Jeremiah 40

₁The Lord talked to Jeremiah after Nebuzaradan, the chief_officer of the king of Babylon, had set Jeremiah free at Ramah. Jeremiah was tied with chains and he was among the other prisoners of Jerusalem and Judah who had to go to Babylon. ₂The chief_officer took Jeremiah away from the other people and he talked to Jeremiah and said: ‘This was the Lord your God who punished the people of this land. ₃Your God did what He had said He would do. He did it because the people of Judah sinned_against Him and did not listen to Him. That is why these things happened to you. ₄But now I take the chains off your arms. If you want to come with us to Babylon, you are free to come, and I will take care of you. If you don't want to come to Babylon, you can stay here. You can stay at any place you want to and you can go where you want. ₅If you want to stay, you can go to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan. The king of Babylon chose Gedaliah to rule over the cities of Judah. You can stay with him and the people, or you can go anywhere you want.’

The chief_officer gave Jeremiah food and gifts and he let Jeremiah go. ₆Jeremiah went to Gedaliah in Mizpah and he went to stay with him, with the people who were left over in the land.

₇There were some of the officers of Judah in the field. They and their men heard people saying that the king of Babylon had chosen Gedaliah to be the governor and to rule the land. Gedaliah had to rule over the men, women and children who did not go to Babylon. They were the poor people of the land. ₈The officers came to Gedaliah in the town of Mizpah. They were Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan, the sons of Kareah, Seraiah, son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai from the town of Netophah, and Jaazaniah from Maakah, and their men.

₉Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, made a promise to the officers and their men. He said: ‘As sure as the Lord lives, you must not be afraid of the officials of the Babylonians. You must live in the land and work for the king of Babylon, and then all will be well with you. ₁₀I must stay at Mizpah. I will help the Babylonians who come here and tell them what we need. But you can make wine and grow fruit and make olive oil and keep it in your jars. Then you can go and live in towns that you have taken.’

₁₁There were Jewish people who lived in Moab, Ammon, Edom and in other lands. The people told them that the king of Babylon had left some of the Jews alive to stay in Judah and that he had chosen Gedaliah to be the governor over them. ₁₂When they told the Jewish people this news, they came back to Judah from all the lands where they had fled. They went to Gedaliah in Mizpah and planted a lot of vines and made a lot of wine and grew a lot of fruit. ₁₃Johanan, son of Kareah, and the officers who were in the field went to Gedaliah in Mizpah ₁₄and they said to him: ‘Do you know that Baalis, the king of the Ammonites, has sent Ishmael to kill you?’

But Gedaliah did not believe them. ₁₅When Johanan was alone with Gedaliah in Mizpah, he said to Gedaliah: ‘Please listen to me. Let me go and kill Ishmael. No one will know about it. We should not let Ishmael kill you because then all the people of Judah who are with you, and who came together with you, will run away. If this happens, all the people of Judah who are left over will flee. They will be lost.’

₁₆Gedaliah said to Johanan: ‘No, don't do it. You are telling lies about Ishmael. He will not do it.’