Today's Reading

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon.

²The captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said to him, "The Lord your God pronounced this evil on this place;

³and the Lord has brought it, and done according as he spoke: because you have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing has come on you.

⁴Now, behold, I release you this day from the chains which are on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will take care of you; but if it seems bad to you to come with me into Babylon, do not: behold, all the land is before you; where it seems good and right to you to go, there go."

⁵Now while he had not yet gone back, "Go back then," he said, "to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wherever it seems right to you to go." So the captain of the guard gave him food and a present, and let him go.

⁶Then went Jeremiah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and lived with him among the people who were left in the land.

⁷Now when all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed to him men, and women, and children, and of the poorest of the land, of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon;

⁸then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men.

⁹Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore to them and to their men, saying, "Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.

¹⁰As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who shall come to us: but you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken."

¹¹Likewise when all the Jews who were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and who were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan;

¹²then all the Jews returned out of all places where they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.

¹³Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,

¹⁴and said to him, "Do you know that Baalis the king of the children of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?" But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them.

¹⁵Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, "Please let me go, and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: why should he take your life, that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?"

¹⁶But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, "You shall not do this thing; for you speak falsely of Ishmael."

¹Now it happened in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family and one of the chief officers of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they ate bread together in Mizpah.

²Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, and struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

³Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

⁴It happened the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, and no man knew it,

⁵that there came men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even eighty men, having their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and having cut themselves, with meal offerings and frankincense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the Lord.

⁶Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it happened, as he met them, he said to them, "Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam."

⁷It was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he, and the men who were with him.

⁸But ten men were found among those who said to Ishmael, "Do not kill us; for we have stores hidden in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he stopped, and did not kill them among their brothers.

⁹Now the pit in which Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had killed, by the side of Gedaliah (the same was who which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel), Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with those who were killed.

¹⁰Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people who were in Mizpah, even the king's daughters, and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon.

¹¹But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,

¹²then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.

¹³Now it happened that, when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, then they were glad.

¹⁴So all the people who Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah.

¹⁵But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the children of Ammon.

¹⁶Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon:

¹⁷and they departed, and lived in Geruth Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt,

¹⁸because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor over the land.

¹Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, came near,

²and said to Jeremiah the prophet, "Please let our supplication be presented before you, and pray for us to the Lord your God, even for all this remnant; for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes do see us:

³that the Lord your God may show us the way in which we should walk, and the thing that we should do."

⁴Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, "I have heard you; behold, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words; and it shall happen that whatever thing the Lord shall answer you, I will declare it to you; I will keep nothing back from you."

⁵Then they said to Jeremiah, "The Lord be a true and faithful witness among us, if we do not do according to all the word with which the Lord your God shall send you to us.

⁶Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send you; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the Lord our God."

⁷It happened after ten days, that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.

⁸Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,

⁹and said to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before him:

¹⁰'If you will still live in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I grieve over the distress that I have brought on you.

¹¹Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not be afraid of him, says the Lord: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

¹²I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you, and cause you to return to your own land.'

¹³But if you say, 'We will not dwell in this land'; so that you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God,

¹⁴saying, 'No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell':

¹⁵now therefore hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, 'If you indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to live there;

¹⁶then it shall happen, that the sword, which you fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are afraid, shall follow close behind you there in Egypt; and there you shall die.

¹⁷So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to live there: they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring on them.'

¹⁸For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'As my anger and my wrath has been poured forth on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my wrath be poured forth on you, when you shall enter into Egypt; and you shall be an object of horror, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more.'

¹⁹The Lord has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah, 'Do not go into Egypt': know certainly that I have testified to you this day.

²⁰For you have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, 'Pray for us to the Lord our God; and according to all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare to us, and we will do it':

²¹and I have this day declared it to you; but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God in anything for which he has sent me to you.

²²Now therefore know certainly that you shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place where you desire to go to live there."

¹But say the things which fit sound doctrine,

²that older men should be temperate, sensible, sober minded, sound in faith, in love, and in patience:

³and that older women likewise be reverent in behavior, not slanderers nor enslaved to much wine, teachers of that which is good;

⁴that they may train the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,

⁵to be sober minded, chaste, workers at home, kind, being in subjection to their own husbands, that God's word may not be blasphemed.

⁶Likewise, exhort the younger men to be sober minded;

⁷in all things showing yourself an example of good works. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness,

⁸and a sound message that cannot be condemned; that he who opposes you may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say about us.

⁹Exhort servants to be in subjection to their own masters, and to be well-pleasing in all things; not contradicting;

¹⁰not stealing, but showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God, our Savior, in all things.

¹¹For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,

¹²instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world;

¹³looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ;

¹⁴who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.

¹⁵Say these things and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no man despise you.

¹The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

²All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weighs the motives.

³Commit your deeds to the Lord, and your plans shall succeed.

⁴The Lord has made everything for its own end- yes, even the wicked for the day of evil.

⁵Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: they shall certainly not be unpunished.

⁶By mercy and truth iniquity is atoned for. By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.

⁷When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

⁸Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues with injustice.

⁹A man's heart plans his course, but the Lord directs his steps.

¹⁰Inspired judgments are on the lips of the king. He shall not betray his mouth.

¹¹Honest balances and scales are the Lord's; all the weights in the bag are his work.

¹²It is an abomination for kings to do wrong, for the throne is established by righteousness.

¹³Righteous lips are the delight of kings. They value one who speaks the truth.

¹⁴The king's wrath is a messenger of death, but a wise man will pacify it.

¹⁵In the light of the king's face is life. His favor is like a cloud of the spring rain.

¹⁶How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! Yes, to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

¹⁷The highway of the upright is to depart from evil. He who keeps his way preserves his soul.

¹⁸Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

¹⁹It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor, than to divide the plunder with the proud.

²⁰He who heeds the Word finds prosperity. Whoever trusts in the Lord is blessed.

²¹The wise in heart shall be called prudent. Pleasantness of the lips promotes instruction.

²²Understanding is a fountain of life to one who has it, but the punishment of fools is their folly.

²³The heart of the wise instructs his mouth, and adds learning to his lips.

²⁴Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

²⁵There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

²⁶The appetite of the laboring man labors for him; for his mouth urges him on.

²⁷A worthless man devises mischief. His speech is like a scorching fire.

²⁸A perverse man stirs up strife. A whisperer separates close friends.

²⁹A man of violence entices his neighbor, and leads him in a way that is not good.

³⁰One who winks his eyes to plot perversities, one who compresses his lips, is bent on evil.

³¹Gray hair is a crown of glory. It is attained by a life of righteousness.

³²One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty; one who rules his spirit, than he who takes a city.

³³The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.