Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

²(This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the high officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalworkers had departed from Jerusalem.)

³The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying,

⁴“This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:

⁵‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce.

⁶Take wives and father sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may give birth to sons and daughters; and grow in numbers there and do not decrease.

⁷Seek the prosperity of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD in its behalf; for in its prosperity will be your prosperity.’

⁸For this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst or your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to their interpretations of your dreams which you dream.

⁹For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,’ declares the LORD.

¹⁰“For this is what the LORD says: ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.

¹¹For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

¹²Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

¹³And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

¹⁴I will let Myself be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’

¹⁵“Because you have said, ‘The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon’—

¹⁶for this is what the LORD says concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who live in this city, your brothers who did not go with you into exile—

¹⁷this is what the LORD of armies says: ‘Behold, I am sending upon them the sword, famine, and plague; and I will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness.

¹⁸I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with plague; and I will make them an object of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse and an object of horror and hissing, and a disgrace among all the nations where I have driven them,

¹⁹because they have not listened to My words,’ declares the LORD, ‘which I sent to them again and again by My servants the prophets; but you did not listen,’ declares the LORD.

²⁰‘You, therefore, hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

²¹‘This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you falsely in My name: “Behold, I am going to hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your eyes.

²²Because of them a curse will be used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, ‘May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,’

²³because they acted foolishly in Israel, and committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and falsely spoke words in My name which I did not command them. I am He who knows, and a witness,” declares the LORD.’ ”

²⁴Now you shall speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,

²⁵“This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to the priest Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests, saying,

²⁶“The LORD has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to be the overseer of the house of the LORD for every insane person who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and in the iron collar.

²⁷So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who prophesies to you,

²⁸seeing that he has sent word to us in Babylon, saying, ‘The exile will be long; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce’ ?” ’ ”

²⁹Now Zephaniah the priest read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet.

³⁰Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

³¹“Send word to all the exiles, saying, ‘This is what the LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has made you trust in a lie,”

³²therefore this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I am going to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants; he will not have anyone living among this people, and he will not see the good that I am going to do for My people,” declares the LORD, “because he has spoken falsely against the LORD.” ’ ”

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

²“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book.

³For behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ The LORD says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall take possession of it.’ ”

⁴Now these are the words which the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah:

⁵“For this is what the LORD says: ‘I have heard a sound of terror, Of fear, and there is no peace.

⁶Ask now, and see If a male can give birth. Why do I see every man With his hands on his waist, as a woman in childbirth? And why have all faces turned pale?

⁷Woe, for that day is great, There is none like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s distress, Yet he will be saved from it.

⁸‘It shall come about on that day,’ declares the LORD of armies, ‘that I will break his yoke from their necks and will tear to pieces their restraints; and strangers will no longer make them their slaves.

⁹But they shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

¹⁰And do not fear, Jacob My servant,’ declares the LORD, ‘And do not be dismayed, Israel; For behold, I am going to save you from far away, And your descendants from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return and be at peace, without anxiety, And no one will make him afraid.

¹¹For I am with you,’ declares the LORD, ‘to save you; For I will completely destroy all the nations where I have scattered you, Only I will not destroy you completely. But I will discipline you fairly And will by no means leave you unpunished.’

¹²“For this is what the LORD says: ‘Your broken limb is irreparable, And your wound is incurable.

¹³There is no one to plead your cause; No healing for your sore, No recovery for you.

¹⁴All your lovers have forgotten you, They do not seek you; For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, With the punishment of a cruel one, Because your wrongdoing is great, And your sins are numerous.

¹⁵Why do you cry out over your injury? Your pain is incurable. Because your wrongdoing is great And your sins are numerous, I have done these things to you.

¹⁶Therefore all who devour you will be devoured; And all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity; And those who plunder you will become plunder, And all who plunder you I will turn into plunder.

¹⁷For I will restore you to health And I will heal you of your wounds,’ declares the LORD, ‘Because they have called you an outcast, saying: “It is Zion; no one cares for her.” ’

¹⁸“This is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob And have compassion on his dwellings; And the city will be rebuilt on its ruins, And the palace will stand on its rightful place.

