HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1075
JER EM IAH 42
page 705
should the few of us who are still left be scattered and lost?”
16 But Gedaliah said to Johanan, “I forbid you
to do any such thing, for you are lying about
Ishmael.”
The Murder of Gedaliah
But in midautumn of that year,* Ishmael
son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family and
had been one of the king’s high officials, went
to Mizpah with ten men to meet Gedaliah. While
they were eating together, 2 Ishmael and his ten
men suddenly jumped up, drew their swords,
and killed Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon
had appointed governor. 3 Ishmael also killed all
the Judeans and the Babylonian* soldiers who
were with Gedaliah at Mizpah.
4 The next day, before anyone had heard
about Gedaliah’s murder, 5 eighty men arrived
from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria to worship
at the Temple of the Lord. They had shaved off
their beards, torn their clothes, and cut themselves, and had brought along grain offerings
and frankincense. 6 Ishmael left Mizpah to meet
them, weeping as he went. When he reached
them, he said, “Oh, come and see what has happened to Gedaliah!”
7 But as soon as they were all inside the town,
Ishmael and his men killed all but ten of them
and threw their bodies into a cistern. 8 The other
ten had talked Ishmael into letting them go by
promising to bring him their stores of wheat,
barley, olive oil, and honey that they had hidden away. 9 The cistern where Ishmael dumped
the bodies of the men he murdered was the large
one* dug by King Asa when he fortified Mizpah
to protect himself against King Baasha of Israel.
Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with corpses.
10 Then Ishmael made captives of the king’s
daughters and the other people who had been
left under Gedaliah’s care in Mizpah by Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard. Taking them
with him, he started back toward the land of
Ammon.
11 But when Johanan son of Kareah and the
other military leaders heard about Ishmael’s
crimes, 12 they took all their men and set out
to stop him. They caught up with him at the
large pool near Gibeon. 13 The people Ishmael
had captured shouted for joy when they saw Johanan and the other military leaders. 14 And all
the captives from Mizpah escaped and began to
help Johanan. 15 Meanwhile, Ishmael and eight
of his men escaped from Johanan into the land
of Ammon.
41
41:1 Hebrew in the seventh month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar
calendar. This month occurred within the months of October
and November 586 b.c.; also see note on 39:1a. 41:3 Or
Chaldean. 41:9 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads murdered
because of Gedaliah was one. 41:16 Or eunuchs. 41:18 Or
Chaldeans. 42:1 Greek version reads Azariah; compare 43:2.
16 Then Johanan son of Kareah and the other
military leaders took all the people they had rescued in Gibeon—the soldiers, women, children,
and court officials* whom Ishmael had captured after he killed Gedaliah. 17 They took them
all to the village of Geruth-kimham near Bethlehem, where they prepared to leave for Egypt.
18 They were afraid of what the Babylonians*
would do when they heard that Ishmael had
killed Gedaliah, the governor appointed by the
Babylonian king.
Warning to Stay in Judah
Then all the military leaders, including
Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah*
son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the
least to the greatest, approached 2 Jeremiah the
prophet. They said, “Please pray to the Lord
your God for us. As you can see, we are only a
tiny remnant compared to what we were before.
3 Pray that the Lord your God will show us what
to do and where to go.”
4 “All right,” Jeremiah replied. “I will pray to
the Lord your God, as you have asked, and I
will tell you everything he says. I will hide nothing from you.”
5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord
your God be a faithful witness against us if
we refuse to obey whatever he tells us to do!
6 Whether we like it or not, we will obey the
Lord our God to whom we are sending you
with our plea. For if we obey him, everything
will turn out well for us.”
7 Ten days later the Lord gave his reply to Jeremiah. 8 So he called for Johanan son of Kareah
and the other military leaders, and for all the
people, from the least to the greatest. 9 He said
to them, “You sent me to the Lord, the God of
Israel, with your request, and this is his reply:
10 ‘Stay here in this land. If you do, I will build
you up and not tear you down; I will plant you
42
• Protection
JE R E M I A H 42:1-22
A high school student raises his hand
with a prayer request: “Last weekend I
broke the curfew my parents set for me,
so please pray that they won’t punish
me.” Most of us would recognize this as
immature. Jeremiah is warning the people
that God will not protect them from the
consequences of their own disobedience.
When we decide to disregard God’s will
and Word, we will likely face the consequences. Before you pray for protection,
make sure you are living in obedience to
God’s will.