Jeremiah 40

¹ The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after Nebuzaradan commander of the guard hadreleased him from Ramah, where he had found him in chains with al the other captives from Jerusalem andJudah who were being deported to Babylon:

² The commander of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, 'Yahweh your God foretold calamity forthis country,

³ and now he has brought it. He has done what he threatened to do, because you had sinned againstYahweh and would not listen to his voice; so al this has happened to you.

⁴ Look, today I am having your hands unchained. If you like to come with me to Babylon, come: I shallook after you. If you do not want to come with me to Babylon, do not. Look, you have the whole country beforeyou: go wherever you think it best and most suitable to go.'

⁵ And before Jeremiah retired, he added, 'You can go back to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan,whom the king of Babylon has appointed governor of the towns of Judah, and stay with him among the people,or go anywhere else you think suitable.' With that, the commander of the guard gave him provisions and apresent, and dismissed him.

⁶ Jeremiah went to Mizpah, to Gedaliah son of Ahikam and stayed with him, among those people stil leftin the country.

⁷ When the military leaders who with their men were still in the field, all heard that the king of Babylonhad appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam as governor of the country, making him responsible for the men, womenand children, and those of the poor country people who had not been deported to Babylon,

⁸ they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah: Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan sons of Kareah,Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, Jezaniah son of the Maacathite, they and theirmen.

⁹ To them and to their men Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, swore an oath. 'Do not be afraid',he said, 'of serving the Chaldaeans, stay in the country, serve the king of Babylon, and al wil go wel with you.

¹⁰ I for my part, as the man answerable to the Chaldaeans when they come to us, shal stay here atMizpah, whereas you can harvest the wine, summer fruit and oil, fill your storage jars and settle in the townswhich you have seized.'

¹¹ Similarly, when all the Judaeans living in Moab, with the Ammonites, in Edom and elsewhere, heardthat the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphanas their governor,

¹² the Judaeans al came back from wherever they had been driven. On their return to the land of Judah,to Gedaliah at Mizpah, they harvested an immense quantity of wine and summer fruit.

¹³ Now Johanan son of Kareah and al the military leaders stil in the field, came to Gedaliah at Mizpah

¹⁴ and said to him, 'Are you aware that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniahto assassinate you?' But Gedaliah son of Ahikam would not believe them.

¹⁵ Johanan son of Kareah then spoke in secret to Gedaliah at Mizpah, as fol ows: 'Please let me go andkil Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one will be any the wiser. Why should he assassinate you and cause thedispersal of al the Judaeans who have ral ied round you. Why should the remnant of Judah perish?'

¹⁶ But Gedaliah son of Ahikam replied to Johanan son of Kareah, 'You wil do no such thing, for whatyou say about Ishmael is false.'