¹⁹From them will come a song of thanksgiving And the voices of those who celebrate; And I will multiply them and they will not decrease; I will honor them and they will not be insignificant.

²⁰Their children also will be as before, And their congregation will be established before Me; And I will punish all their oppressors.

²¹Their leader shall be one of them, And their ruler will come out from their midst; And I will bring him near and he shall approach Me; For who would dare to risk his life to approach Me?’ declares the LORD.

²²‘You shall be My people, And I will be your God.’ ”

²³Behold, the tempest of the LORD! Wrath has gone forth, A sweeping tempest; It will whirl upon the head of the wicked.

²⁴The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back Until He has performed and accomplished The intent of His heart. In the latter days you will understand this.

¹“At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”

²This is what the LORD says: “The people who survived the sword Found grace in the wilderness— Israel, when it went to find its rest.”

³The LORD appeared to him long ago, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you out with kindness.

⁴I will build you again and you will be rebuilt, Virgin of Israel! You will take up your tambourines again, And go out to the dances of the revelers.

⁵Again you will plant vineyards On the hills of Samaria; The planters will plant And will enjoy the fruit.

⁶For there will be a day when watchmen On the hills of Ephraim call out, ‘Arise, and let’s go up to Zion, To the LORD our God.’ ”

⁷For this is what the LORD says: “Sing aloud with joy for Jacob, And be joyful with the chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘LORD, save Your people, The remnant of Israel!’

⁸Behold, I am bringing them from the north country, And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth, Among them those who are blind and those who limp, The pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; They will return here as a great assembly.

⁹They will come with weeping, And by pleading I will bring them; I will lead them by streams of waters, On a straight path on which they will not stumble; For I am a father to Israel, And Ephraim is My firstborn.”

¹⁰Hear the word of the LORD, you nations, And declare it in the coastlands far away, And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him, And He will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”

¹¹For the LORD has ransomed Jacob And redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.

¹²“They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion, And they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD— Over the grain, the new wine, the oil, And over the young of the flock and the herd. And their life will be like a watered garden, And they will never languish again.

¹³Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance, And the young men and the old together; For I will turn their mourning into joy And comfort them, and give them joy for their sorrow.

¹⁴I will refresh the soul of the priests with abundance, And My people will be satisfied with My goodness,” declares the LORD.

¹⁵This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, Lamenting and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more.”

¹⁶This is what the LORD says: “Restrain your voice from weeping And your eyes from tears; For your work will be rewarded,” declares the LORD, “And they will return from the land of the enemy.

¹⁷There is hope for your future,” declares the LORD, “And your children will return to their own territory.

¹⁸I have certainly heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have disciplined me, and I was corrected, Like an untrained calf; Bring me back that I may be restored, For You are the LORD my God.

¹⁹For after I turned back, I repented; And after I was instructed, I slapped my thigh; I was ashamed and also humiliated Because I bore the shame of my youth.’

²⁰Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a delightful child? Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him, I certainly still remember him; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will certainly have mercy on him,” declares the LORD.

²¹“Set up roadmarks for yourself, Place guideposts for yourself; Direct your mind to the highway, The way by which you went. Return, O virgin of Israel, Return to these your cities.

²²How long will you waver, You rebellious daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: A woman will shelter a man.”

²³This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: “Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I restore their fortunes, ‘The LORD bless you, O place of righteousness, O holy hill!’

²⁴Judah and all its cities will live together in it, the farmers and those who travel with flocks.

²⁵For I give plenty of water to the weary ones, and refresh everyone who languishes.”

²⁶At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep had been pleasant to me.

²⁷“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of mankind and the seed of animals.

²⁸And just as I have watched over them to uproot them, tear them down, ruin, destroy, and bring disaster on them, so I will watch over them to build and to plant them,” declares the LORD.

²⁹“In those days they will no longer say, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, But it is the children’s teeth that have become blunt.’

³⁰But everyone will die for his own wrongdoing; each person who eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will become blunt.

³¹“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,

³²not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.

³³“For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD: “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

³⁴They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.”

