Study Desk

So Zedekiah the king swore to Jeremiah in secret, saying, "As Yahweh lives, who has made for us this life, I will not kill you and I will not give you into the hand of these men who are seeking your life."

Now look, all the women who remain in the house of the king of Judah are being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon. And look, they are saying, ‘Your trusted friends have misled you, and they have prevailed against you. Your feet are stuck in the mud, so they turned backward.'

And Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "No man must know about these words so that you will not die.

And if the officials hear that I have spoken with you, and they come to you and say to you, ‘Please tell us what you said to the king. You must not conceal it from us so that we will not kill you. And what did the king say to you?'

And all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him, and he informed them like all these words that the king commanded. So they fell silent, for the conversation was not heard.

"Take him and set your eyes on him. And you must not do something bad to him, but only that which he speaks to you, so do with him."

So Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, sent word, along with Nebushazban the chief officer, and Nergal-sharezer the high official, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon.

And they sent and took Jeremiah from the courtyard of the guard and gave him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him to the house, so he stayed in the midst of the people.

and now he has brought it about, and Yahweh has done just as he threatened. Because you sinned against Yahweh and did not listen to his voice, so this thing has happened to you.

And so then look, I have released you today from the chains that were on your hands. If it is good in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, then come, and I will take care of you. But if it is bad in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, then refrain. Look, the whole land is before you. To wherever it is good and right in your eyes to go, then go there."

So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah and stayed with him in the midst of the people who were left in the land.

Then Johanan the son of Kareah said to Gedaliah in secrecy at Mizpah, saying, "Please let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and nobody will know. Why should he kill you, so that all of Judah who are gathered to you will be scattered, and the remnant of Judah will perish?"

But ten men were found among them, and they said to Ishmael, "You must not kill us, for we have hidden treasures in the field, wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey. So he refrained and he did not kill them in the midst of their fellow countrymen.

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

Whether good or bad, we will listen to the voice of Yahweh our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of Yahweh our God."

But if you are saying, "We will not stay in this land," so as to not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God,

So all the people who are determined to go to Egypt to dwell as aliens there will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague, and there will not be for them an escapee or a survivor from the disaster that I am bringing upon them."

For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: "As my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will pour out on you at your going to Egypt, and you will become a curse, and a horror, and a curse formula, and a disgrace, and you will no longer see this place."'

that you have made a fatal mistake, for you sent me to Yahweh your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to Yahweh our God, and all that Yahweh our God says, so tell us and we will do it.'

So I have told you today, and you have not listened to the voice of Yahweh your God, or of anything that he sent me for you.