OEB by section JER 39:1

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Experiences of Jeremiah After the Capture of Jerusalem

Jeremiah Elects to Remain in Palestine

40 The message which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah after he had been released from Ramah by Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, who had found him there in chains among the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were being carried to exile in Babylon.

2 The commander of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him: "Jehovah, your God, pronounced this doom upon this place, 3 and He has kept His word. You have sinned against Him and refused to listen to His voice, and so this thing is come upon you. 4 But see now, I will release you at once from the chains on your hands. If you are disposed to accompany me to Babylon come and I will look well after you; but if not, then leave it alone. The whole land is before you; go wherever you choose and prefer. 5 Go back to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed Governor of the cities of Judah: stay with him among the people or go wherever you choose." Then the commander of the guard dismissed him with a gift of provisions and a present. 6 So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah at Mizpah, where he stayed with him among the people left in the land.

Assassination of Gedaliah the Governor of Judah

7 When all the commanders of the forces in the open field, together with their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah Governor of the land, and charged him with the oversight of the men, women and children, and of the poorest of the land, such as had not been carried to exile in Babylon, 8 they came with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah – Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai of Netophah, and Jezaniah, the son of the Maacathite. 9 And Gedaliah gave his oath to them and their men: "Don’t be afraid," he said, "of the Chaldean officials. You will prosper if you stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon. 10 As for myself, I will reside at Mizpah, to represent your interests when the Chaldean (officials) visit us; and you can gather wine, fruit, and oil, and store them up and live in the towns you take possession of." 11 Further, all the Jews that were in Moab, Ammon, Edom, or elsewhere, when they heard that the king of Babylon had granted permission to some to remain in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam Governor, 12 they all returned to Judah from all the places to which they had been driven – to Gedaliah at Mizpah – and they gathered immense stores of wine and fruit.

13 Now Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces in the open field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, 14 and asked him whether he was aware that Baalis king of Ammon had sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to assasiante him. But Gedaliah would not believe it. 15 Then Johanan, in a secret audience with Gedaliah at Mizpah, said to him: "I beseech you to allow me to go and slay Ishmael. Nobody need know. Why should he take your life? that will mean the scattering of all the Jews that have gathered round you, and the ruin of all that is left of Judah." 16 "No," said Gedaliah to Johanan, "do nothing of the kind: what you say of Ishmael is not true."

41 In the seventh month, however, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, a member of the royal family, accompanied by one of the chief officers of the king and ten (other) men, paid a visit to Gedaliah at Mizpah. 2 While they were all dining together there, Ishmael and the ten men who accompanied him rose and with the sword smote and slew Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had appointed Governor of the land, 3 together with all the Jews who were with him in Mizpah and all the Chaldean soldiers who happened to be there.

Murder of Pilgrims and Flight of Gedaliah’s Assasin

4 The day after the murder of Gedaliah, of which no one was yet aware, 5 eighty pilgrims from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, with beards shaven, clothes rent and gashes (on their bodies), came with vegetable offerings and frankincense in their hand to present them at the house of Jehovah. 6 Ishmael went out from Mizpah to meet them, and they were weeping as they went along. When he meet them, he invited them to come to Gedaliah; 7 but when they were well within the town, he and the men who accompanied him slew them at the cistern. 8 Ten of their number, however, entreated Ishmael not to kill them: "for we have stores of wheat," they said, "and barley, oil, and honey, buried in the ground." So he let them alone and did not consign them to the doom of their brethren. 9 Now the cistern into which Ishmael had cast all the corpses of the men he had slain was the great cistern which had been constructed by king Asa in his war against Baasha, king of Israel; and this Ishmael filled with the slain.

10 Then Ishmael carried away captive all the rest of the people that were at Mizpah, the princesses and all the people left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, had committed to the charge of Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam; and he started across to Ammon. 11 But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, heard of all the atrocities perpetrated by Ishmael, 12 they took all their men and set out to attack him; and they found him by the great waters of Gibeon. 13a All the people with Ishmael – 14a all that he had carried captive from Mizpah – 13b when they saw Johanan and the commanders of the forces that were with him, were filled with joy; 14b and turning about, they came back and 15 joined Johanan. But Ishmael, escaping with eight men, repaired to Ammon.

16 Then Johanan and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, tool all the rest of the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah, after his assassination of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam – men, women, and eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. 17 Then they took their journey and stayed awhile at the sheepfolds of Chimham in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, from which they intended to travel to Egypt; 18 for they were in terror of the Chaldeans, because Ishmael had assassinated Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had appointed Governor of the land.