³⁵This is what the LORD says, He who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— The LORD of armies is His name:

³⁶“If this fixed order departs From Me,” declares the LORD, “Then the descendants of Israel also will cease To be a nation before Me forever.”

³⁷This is what the LORD says: “If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also reject all the descendants of Israel For everything that they have done,” declares the LORD.

³⁸“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the city will be rebuilt for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.

³⁹The measuring line will go out farther straight ahead, to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah.

⁴⁰And the entire valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the LORD; it will not be uprooted or overthrown ever again.”

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

²Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard, which was at the house of the king of Judah,

³because Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you prophesy, saying, ‘This is what the LORD says: “Behold, I am going to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will take it;

⁴and Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye.

⁵Then he will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,” declares the LORD. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed” ’?”

⁶And Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

⁷‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy for yourself my field which is at Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy it.” ’

⁸Then my uncle’s son Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard in accordance with the word of the LORD and said to me, ‘Buy my field, please, that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the right of possession and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.

⁹“So I bought the field which was in Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I weighed out the silver for him, seventeen shekels of silver.

¹⁰And I signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales.

¹¹Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions and the open copy;

¹²and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, in the sight of all the Jews who were sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

¹³And I commanded Baruch in their sight, saying,

¹⁴‘This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: “Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, so that they may last a long time.”

¹⁵For this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: “Houses and fields and vineyards will again be purchased in this land.” ’

¹⁶“After giving the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD, saying,

¹⁷‘Oh, Lord GOD! Behold, You Yourself have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You,

¹⁸who shows mercy to thousands, but repays the wrongdoing of fathers into the laps of their children after them, great and mighty God. The LORD of armies is His name;

¹⁹great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of mankind, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds;

²⁰who has accomplished signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day both in Israel and among mankind; and You have made a name for Yourself, as at this day.

²¹You brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders, and with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror;

²²and You gave them this land, which You swore to their forefathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.

²³They came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey Your voice or walk in Your Law; they did not do anything that You commanded them to do; therefore You have made all this disaster happen to them.

²⁴Behold, the assault ramps have reached the city to take it; and the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, the famine, and the plague; and what You have spoken has come to pass; and behold, You see it.

²⁵Yet You have said to me, Lord GOD, “Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses”—although the city has been handed over to the Chaldeans.’ ”

²⁶Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

²⁷“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?”

²⁸Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I am going to hand this city over to the Chaldeans and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it.

²⁹And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will enter and set this city on fire and burn it, with the houses where people have offered incense to Baal on their roofs and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger.

³⁰For the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have been doing only evil in My sight since their youth; for the sons of Israel have been only provoking Me to anger by the work of their hands,” declares the LORD.

³¹“Indeed this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My wrath since the day that they built it, even to this day, so that it should be removed from My sight,

³²because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah which they have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings, their leaders, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

³³They have turned their back to Me and not their face; though I taught them, teaching again and again, they would not listen to accept discipline.

³⁴But they put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it.

³⁵They built the high places of Baal that are in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to make their sons and their daughters pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them, nor had it entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to mislead Judah to sin.

³⁶“Now therefore the LORD God of Israel says the following concerning this city of which you say, ‘It has been handed over to the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by plague’:

³⁷Behold, I am going to gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and have them live in safety.

³⁸They shall be My people, and I will be their God;

³⁹and I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them.

⁴⁰I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts, so that they will not turn away from Me.

⁴¹I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and all My soul.

⁴²For this is what the LORD says: ‘Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them.

⁴³And fields will be purchased in this land of which you say, “It is a desolation, without man or animal; it has been handed over to the Chaldeans.”

⁴⁴People will buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the Negev; for I will restore their fortunes,’ declares the LORD.”

¹Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, saying,

²“This is what the LORD says, He who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to create it, He whose name is the LORD:

³‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

⁴For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel says concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah which have been torn down to make a defense against the assault ramps and the sword:

⁵‘While they are coming to fight the Chaldeans and to fill their houses with the bodies of people whom I have struck down in My anger and My wrath, and I have hidden My face from this city because of all their wickedness:

⁶Behold, I am going to bring to it healing and a remedy, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth.

⁷And I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and will rebuild them as they were at first.

