Jer 40-45 | ESV | STEP | The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah , when he took him bound in chains along with all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon .

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord ^aafter Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from ^bRamah, when he took him ^cbound in chains along with all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon. 2 The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, ^d“The Lord your God pronounced this disaster against this place. 3 The Lord has brought it about, and has done as he said. ^eBecause you sinned against the Lord and did not obey his voice, this thing has come upon you. 4 Now, behold, I release you today from ^fthe chains on your hands. ^gIf it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you well, ^hbut if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, do not come. ⁱSee, the whole land is before you; go wherever you think it good and right to go. 5 If you remain, ^{▼▼Syriac; the meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain} then return to ^kGedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, ^lwhom the king of Babylon appointed governor of the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people. Or go wherever you think it right to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him an allowance of food and a present, and let him go. 6 Then Jeremiah went to ^mGedaliah the son of Ahikam, at ⁿMizpah, and lived with him ^oamong the people ^pwho were left in the land.

7 ^qWhen all the captains of the forces in the open country and their men heard that ^rthe king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land and had committed to him men, women, and children, those of ^sthe poorest of the land who had not been taken into exile to Babylon, 8 they went to Gedaliah at ^tMizpah— ^uIshmael the son of Nethaniah, ^vJohanan the son of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, ^wJezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. 9 Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, ^xand it shall be well with you. 10 As for me, I will dwell at ^yMizpah, to represent you before the Chaldeans who will come to us. But as for you, ^zgather wine and summer fruits and oil, and store them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken.” 11 Likewise, when all the Judeans who were in ^aaMoab and among ^abthe Ammonites and in ^acEdom and in other lands heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, as governor over them, 12 ^adthen all the Judeans returned from all the places to which they had been driven and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah. And they ^aegathered wine and summer fruits in great abundance.

13 Now ^afJohanan the son of Kareah and ^agall the leaders of the forces in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah 14 and said to him, “Do you know that Baalis the king of ^ahthe Ammonites has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam would not believe them. 15 Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah at Mizpah, “Please let me go and strike down Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he take your life, so that all the Judeans who are gathered about you would be scattered, ^aiand the remnant of Judah would perish?” 16 But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “You shall not do this thing, for you are speaking falsely of Ishmael.”

Jeremiah 41

Gedaliah Murdered

1 ^ajIn the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at ^akMizpah. As they ^alate bread together there at Mizpah, 2 ^amIshmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men with him rose up and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him, ^anwhom the king of Babylon had appointed governor in the land. 3 Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at ^aoMizpah, and the Chaldean soldiers who happened to be there.

4 On the day after the murder of Gedaliah, before anyone knew of it, 5 eighty men arrived from ^apShechem and ^aqShiloh and ^arSamaria, with ^astheir beards shaved and ^attheir clothes torn, and ^autheir bodies gashed, ^avbringing grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord. 6 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah came out from ^awMizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. As he met them, he said to them, “Come in to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” 7 When they came into the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and cast them into a cistern. 8 But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death, for we have ^axstores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the fields.” So he refrained and did not put them to death with their companions.

9 Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck down along with ^{▼▼Hebrew by the hand of} Gedaliah was the large cistern that ^azKing Asa had made for defense against ^baBaasha king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. 10 Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, ^bbthe king’s daughters and all the people who were left at Mizpah, whom ^bcNebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to ^bdthe Ammonites.

11 But when ^beJohanan the son of Kareah and ^bfall the leaders of the forces with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, 12 they took all their men and went to fight against Ishmael the son of Nethaniah. They came upon him at ^bgthe great pool that is in ^bhGibeon. 13 And when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and ^biall the leaders of the forces with him, they rejoiced. 14 ^bjSo all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. 15 But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to ^bkthe Ammonites. 16 Then Johanan the son of Kareah and ^blall the leaders of the forces with him took from Mizpah all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam—soldiers, ^bmwomen, children, and eunuchs, whom Johanan brought back from ^bnGibeon. 17 And they went and stayed at Geruth ^boChimham near ^bpBethlehem, intending to go to Egypt 18 because of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, ^bqwhom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

Jeremiah 42

Warning Against Going to Egypt

1 Then ^brall the commanders of the forces, and ^bsJohanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah the son of ^btHoshaiah, and all the people ^bufrom the least to the greatest, came near 2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Let ^bvour plea for mercy come before you, and ^bwpray to the Lord your God for us, for all ^bxthis remnant— ^bybecause we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us— 3 that ^bzthe Lord your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do.” 4 Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your request, and ^cawhatever the Lord answers you I will tell you. ^cbI will keep nothing back from you.” 5 Then they said to Jeremiah, ^cc“May the Lord be a true and ^cdfaithful witness against us ^ceif we do not act according to all the word ^cfwith which the Lord your God sends you to us. 6 Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, ^cgthat it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.”

7 ^chAt the end of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8 Then he summoned ^ciJohanan the son of Kareah and ^cjall the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people ^ckfrom the least to the greatest, 9 and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ^clto whom you sent me to present your plea for mercy before him: 10 If you will remain in this land, ^cmthen I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; ^cnfor I relent of the disaster that I did to you. 11 ^coDo not fear the king of Babylon, ^cpof whom you are afraid. ^cqDo not fear him, declares the Lord, ^crfor I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. 12 ^csI will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land. 13 ^ctBut if you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord your God 14 and saying, ‘No, ^cuwe will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or ^cvhear the sound of the trumpet or ^cwbe hungry for bread, and we will dwell there,’ 15 then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^cxIf you set your faces to enter Egypt ^cyand go to live there, 16 then the sword ^czthat you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt, ^daand there you shall die. 17 All the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to live there shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. They shall have ^dbno remnant or survivor from the disaster that I will bring upon them.

