael carried off all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, including the daughters of the king—all the people left in Mizpah, over whom Nebuzaradan, the chief of the guards, had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah carried them off, and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.

11Johanan son of Kareah, and all the army officers with him, heard of all the crimes committed by Ishmael son of Nethaniah. 12They took all their men and went to fight against Ishmael son of Nethaniah; and they encountered him by the great pool in Gibeon. 13When all the people held by Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers with him, they were glad; 14all the people whom Ishmael had carried off from Mizpah turned back and went over to Johanan son of Kareah. 15But Ishmael son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites.

16Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers with him took all the rest of the people whom b-he had rescued from Ishmael son of Nethaniah-b from Mizpah after he had murdered Gedaliah son of Ahikam—the men, soldiers, women, children, and cunuchs whom [Johanan] had brought back from Gibeon. 17They set out, and they stopped at Geruthc Chimham, near Bethlehem, on their way to go to Egypt 18because of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them, because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had put in charge of the land.

42Then all the army officers, with Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the rest of the people, great and small, approached 2the prophet Jeremiah and said, “Grant our plea, and pray for us to the LORD your God, for all this remnant! For we remain but a few out of many, as you can see. 3Let the LORD your God tell us where we should go and what we should do.”

4The prophet Jeremiah answered them, “Agreed: I will pray to the LORD your God as you request, and I will tell you whatever response the LORD gives for you. I will withhold nothing from you.”

5Thereupon they said to Jeremiah, “Let the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us! We swear that we will do exactly as the LORD your God instructs us through you—6Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey the LORD our God to whom we send you, in order that it may go well with us when we obey the LORD our God.”

7After ten days, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. 8He called Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers, and the rest of the people, great and small, 9and said to them, “Thus said the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before Him: 10If you remain in this land, I will build you and not overthrow, I will plant you and not uproot; for I regret the punishment I have brought upon you. 11Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you fear; do not be afraid of him—declares the LORD—for I am with you to save you and to rescue you from his hands. 12I will dispose him to be merciful to you: he shall show you mercy and a-bring you back to-a your own land.

13“But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land’—thus disobeying the LORD your God— 14if you say, ‘No! We will go to the land of Egypt, so that we may not see war or hear the sound of the horn, and so that we may not hunger for bread; there we will stay,’ 15then hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah! Thus said the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: If you turn your faces toward Egypt, and you go and sojourn there, 16the sword that you fear shall overtake you there, in the land of Egypt, and the famine

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you shall not be delivered into the hands of the men you dread. 18I will rescue you, and you shall not fall by the sword. e-You shall escape with your