⁸And I will cleanse them from all their wrongdoing by which they have sinned against Me, and I will forgive all their wrongdoings by which they have sinned against Me and revolted against Me.

⁹It will be to Me a name of joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will be frightened and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.’

¹⁰“This is what the LORD says: ‘Yet again there will be heard in this place, of which you say, “It is a waste, without man and without animal,” that is, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted, without man and without inhabitant and without animal,

¹¹the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, “Give thanks to the LORD of armies, For the LORD is good, For His mercy is everlasting,” as they bring a thanksgiving offering into the house of the LORD. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first,’ says the LORD.

¹²“This is what the LORD of armies says: ‘There will again be in this place which is waste, without man or animal, and in all its cities, a pasture for shepherds who rest their flocks.

¹³In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them,’ says the LORD.

¹⁴‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

¹⁵In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch of David sprout; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.

¹⁶In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety; and this is the name by which it will be called: the LORD is our righteousness.’

¹⁷For this is what the LORD says: ‘David shall not lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel;

¹⁸and the Levitical priests shall not lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to prepare sacrifices continually.’ ”

¹⁹And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

²⁰“This is what the LORD says: ‘If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night do not occur at their proper time,

²¹then My covenant with David My servant may also be broken, so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers.

²²As the heavenly lights cannot be counted, and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who serve Me.’ ”

²³And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

²⁴“Have you not observed what these people have asserted, saying, ‘The two families which the LORD chose, He has rejected them’? So they despise My people as no longer being a nation in their sight.

²⁵This is what the LORD says: ‘If My covenant for day and night does not continue, and I have not established the fixed patterns of heaven and earth,

²⁶then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so as not to take from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and have mercy on them.’ ”

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, with all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his control and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and all its cities, saying,

²“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I am handing this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.

³And as for you, you will not escape from his hand, for you will assuredly be caught and handed over to him; and you will see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you face to face, and you will go to Babylon.’ ” ’

⁴Yet hear the word of the LORD, Zedekiah king of Judah! This is what the LORD says concerning you: ‘You will not die by the sword.

⁵You will die in peace; and as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will burn spices for you; and they will mourn for you, crying, “Oh, my lord!” ’ For I have spoken the word,” declares the LORD.

⁶Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem

⁷when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and all the remaining cities of Judah, that is, Lachish and Azekah, for they alone remained as fortified cities among the cities of Judah.

⁸The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem, to proclaim release to them:

⁹that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, so that no one would keep them, his Jewish brother or sister, in bondage.

¹⁰And all the officials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, so that no one would keep them in bondage any longer; they obeyed, and set them free.

¹¹But afterward they turned around and took back the male servants and the female servants whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as male servants and as female servants.

¹²Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

¹³“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘I made a covenant with your forefathers on the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, saying,

¹⁴“At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who has been sold to you and has served you for six years, and you shall send him out free from you.” But your forefathers did not obey Me nor incline their ear to Me.

¹⁵Although recently you had turned and done what is right in My sight, each one proclaiming release to his neighbor, and you had made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name.

¹⁶Yet you turned and profaned My name, and each person took back his male servant and each his female servant whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your male and female servants.’

¹⁷“Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming release, each one to his brother and each to his neighbor. Behold, I am proclaiming a release to you,’ declares the LORD, ‘to the sword, to the plague, and to the famine; and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

¹⁸I will give the people who have violated My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts—

¹⁹the officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the high officials and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf—

²⁰I will hand them over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives. And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the animals of the earth.

²¹Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will also hand over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives, and to the army of the king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you.

²²Behold, I am going to give a command,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring them back to this city, and they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.’ ”

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,

²“Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.”

³So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons, and all the household of the Rechabites,

⁴and I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was next to the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the doorkeeper.

⁵Then I set before the men of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine!”

⁶But they said, “We will not drink wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall not drink wine, you or your sons, forever.

⁷You shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed nor plant a vineyard, nor own one; but you shall live in tents all your days, so that you may live many days in the land where you live as strangers.’

⁸And we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters,

⁹nor to build ourselves houses to live in; and we do not have a vineyard, a field, or seed.

