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Jeremiah 40:1-41:18 — Jeremiah Freed; Gedaliah Assassinated

Jer.40.1-41.18

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard released him at Ramah, when he had taken him while he was bound in manacles among all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon. ²The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, "Yahweh your God spoke this disaster against this place, ³and Yahweh has brought it and has done as he said. Because you sinned against Yahweh and did not listen to his voice, this thing has come upon you. ⁴And now, behold, I am freeing you today from the manacles that are on your hands. If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you. But if it seems bad to you to come with me to Babylon, do not come. See, all the land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right to you to go." ⁵But since he still had not decided where to return , he said, “Return to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and live with him among the people; or go wherever it seems right to you to go.” Then the captain of the guard gave him rations and a gift and sent him away. ⁶So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and lived with him among the people who remained in the land. ⁷When all the commanders of the forces in the open country, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land, and that he had entrusted to him men, women, children, and some of the poorest of the land who had not been exiled to Babylon, ⁸they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah: Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah son of the Maacathite, they and their men. ⁹Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, swore to them and their men, saying, "Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you. ¹⁰As for me, behold, I will stay in Mizpah to stand before the Chaldeans who come to us. But you, gather wine, summer fruit, and oil, put them in your containers, and live in the cities you have occupied." ¹¹Likewise, when all the Jews who were in Moab, among the Ammonites, in Edom, and in all the other lands heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed over them Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, ¹²all the Jews returned from all the places where they had been driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah; and they gathered very much wine and summer fruit. ¹³Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah ¹⁴and said to him, “Do you really know that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to kill you?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam would not believe them. ¹⁵Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke privately to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “Please let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he kill you, so that all Judah who have gathered to you should be scattered and the remnant of Judah perish?” ¹⁶But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Do not do this thing, for what you are saying about Ishmael is false.”

Chapter 41

¹Now in the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family and one of the king's leading men, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and they ate bread together there in Mizpah. ²Then Ishmael son of Nethaniah got up with the ten men who were with him, and they struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword and put to death the man whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. ³Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the fighting men. ⁴On the second day after he had put Gedaliah to death, before anyone knew it, ⁵eighty men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, with their beards shaved, their garments torn, and their bodies cut, carrying grain offerings and frankincense in their hands to bring to the House of Yahweh. ⁶Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, walking along and weeping. When he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.” ⁷But when they came into the middle of the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah slaughtered them and threw them into the cistern, he and the men who were with him. ⁸But ten men among them said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death, for we have hidden stores in the field—wheat, barley, oil, and honey.” So he held back and did not put them to death with their brothers. ⁹The cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the corpses of the men whom he had struck down because of Gedaliah was the one that King Asa had made because of Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. ¹⁰Then Ishmael took captive all the remnant of the people who were in Mizpah, including the king's daughters and all the people remaining in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had entrusted to Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites. ¹¹When Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces who were with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had done, ¹²they took all the men and went to fight Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and they found him by the great waters that are at Gibeon. ¹³And when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces who were with him, they rejoiced. ¹⁴So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and returned and went to Johanan son of Kareah. ¹⁵But Ishmael son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the Ammonites. ¹⁶Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces who were with him took all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after Ishmael had struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam: soldiers, women, children, and court officials, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. ¹⁷And they went and stayed in Geruth Chimham, which is beside Bethlehem, intending to go on into Egypt ¹⁸because of the Chaldeans , for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

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4/11/2026

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