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word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had released him from Ramah. He had found Jeremiah bound in chains among all the captives from Jerusalem and Judah that were being carried away into exile to Babylon.
2 The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, “The Lord your God decreed this disaster upon this place. 3 Now the Lord has fulfilled it, and done just as He said. This thing has happened because your people have sinned against the Lord, and have not obeyed His voice. 4 Now look, this day I free you from the chains that were on your hands. If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will take good care of you; but if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, you need not come. See, all the land lies before you. Wherever it seems good and right for you to go, go there.”
5 However, before Jeremiah had left, Nebuzaradan said to him, “Go back to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed governor over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people, or go wherever you want to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him provisions and a gift and let him go. 6 So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and he stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.
7 Now when all the commanders of the armies in the field and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam as governor over the land, and he had been put in charge of the men, women, and children who were the poorest of the land and had not been carried away as captives to Babylon, 8 they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathon the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah son of the Maachathite, they and their men.
9 Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath before them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you. 10 As for me, I am going to live at Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. But as for you, gather wine, summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your storage jars, and live in the cities you have taken over.”
11 When all the Judeans in Moab, among the Ammonites, in Edom, and in all the other lands also heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as governor over them, 12 they all returned from all the places where they had been scattered, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and harvested wine and summer fruits in abundance.
13 Meanwhile Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, 14 and said to him, “Do you know that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to kill you?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them. 15 Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke in private with Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he kill you, so that all the Jews who are gathered around you are scattered, and the remnant of Judea perish?”
16 But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “You should not be doing this thing, for what you are saying about Ishmael is a lie.”