¹⁰But we have lived only in tents, and have obeyed and have done according to all that our father Jonadab commanded us.

¹¹However, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let’s go to Jerusalem away from the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Arameans.’ So we have lived in Jerusalem.”

¹²Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

¹³“This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not accept instruction by listening to My words?” declares the LORD.

¹⁴“The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab have been followed, which he commanded his sons: not to drink wine. And they do not drink wine to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. But I have spoken to you again and again, yet you have not listened to Me.

¹⁵Also I have sent to you all My servants the prophets, sending them again and again, saying: ‘Turn now every person from his evil way and amend your deeds, and do not follow other gods to worship them. Then you will live in the land which I have given to you and to your forefathers; but you have not inclined your ear or listened to Me.

¹⁶Indeed, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have followed the command of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to Me.’ ” ’

¹⁷Therefore this is what the LORD says, the God of armies, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am bringing on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I spoke to them but they did not listen, and I have called them but they did not answer.’ ”

¹⁸Then Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father, kept all his commands, and done according to all that he commanded you,

¹⁹therefore this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: “Jonadab the son of Rechab will not lack a man to stand before Me always.” ’ ”

¹In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

²“Take a scroll and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.

³Perhaps the house of Judah will listen to all the disaster which I plan to carry out against them, so that every person will turn from his evil way; then I will forgive their wrongdoing and their sin.”

⁴Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD which He had spoken to him.

⁵Jeremiah then commanded Baruch, saying, “I am restricted; I cannot go into the house of the LORD.

⁶So you go and read from the scroll, which you have written at my dictation, the words of the LORD to the people at the LORD’S house on a day of fasting. And you shall also read them to all the people of Judah who come from their cities.

⁷Perhaps their pleading will come before the LORD, and everyone will turn from his evil way; for great is the anger and the wrath that the LORD has pronounced against this people.”

⁸So Baruch the son of Neriah acted in accordance with all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the LORD in the LORD’S house.

⁹Now in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the LORD.

¹⁰Then Baruch read to all the people from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper courtyard, at the entry of the New Gate of the LORD’S house.

¹¹Now when Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all the words of the LORD from the book,

¹²he went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber. And behold, all the officials were sitting there—Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the other officials.

¹³And Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the book to the people.

¹⁴Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, who was the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them.

¹⁵And they said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them.

¹⁶When they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one to another. And they said to Baruch, “We will certainly report all these words to the king.”

¹⁷Then they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at Jeremiah’s dictation?”

¹⁸And Baruch said to them, “He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the book.”

¹⁹Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are.”

²⁰So they came to the king in the courtyard, but they had deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe; and they reported all the words to the king.

²¹Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it to the king as well as to all the officials who were standing beside the king.

²²Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him.

²³And when Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe’s knife and threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all of the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier.

²⁴Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words did not tremble in fear, nor did they tear their garments.

²⁵Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.

²⁶And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the LORD hid them.

²⁷Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll and the words which Baruch had written at the dictation of Jeremiah, saying,

²⁸“Take again another scroll and write on it all the previous words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned.

²⁹And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘This is what the LORD says: “You have burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will make mankind and animals disappear from it?’ ”

³⁰Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: “He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be thrown out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night.

³¹I will also punish him, his descendants, and his servants for their wrongdoing, and I will bring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the people of Judah all the disaster that I have declared to them—but they did not listen.” ’ ”

³²Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch the son of Neriah, and he wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.

¹Now Zedekiah the son of Josiah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had made king in the land of Judah, reigned as king in place of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim.

²But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD which He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

³Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and the priest Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please pray to the LORD our God in our behalf.”

⁴Now Jeremiah was still coming and going among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison.

⁵Meanwhile, Pharaoh’s army had set out from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who had been besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

⁶Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,

⁷“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘This is what you are to say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: “Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you, is going to return to its own land of Egypt.

⁸Then the Chaldeans will return and fight against this city, and they will capture it and burn it with fire.” ’

⁹This is what the LORD says: ‘Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will certainly go away from us,” for they will not go.

