Jeremiah 40; Jeremiah 41; Jeremiah 42; Hebrews 4

1 Jeremiah received the LORD's word after Nebuzaradan the captain of the special guard had released him from Ramah. He had been bound in chains there along with all the other detainees from Jerusalem and Judah who were being sent off to Babylon.

2 The captain of the special guard located Jeremiah and said to him, "The LORD your God declared that a great disaster would overtake this place.

3 Now the LORD has made it happen. He has done just as he warned because all of you have sinned against the LORD and haven't obeyed him. That's why this has happened to you.

4 But I'm setting you free from the chains on your hands. If you would like, come with me to Babylon, and I'll take care of you. If you would rather not come with me, that's fine too. Now, the whole land lies before you; go wherever you want.

5 If you decide to remain here, stay with Gedaliah, Ahikam's son and Shaphan's grandson—the Babylonian appointee in charge of the cities of Judah. Stay with him and the people he rules or go wherever you want." Then the captain of the special guard gave him ample provisions and let him go.

6 Jeremiah went to Gedaliah, Ahikam's son at Mizpah, and he stayed with him and the people who remained in the land.

7 Some of the army officers and their troops were still hiding out in the countryside when they heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, Ahikam's son, over the region, responsible for the men, women, and children who were the poorest in the land and who hadn't been deported to Babylon.

8 So they went out to meet Gedaliah at Mizpah: Ishmael, Nethaniah's son; Johanan and Jonathan, Kareah's sons; Seraiah son of Tanhumeth; the sons of Ephai the Netophathite; Jezaniah son of the Maacathite; and their troops.

9 Gedaliah, Ahikam's son and Shaphan's grandson, firmly assured them all: "Don't be afraid of serving the Babylonians. Remain in the land, serve the king of Babylon, and all will go well for you.

10 But me? I will stay at Mizpah so I can speak on your behalf when the Babylonians arrive. But you? Settle down in the towns you have taken; harvest the grapes, the summer fruits and figs, and then store them in your containers."

11 In the same way, all the Judeans living in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and in other countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a few people in the land and that he had put Gedaliah, Ahikam's son and Shaphan's grandson, in charge of them.

12 So they left the places where they had been scattered and returned to the land, to Gedaliah at Mizpah. There they gathered large amounts of grapes and summer fruits.

13 Johanan, Kareah's son, and all the army officers in the countryside approached Gedaliah at Mizpah

14 and said to him, "Are you aware that King Baalis of Ammon has sent Ishmael, Nethaniah's son, to kill you?" But Gedaliah, Ahikam's son, wouldn't believe them.

15 Still Johanan, Kareah's son, met with Gedaliah secretly at Mizpah and said to him, "Let me go and kill Ishmael, Nethaniah's son; no one needs to knows about this matter. Otherwise, he'll kill you, and all the Judeans who have gathered around you will be scattered, and the few who are left will perish."

16 But Gedaliah son of Ahikam told Johanan, Kareah's son, "Don't do such a thing, for what you are saying about Ishmael is wrong."

1 In the seventh month, Ishmael, Nethaniah's son and Elishama's grandson, who was from a royal family and who was one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah, Ahikam's son, at Mizpah. While they were eating a meal together,

2 Ishmael, Nethaniah's son, and the ten men got up and struck down Gedaliah, Ahikam's son and Shaphan's grandson, with the sword. They murdered him because he had been appointed over the region by the king of Babylon.

3 Ishmael also murdered all the Judeans who had rallied around Gedaliah at Mizpah as well as the Babylonian soldiers who were posted there.

4 The day after Gedaliah was killed, before anyone knew of it,

5 eighty men with shaved beards, torn clothes, and gashed bodies arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. They were bringing grain offerings and incense to present at the LORD's temple.

6 Ishmael, Nethaniah's son, left Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. When he reached them, he said, "Come to Gedaliah, Ahikam's son!"

7 When they arrived in the middle of the town, Ishmael, Nethaniah's son, and the men with him slaughtered them and threw their bodies into a cistern.

8 But there were ten men among them who begged Ishmael, "Don't kill us; we have wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in a field." So he stopped and didn't kill them along with the rest. (

9 Now the cistern that Ishmael used to discard the bodies of the men he had killed because of their association with Gedaliah was the one that King Asa had made to defend against Israel's King Baasha. Ishmael, Nethaniah's son, filled it with the dead.)

10 Ishmael captured the rest of the people who were at Mizpah, including the daughters of the king and all those assigned to Gedaliah, Ahikam's son, at Mizpah by Nebuzaradan the captain of the special guard. Then Ishmael, Nethaniah's son, set out to cross over to the Ammonites with the hostages.

11 Johanan, Kareah's son, and all the army officers at his side heard of the terrible acts committed by Ishmael, Nethaniah's son.

12 So they mustered all their forces and went to fight him. They found Ishmael, Nethaniah's son, at the great pool in Gibeon.

