Gedaliah Murdered
1 vIn 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 wMizpah. As they xate bread together there at Mizpah, 2 yIshmael 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, zwhom the king of Babylon had appointed governor in the land. 3 Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at wMizpah, 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 aShechem and bShiloh and cSamaria, with dtheir beards shaved and etheir clothes torn, and dtheir bodies gashed, fbringing grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord. 6 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah came out from gMizpah 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 hstores 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 with1 Gedaliah was the large cistern that iKing Asa had made for defense against iBaasha 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, jthe king’s daughters and all the people who were left at Mizpah, whom kNebuzaradan, 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 lthe Ammonites.
11 But when mJohanan the son of Kareah and nall 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 othe great pool that is in pGibeon. 13 And when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and qall the leaders of the forces with him, they rejoiced. 14 rSo 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 sthe Ammonites. 16 Then Johanan the son of Kareah and qall 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, twomen, children, and eunuchs, whom Johanan brought back from uGibeon. 17 And they went and stayed at Geruth vChimham near wBethlehem, 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, xwhom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.
Warning Against Going to Egypt
1 Then yall the commanders of the forces, and zJohanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah the son of aHoshaiah, and all the people bfrom the least to the greatest, came near 2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Let cour plea for mercy come before you, and dpray to the Lord your God for us, for all ethis remnant—fbecause we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us— 3 that gthe 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 hwhatever the Lord answers you I will tell you. hI will keep nothing back from you.” 5 Then they said to Jeremiah, i“May the Lord be a true and jfaithful witness against us kif we do not act according to all the word lwith 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, mthat it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.”
7 nAt the end of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8 Then he summoned zJohanan the son of Kareah and yall the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people bfrom the least to the greatest, 9 and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, oto whom you sent me to present your plea for mercy before him: 10 If you will remain in this land, pthen I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; qfor I relent of the disaster that I did to you. 11 rDo not fear the king of Babylon, rof whom you are afraid. sDo not fear him, declares the Lord, sfor I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. 12 tI will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land. 13 uBut if you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord your God 14 and saying, ‘No, vwe will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or whear the sound of the trumpet or xbe 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: yIf you set your faces to enter Egypt zand go to live there, 16 then the sword athat 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, band 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 cno remnant or survivor from the disaster that I will bring upon them.
18 “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: dAs 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. eYou 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, f‘Do not go to Egypt.’ gKnow for a certainty that I have warned you this day 20 that you have gone astray at the cost of your lives. hFor you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, h‘Pray for us to the Lord our God, and iwhatever 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 jthat he sent me to tell you. 22 kNow 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.”
By Faith
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of ethings not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by fthe word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of gthings that are visible.
4 By faith hAbel offered to God ia more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And jthrough his faith, though he died, he kstill speaks. 5 By faith lEnoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God mmust believe that he exists and mthat he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith nNoah, being warned by God concerning oevents as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of pthe righteousness that comes by faith.
8 By faith qAbraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place rthat he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in sthe land of promise, as in a foreign land, tliving in tents uwith Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to vthe city that has wfoundations, xwhose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith ySarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered zhim faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and ahim as good as dead, were born descendants bas many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
13 These all died in faith, cnot having received the things promised, but dhaving seen them and greeted them from afar, and ehaving acknowledged that they were fstrangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, gthey would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed hto be called their God, for ihe has prepared for them a city.
17 By faith jAbraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, k“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 lHe considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