¹⁰For even if you had defeated the entire army of Chaldeans who were fighting against you, and there were only wounded men left among them, each man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.’ ”

¹¹Now it happened when the army of the Chaldeans had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army,

¹²that Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin in order to take possession of some property there among the people.

¹³While he was at the Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah the son of Hananiah was there; and he arrested Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!”

¹⁴But Jeremiah said, “A lie! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans”; yet he would not listen to him. So Irijah arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials.

¹⁵Then the officials were angry at Jeremiah and they beat him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for they had made it into the prison.

¹⁶For Jeremiah had come into the dungeon, that is, the vaulted cell; and Jeremiah stayed there many days.

¹⁷Now King Zedekiah sent men and took him out; and in his palace the king secretly asked him and said, “Is there a word from the LORD?” And Jeremiah said, “There is!” Then he said, “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon!”

¹⁸Moreover, Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “In what way have I sinned against you, or your servants, or this people, that you have put me in prison?

¹⁹And where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land’?

²⁰But now, please listen, my lord the king; please let my plea come before you and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, so that I will not die there.”

²¹Then King Zedekiah gave a command, and they placed Jeremiah in custody in the courtyard of the guardhouse, and gave him a loaf of bread daily from the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guardhouse.

¹Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying,

²“This is what the LORD says: ‘Anyone who stays in this city will die by the sword, by famine, or by plague; but anyone who surrenders to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as plunder, and stay alive.’

³This is what the LORD says: ‘This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’ ”

⁴Then the officials said to the king, “Please have this man put to death, since he is discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and all the people, by speaking words like these to them; for this man is not seeking the well-being of this people, but rather their harm.”

⁵And King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands; for the king can do nothing against you.”

⁶So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

⁷But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. Now the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin;

⁸and Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and spoke to the king, saying,

⁹“My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have thrown into the cistern; and he will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city.”

¹⁰Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here under your authority and bring Jeremiah the prophet up from the cistern before he dies.”

¹¹So Ebed-melech took the men under his authority and went into the king’s palace to a place beneath the storeroom, and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags, and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah.

¹²Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes”; and Jeremiah did so.

¹³So they pulled Jeremiah out with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guardhouse.

¹⁴Then King Zedekiah sent word and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of the LORD; and the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something; do not hide anything from me.”

¹⁵And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”

¹⁶But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in secret, saying, “As the LORD lives, who made this life for us, I certainly will not put you to death, nor will I hand you over to these men who are seeking your life.”

¹⁷So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the LORD God of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘If you will indeed surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will survive.

¹⁸But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be handed over to the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and you yourself will not escape from their hands.’ ”

¹⁹Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am in fear of the Jews who have deserted to the Chaldeans, for they may hand me over to them, and they will abuse me.”

²⁰But Jeremiah said, “They will not turn you over. Please obey the LORD in what I am saying to you, so that it may go well for you and you may live.

²¹But if you keep refusing to surrender, this is the word which the LORD has shown me:

²²‘Behold, all of the women who have been left in the palace of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the officers of the king of Babylon; and those women will say, “Your close friends Have misled and overpowered you; While your feet were sunk in the mire, They turned back.”

²³They are also going to bring out all your wives and your sons to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned with fire.’ ”

²⁴Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know about these words, and you will not die.

²⁵But if the officials hear that I have talked with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us now what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us and we will not put you to death,’

²⁶then you are to say to them, ‘I was presenting my plea before the king, not to make me return to the house of Jonathan to die there.’ ”

²⁷Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. So he reported to them in accordance with all these words which the king had commanded; and they stopped speaking with him, since the conversation had not been overheard.

²⁸So Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured.

¹Now when Jerusalem was captured in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it;

²in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the city wall was breached.

³Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat down at the Middle Gate: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, and all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.

⁴And when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, they fled and left the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate between the two walls; and he went out toward the Arabah.

⁵But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and they took him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him.

⁶Then the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes at Riblah; the king of Babylon also slaughtered all the nobles of Judah.

⁷He then blinded Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in shackles of bronze to bring him to Babylon.

⁸The Chaldeans also burned the king’s palace and the houses of the people with fire, and they tore down the walls of Jerusalem.