Migration of the Jews to Egypt in Defiance of Jeremiah’s Counsel

42 Then all the commanders of the forces, together with Johanan, and Azariah, the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people great and small, 2 approached Jeremiah the prophet with a petition, which they commended to his most favourable consideration, that he would pray for them, remnant as they were, to Jehovah his God. "We are left," they said, "but a few out of many, as you see with your own eyes. 3 Let Jehovah your God tell us the way we should go and the things we should do." 4 Jeremiah replied, "I have heard you; I promise to pray to Jehovah our God, as you request; and whatever be Jehovah’s answer I will tell you unreservedly." 5 Whereupon they said to Jeremiah, "Jehovah be our true and faithful Witness that we will act entirely in accordance with any message that Jehovah your God may send us. 6 We have sent you to Jehovah our God; and, be it welcome or unwelcome, we will obey His voice, and so enjoy the prosperity that comes from obedience to the voice of Jehovah our God."

7 After an interval of ten days, Jeremiah received a message from Jehovah. 8 He accordingly summoned Johanan and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, and all the people, small and great, 9 and thus he addressed them. "Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication: 10 If you remain quietly in this land, I will build you up and not throw you down; I will plant you and not pluck you up: for I am grieved at the misery I have brought upon you. 11 You are afraid of the king of Babylon, but do not be afraid of him, saith Jehovah; do not be afraid of him, for I will be with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. 12 I will have pity upon you and inspire him with pity for you, so that he will allow you to remain in your own land. 13 You may, however, disregard the voice of Jehovah your God, and refuse to remain in this land: 14 you may say, ’No; we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war and hear no sound of trumpet and never suffer for lack of bread – and there we shall make our home.’ 15 In that case I call upon you that are left of Judah to listen to the message of Jehovah. Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: If you are really determined to proceed to Egypt, and if you go and settle there, 16 then the sword that you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the hunger that you dread shall cling to your heels there in Egypt, and there ye shall die; 17 and all the men that were determined to go and settle in Egypt shall die by the sword, famine, and pestilence; not one shall survive or escape the disaster that I will bring upon them. 18 For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: As Mine anger and fury have been poured out upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall My fury be poured out upon you when ye enter Egypt; and ye shall be an object of execration and horror, of cursing and scorn; and ye shall see this place no more.

19 This is Jehovah’s message to you that are left of Judah: ’Do not go to Egypt.’ But now be very sure of this – I this day lay witness against you; 20 you have done yourselves a grievous wrong. You have sent me to Jehovah your God with the request that I should pray for you to Jehovah, and promising to act in entire accordance with the will of Jehovah when I declared it to you; 21 but when I did declare it this day, you refused to listen to the voice of Jehovah in respect of any part of my commission. 22 Now therefore be very sure of this, that ye shall die by the sword, famine, and pestilence, in the land where it is your desire to go and settle."

43 When Jeremiah had finished addressing to the assembled people all these words with which Jehovah had commissioned him, 2 Azariah, the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah and all the defiant and insolent men exclaimed to Jeremiah, "You are a liar; you have no commission to us from Jehovah to warn us against going and settling in Egypt; 3 but it is Baruch the son of Neriah who is setting you on against us with the object of delivering us into the hands of the Chaldeans, to be killed or transported to Babylon." 4 So Johanan and all the commanders of the forces and all the people refused to listen to the voice of Jehovah which urged them to remain in the land of Judah. 5 Accordingly Johanan and all the commanders of the forces took all that were now left of Judah – those that had come back from all the nations to which they had been driven, to settle in the land of Judah – 6 the men, the women, the princesses, and all the persons whom Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, had left in the charge of Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, including Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah; 7 and, disregarding the voice of Jehovah, they went to Egypt and arrived at Daphnae.

Jeremiah Predicts the Conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar

8 In Daphnae Jeremiah received the following message from Jehovah: 9 "Take large stones in thy hand and hide them away in secret at the porch of Pharaoh’s residence in Daphnae in the presence of a few of the men of Judah, 10 and say to them, Thus saith Jehovah: Mark this well – I will send and bring Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon My servant, who shall set his throne above these stones thou hast buried and spread his glistening tapestry over them. 11 He shall come and smite the land of Egypt, devoting to death those doomed to death, to captivity those doomed to captivity, to the sword those doomed to the sword. 12 He shall kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, he shall clear the land of Egypt, as a shepherd clears his mantle of vermin, and then he shall depart from it in comfort. 13 Also he will shatter the obelisks of Bethshemesh, in the land of Egypt, and the temples of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire.

Jeremiah Denounces the Jews in Egypt for their Idolatrous Worship of the Queen of Heaven

44 Concerning all the Jews whose home was in Egypt– at Migdol, Daphnae, Memphis, and in upper Egypt– Jeremiah received the following message: 2 "Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Ye have seen with your own eyes all the misery that I have wrought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Ye see what they are to-day – desolate and uninhabited – 3 as a consequence of their wicked behaviour which provoked Mine indignation; for they went and burned sacrifice in the service of other gods, unknown alike to them or to you or your forefathers; and that, 4 though early and late I had been sending to you My servants the prophets to warn you against these abominable practices that I detest. 5 But they refused to listen or incline their ear: they would no abandon their wickedness or cease sacrificing to other gods. 6 And so Mine anger and fury were poured forth: it blazed in the cities of Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem, so that they became the waste and the desolation that they are to-day.