18 “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^dcAs my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. ^ddYou shall become an execration, a horror, a curse, and a taunt. You shall see this place no more. 19 The Lord has said to you, O remnant of Judah, ^de‘Do not go to Egypt.’ ^dfKnow for a certainty that I have warned you this day 20 that you have gone astray at the cost of your lives. ^dgFor you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ^dh‘Pray for us to the Lord our God, and ^diwhatever the Lord our God says, declare to us and we will do it.’ 21 And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God in anything ^djthat he sent me to tell you. 22 ^dkNow therefore know for a certainty that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live.”

Jeremiah 43

Jeremiah Taken to Egypt

1 When Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people all these words of the Lord their God, with which the Lord their God had sent him to them, 2 Azariah the son of ^dlHoshaiah and ^dmJohanan the son of Kareah and ^dnall the insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The Lord our God did not send you to say, ^do‘Do not go to Egypt to live there,’ 3 but ^dpBaruch the son of Neriah ^dqhas set you against us, ^drto deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may kill us or take us into exile in Babylon.” 4 So ^dsJohanan the son of Kareah and all ^dtthe commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah. 5 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took ^duall the remnant of Judah who had returned to live in the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been driven— 6 ^dvthe men, the women, the children, ^dwthe princesses, and every person whom ^dxNebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with ^dyGedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan; also Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. 7 And they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And they arrived at ^dzTahpanhes.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in ^eaTahpanhes: 9 “Take in your hands large stones and hide them in the mortar in the pavement that is at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace in ^ebTahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah, 10 and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^ecmy servant, ^edand I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden, and he will spread his royal canopy over them. 11 He shall come ^eeand strike the land of Egypt, ^efgiving over to the pestilence those who are doomed to the pestilence, to captivity those who are doomed to captivity, and to the sword those who are doomed to the sword. 12 ^egI shall kindle a fire ^ehin the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them ^eiand carry them away captive. ^ejAnd he shall clean the land of Egypt ^ekas a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin, and he shall go away from there in peace. 13 He shall break the ^elobelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt, ^emand the temples of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire.’”

Jeremiah 44

Judgment for Idolatry

1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who lived in the land of Egypt, at ^enMigdol, at ^eoTahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of ^epPathros, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this day ^eqthey are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, 3 because of the evil that they committed, ^erprovoking me to anger, ^esin that they went to make offerings ^etand serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. 4 ^euYet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ 5 ^evBut they did not listen ^ewor incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. 6 ^exTherefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, ^eyand they became a waste and a desolation, as at this day. 7 And now thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil ^ezagainst yourselves, to cut off from you ^faman and woman, ^fbinfant and child, from the midst of Judah, leaving you no remnant? 8 ^fcWhy do you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, ^fdmaking offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to live, so that you may be cut off and become ^fea curse and a taunt among all the nations of the earth? 9 Have you forgotten the evil of your fathers, ^ffthe evil of the kings of Judah, ^fgthe evil of their ^{▼▼Hebrew his} wives, your own evil, ^fiand the evil of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10 They have not humbled themselves even to this day, ^fjnor have they feared, nor walked in my law and my statutes that I set before you and before your fathers.

11 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^fkBehold, I will set my face against you for harm, to cut off all Judah. 12 I will take the remnant of Judah who have ^flset their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live, and they shall all be consumed. ^fmIn the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine ^fnthey shall be consumed. ^foFrom the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine, ^fpand they shall become an oath, a horror, ^fqa curse, and a taunt. 13 ^frI will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, 14 ^fsso that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive ^ftor return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return to dwell there. For they shall not return, ^fuexcept some fugitives.”

15 Then all the men who knew that ^fvtheir wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in ^fwPathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: 16 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, ^fxwe will not listen to you. 17 ^fyBut we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to ^fzthe queen of heaven ^gaand pour out drink offerings to her, ^gbas we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster. 18 But since we left off making offerings to ^gcthe queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything ^gdand have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” 19 And the women said, ^{▼▼Compare Syriac; Hebrew lacks And the women said} “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven ^gfand poured out drink offerings to her, was it ^ggwithout our husbands’ approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, ^ghmen and women, all the people who had given him this answer: 21 ^gi“As for the offerings that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your officials, and the people of the land, ^gjdid not the Lord remember them? Did it not come into his mind? 22 ^gkThe Lord could no longer bear your evil deeds and ^glthe abominations that you committed. ^gmTherefore your land has become ^gna desolation and a waste and a curse, ^gowithout inhabitant, as it is this day. 23 It is because you made offerings ^gpand because you sinned against the Lord and did not obey the voice of the Lord or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his testimonies ^gqthat this disaster has happened to you, as at this day.”

24 Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, ^grall you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. 25 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^gsYou and your wives have declared with your mouths, and have fulfilled it with your hands, saying, ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made, ^gtto make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Then confirm your vows and perform your vows! 26 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, ^guall you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ^gvBehold, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord, ^gwthat my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, ^gxsaying, ‘As the Lord God lives.’ 27 ^gyBehold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. ^gzAll the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end of them. 28 ^haAnd those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, ^hbfew in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live, ^hcshall know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. 29 This shall be the sign to you, declares the Lord, that I will punish you in this place, in order that you may know that ^hdmy words will surely stand against you for harm: 30 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will give ^hePharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies ^hfand into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave ^hgZedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.”

Jeremiah 45

Message to Baruch

1 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to ^hhBaruch the son of Neriah, ^hiwhen he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, ^hjin the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: 3 You said, ^hk‘Woe is me! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain. ^hlI am weary with my groaning, ^hmand I find no rest.’ 4 Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord: ^hnBehold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up—that is, the whole land. 5 And ^hodo you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, ^hpI am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the Lord. But I will give you ^hqyour life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.”