⁹And as for the rest of the people who were left in the city, the deserters who had deserted to him and the rest of the people who remained, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard took them into exile in Babylon.

¹⁰But some of the poorest people, who had nothing, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard left behind in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at that time.

¹¹Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders regarding Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying,

¹²“Take him and look after him, and do not do anything harmful to him, but rather deal with him just as he tells you.”

¹³So Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard sent word, along with Nebushazban the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, and all the leading officers of the king of Babylon;

¹⁴they even sent word and took Jeremiah out of the courtyard of the guardhouse and entrusted him to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he stayed among the people.

¹⁵Now the word of the LORD had come to Jeremiah while he was confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse, saying,

¹⁶“Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going to bring My words on this city for disaster and not for prosperity; and they will take place before you on that day.

¹⁷But I will save you on that day,” declares the LORD, “and you will not be handed over to the men of whom you are afraid.

¹⁸For I will assuredly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as plunder, because you have trusted in Me,” declares the LORD.’ ”

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan captain of the bodyguard had released him from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon.

²Now the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, “The LORD your God promised this disaster against this place;

³and the LORD has brought it and done just as He promised. Because you people sinned against the LORD and did not listen to His voice, this thing has happened to you.

⁴But now, behold, I am setting you free today from the chains that are on your hands. If you would prefer to come with me to Babylon, come along, and I will look after you; but if you would prefer not to come with me to Babylon, do not come. Look, the whole land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right for you to go.”

⁵As Jeremiah was still not going back, he said, “Go on back then to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people; or else go anywhere it seems right for you to go.” So the captain of the bodyguard gave him a ration and a gift, and let him go.

⁶Then Jeremiah went to Mizpah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.

⁷Now all the commanders of the forces that were in the field, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam over the land, and that he had put him in charge of the men, women, and children, those of the poorest of the land who had not been exiled to Babylon.

⁸So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, both they and their men.

⁹Then Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and to their men, saying, “Do not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans; stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, so that it may go well for you.

¹⁰Now as for me, behold, I am going to stay in Mizpah to stand for you before the Chaldeans who come to us; but as for you, gather wine, summer fruit, and oil, and put them in your storage vessels, and live in your cities that you have taken over.”

¹¹Likewise, also all the Jews who were in Moab and among the sons of Ammon and in Edom, and who were in all the other countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant for Judah, and that he had appointed over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan.

¹²Then all the Jews returned from all the places to which they had been scattered and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruit in great abundance.

¹³Now Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah,

¹⁴and said to him, “Are you well aware that Baalis the king of the sons of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them.

¹⁵Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no one will know! Why should he take your life, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered and the remnant of Judah would perish?”

¹⁶But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “Do not do this thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael.”

¹Now in the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. While they were eating bread together there in Mizpah,

²Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him rose up, and struck and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and put to death the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

³Ishmael also struck and killed all the Jews who were with him, that is with Gedaliah in Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

⁴Now it happened on the next day after the killing of Gedaliah, when no one knew about it,

⁵that eighty men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria with their beards shaved off, their clothes torn, and their bodies gashed, having grain offerings and incense in their hands to bring to the house of the LORD.

⁶Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah left Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went; and as he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!”

⁷Yet it turned out that as soon as they came inside the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into the cistern.

⁸But ten men who were found among them said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death, for we have supplies of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field.” So he refrained and did not put them to death along with their companions.

⁹Now as for the cistern where Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck and killed because of Gedaliah, it was the one that King Asa had constructed on account of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead.

¹⁰Then Ishmael took captive all the remnant of the people who were in Mizpah, the king’s daughters and all the people who were left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had put in the custody of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and proceeded to cross over to the sons of Ammon.

¹¹But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him heard about all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done.

¹²So they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and they found him by the large pool that is in Gibeon.

¹³Now as soon as all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, they were joyful.

¹⁴So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah.

¹⁵But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the sons of Ammon.

¹⁶Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him took from Mizpah all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the men who were soldiers, the women, the children, and the high officials, whom he had brought back from Gibeon.

¹⁷And they went and stayed in Geruth Chimham, which is beside Bethlehem, in order to proceed into Egypt

¹⁸because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, since Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.