7 Now, therefore, thus saith Jehovah, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel: Why are ye doing yourselves this great wrong, which can only end in the utter extermination of Judah, man and woman, child and babe? 8 Why are ye vexing Me with the fabrications of your hands, burning sacrifice to other gods in the land of Egypt, where ye have come to settle? All this can only end in your extermination and in your being cursed and scorned by every nation in the world. 9 Have you forgotten the crimes of your forefathers and of the kings and princes of Judah, the crimes, too, your own wives committed in the land of Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem? 10 To this day they have remained unhumbled and unafraid. They have not lived in accordance with My law or with the statutes I set before you and your forefathers.

11 Therefore thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Mark this – I will set My face against you for Evil, to exterminate Judah utterly. 12 I will take the remnant of Judah that were determined to come and settle in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Egypt they shall all be consumed; they shall fall by the sword and by famine; small and great, they shall die by the sword and by famine, and they shall be an object of execration and horror, of cursing and scorn; 13 and, as I have punished Jerusalem by sword, famine, and pestilence, so will I punish those that have made Egypt their home, 14 that not a man of the remnant of Judah which has come to settle in Egypt shall escape or survive to return to the land of Egypt for which they shall yearn; for none but a fugitive or two shall return."

15 Then the great gathering, composed of all the men who were aware that their wives burned sacrifice to other gods, and all the women that were standing by, replied to Jeremiah thus: 16 "We refuse to listen to this message of yours that you have communicated to us in the name of Jehovah: 17 but we will most assuredly keep our solemn oath to burn sacrifice to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out drink-offerings in her honour as we used to do – we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem. Then we had plenty of food, we lived well and were untouched by misfortune. 18 But ever since the day we ceased burning sacrifice to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink-offerings in her honour, we have been utterly destitute, and sword and famine have consumed us. 19 Yes," said the women, "as for our offering of sacrifice to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink-offerings in her honour – have we not had the approval of our husbands in making cakes for her stamped with her image, and in pouring her out drink-offerings?"

20 Such was the answer of all the people, men and women. Then Jeremiah addressed them as follows: 21 "Yes, you did indeed burn your sacrifices in the cities of Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem – you and your fathers, your kings and your princes and commons; and is it not precisely this that rankled in the mind and heart of Jehovah, 22 till He could bear your wicked and abominable conduct no longer, with the result that your country is become the uninhabited desolation, the horror, the curse that it is to-day? 23 It is because you have offered such sacrifices, sinning against Jehovah, disobeying the voice of Jehovah, refusing to live in accordance with His laws. His statutes, His expressed will: that is why the misery of to-day is come upon you."

24 Further, Jeremiah said to the people and the women assembled: "Listen to the message of Jehovah, all ye Jews that are in the land of Egypt. 25 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Verily you women have indeed carried out your solemn resolve faithfully to perform the vows you have taken upon you, to burn sacrifice to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out drink-offerings in her honour. Well, then, keep your word and perform your vows. 26 But listen now to the world of Jehovah, all ye Jews who have made Egypt your home. Mark this well: I have sworn, saith Jehovah, by My great name, that never again in all the land of Egypt shall My name be uttered by the lips of any man of Judah in the oath ’As truly as the Lord Jehovah liveth.’ 27 Mark! I am watching over them for evil and not for good; and every man of Judah in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there be an end of them. 28 Some who escape the sword in Egypt shall return to Judah, but they shall be few in number; and then all the remnant of Judah that have some to settle in Egypt shall know whose word it is that stands – Mine or theirs.

29 And this, saith Jehovah, shall be to you the sign that I will punish you in this place, to teach you that My threats of disaster shall be confirmed upon you. 30 Thus saith Jehovah: I will give Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hands of his enemies and of those that seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah, king of Judah, into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. king of Babylon, his enemy that sought his life."

Words of Mingled Rebuke and Promise Addressed to Baruch

45 This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet delivered to Baruch the son of Neriah, after he had written these words in a book to Jeremiah’s dictation in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah. 2 "This, Baruch, is the message to thee from Jehovah, the God of Israel.

3 Thou hast said, ’Woe is me! for Jehovah

to my pain hath added sorrow;

With groaning I am weary,

And I have found no rest.’

4 Let this be thy message to him, Thus saith Jehovah: When I must destroy what I built,

And when I must uproot what I planted,

5 Shalt thou seek great things for thyself?

Seek them not; for, behold, I will bring

On all flesh, saith Jehovah, disaster;

But thou, wheresoever thou comest,

By My grace, shalt escape with thy life."