13 When all those taken by Ishmael at Mizpah saw Johanan, Kareah's son, and all his army officers with him, they were delighted.

14 They rallied around Johanan, Kareah's son, and returned home with him.

15 But Ishmael, Nethaniah's son, and eight of his men eluded Johanan and went to the Ammonites.

16 Then Johanan, Kareah's son, and all the army officers with him took the small group they had rescued in Gibeon, including the soldiers, women, children, and commanding officers that Ishmael, Nethaniah's son, had captured at Mizpah after killing Gedaliah, Ahikam's son.

17 They set out for Egypt, stopping on the way at Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem,

18 because they were afraid of what the Babylonians would do when they found out that Ishmael, Nethaniah's son, had killed Gedaliah, Ahikam's son, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the region.

1 Then all the army officers, including Johanan, Kareah's son, and Jezaniah, Hoshaiah's son, and the rest of the people, from the least to the greatest, approached

2 Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, "We have something to ask you: Please pray to the LORD your God for us, this small group, for as you can see we were once many but now are very few.

3 May the LORD your God show us where we should go and what we should do."

4 The prophet Jeremiah replied, "Yes, I'll pray to the LORD your God as you have asked. And I'll tell you whatever the LORD says; I won't hide anything from you."

5 Then they said to Jeremiah, "May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we fail to do everything that the LORD your God tells us through you.

6 Whether we like it or not, we will obey all that the LORD our God says. We will obey the LORD our God, to whom we're sending you, so it may go well for us."

7 Ten days later Jeremiah received the LORD's word.

8 So he called Johanan, Kareah's son, and all the army officers with him and the rest of the people, from the least to the greatest,

9 and he said to them: You have sent me to present your plea to the LORD, and this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:

10 If you live in this land, I will build you up and not pull you down. I will plant you and not dig you up because I grieve over the disaster I have brought upon you.

11 You don't have to be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. You don't have to be afraid of him anymore, declares the LORD, for I will be with you to save you and rescue you from his hand.

12 I will be merciful to you, and he will be merciful and return you to your land.

13 But if you say, "We won't live in this land," you will disobey the LORD your God.

14 And if you insist, "No, we're going to live in Egypt, where there's no war, battle alarms, or hunger, and there we will stay,"

15 then listen to the LORD's word, you remaining Judeans. The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: If you are determined to go to Egypt and you then go and live there,

16 then the war you fear will seize you in the land of Egypt; and the famine you dread will hunt you down in Egypt, and there you will die.

17 Every one of you who is determined to go and live in Egypt will die by the sword, famine, and disease. No one will escape the disaster that I will bring upon them there.

18 The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: Just as my fierce anger was poured out on the people of Jerusalem, so it will be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing, scorn, shock, and disgrace. And you will never see this place again.

19 You who survive from Judah, the LORD has told you: Don't go to Egypt. Know without a doubt that I have warned you this day.

20 You are putting your lives at risk by sending me to the LORD your God, saying, "Pray for us to the LORD our God; tell us everything the LORD our God says, and we'll do it."

21 Today I have told you, but you still haven't obeyed all that the LORD your God has sent me to tell you.

22 So know without a doubt that you will die by war, famine, and disease in the place you yearn to go and live.

1 Therefore, since the promise that we can enter into rest is still open, let's be careful so that none of you will appear to miss it.

2 We also had the good news preached to us, just as the Israelites did. However, the message they heard didn't help them because they weren't united in faith with the ones who listened to it.

3 We who have faith are entering the rest. As God said, And because of my anger I swore: "They will never enter into my rest!" And yet God's works were completed at the foundation of the world.

4 Then somewhere he said this about the seventh day of creation: God rested on the seventh day from all his works.

5 But again, in the passage above, God said, They will never enter my rest!

6 Therefore, it's left open for some to enter it, and the ones who had the good news preached to them before didn't enter because of disobedience.

7 Just as it says in the passage above, God designates a certain day as "today," when he says through David much later, Today, if you hear his voice, don't have stubborn hearts.

8 If Joshua gave the Israelites rest, God wouldn't have spoken about another day later on.

9 So you see that a sabbath rest is left open for God's people.

10 The one who entered God's rest also rested from his works, just as God rested from his own.

11 Therefore, let's make every effort to enter that rest so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience,

12 because God's word is living, active, and sharper than any two-edged sword. It penetrates to the point that it separates the soul from the spirit and the joints from the marrow. It's able to judge the heart's thoughts and intentions.

13 No creature is hidden from it, but rather everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of the one to whom we have to give an answer.

14 Also, let's hold on to the confession since we have a great high priest who passed through the heavens, who is Jesus, God's Son;

15 because we don't have a high priest who can't sympathize with our weaknesses but instead one who was tempted in every way that we are, except without sin.

16 Finally, let's draw near to the throne of favor with confidence so that we can receive mercy and find grace when we need help.