Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from the book of
Jeremiah, chapters 40 through 42. Chapter 40.
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord
after Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the guard,
had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken
him bound in chains among all who were carried
away captive from Jerusalem and Judah, who were
carried away captive to Babylon. And the captain
of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, The
Lord your God has pronounced this doom on this
place. Now the Lord has brought it and has done
just as he said. Because you people have sinned
against the Lord and not obeyed his voice, therefore
this thing has come upon you. And now look, I
free you this day from the chains that were on
your hand. If it seems good to you to come with
me to Babylon, come and I will look after you.
But if it seems wrong for you to come with me
to Babylon, remain here. See, all the land is
before you. Wherever it seems good and convenient
for you to go, go there. Now while Jeremiah had
not yet gone back, Nebuchadnezzar said, Go back
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 convenient
for you to go. So the captain of the guard gave
him rations and a gift and let him go. Then Jeremiah
went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah,
and dwelt with him among the people who were
left in the land. And when all the captains of
the armies who were in the fields, 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, women, children,
and the poorest of the land, who had not been
carried away captive to Babylon, then they came
to Gedaliah at Mizpah, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah,
Joanan and Jonathan the sons of Korea, Sariah
the son of Tanhumet. the sons of Ifai the Netophatite,
and Jezaniah the son of Amakatite, they and their
men. And Gediah the son of Ahikam the son of
Shaphan took an oath before them and 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. As for me, I will
indeed dwell at Mizpah and serve the Chaldeans
who come to us. But you gather wine and summer
fruit and oil. Put them in your vessels, and
dwell in your cities that you have taken. Likewise,
when all the Jews who were in Moab, among the
Ammonites 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, then all
the Jews returned out of all the places where
they had been driven, and came to the land of
Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered wine
and summer fruit in abundance. moreover joanan
the son of kareah and all the captains of the
forces that were in the fields came to gedaliah
at mizpah and said to him do you certainly know
that balis the king of the ammonites has sent
ishmael the son of nithaniah to murder you but
gedaliah the son of ahikam did not believe them
Then Joanan the son of Korea spoke secretly to
Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, Let me go, please,
and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nathania,
and no one will know it. Why should he murder
you, so that all the Jews who are gathered to
you would be scattered, and the remnant in Judah
perish? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to
Joanan the son of Korea, You shall not do this
thing, for you speak falsely concerning Ishmael.
Chapter 41 Now it came to pass, in the seventh
month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the
son of Elishamah of the royal family and of the
officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah
the son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and there they ate
bread together in Mizpah. Then Ishmael the son
of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him
arose 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. Ishmael also struck down all the Jews
who were with him that is with Gedaliah at Mizpah
and the Chaldeans who were found there the men
of war. And it happened on the second day after
he had killed Gedaliah when as yet no one knew
it that certain men came from Shechem, from Shiloh,
and from Samaria, eighty men with their beards
shaved and their clothes torn, having cut themselves
with offerings and incense in their hand, to
bring them to the house of the Lord. Now Ishmael
the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to
meet them, weeping as he went along, and it happened
as he met them that he said to them, Come to
Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. So it was when they
came into the midst of the city that Ishmael
the son of Nethaniah killed them and cast them
into the midst of a pit, he and the men who were
with him. But ten men were found among them,
who said to Ishmael, Do not kill us, for we have
treasures of wheat, barley, oil, and honey in
the field. So he desisted and did not kill them
among their brethren. Now the pit into which
Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men
whom he had slain because of Gedaliah was the
same one Asa the king had made for fear of Basha
king of Israel. Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah,
filled it with the slain. Then Ishmael carried
away captive all the rest of the people who were
in Mizpah, the king's daughters and all the people
who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuchadnezzar,
the captain of the guard, had committed to Gedaliah,
the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah
carried them away captive and departed to go
over to the Ammonites. But when Johanan the son
of Korea and all the captains of the forces that
were with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael
the son of Nethaniah had done, they took all
the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son
of Nethaniah, and they found him by the great
pool that is in Gibeon. So it was when all the
people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the
son of Korea and all the captains of the forces
who were with him. that they were glad. Then
all the people whom Ishmael had carried away
captive from Mizpah turned around and came back,
and went to Johanan the son of Korea. But Ishmael
the son of Nathania escaped from Johanan with
eight men and went to the Ammonites. Then Joanan
the son of Korea, and all the captains of the
forces that were with him, took from Mizpah all
the rest of the people whom he had recovered
from Ishmael the son of Nethania, after he had
murdered Gedalia the son of Ahikam, the mighty
men of war, and the women and the children, and
the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon.
And they departed and dwelt in the habitation
of Shemham, which is near Bethlehem, as they
went on their way to Egypt, because of the Chaldeans,
for they were afraid of them. Because Ishmael
the son of Nethaniah had murdered Gedaliah the
son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had made
governor in the land. Chapter 42 Now all the
captains of the forces, Joanan the son of Korea,
Jezaniah the son of Hoshiah, and all the people,
from the least to the greatest, came near and
said to Jeremiah the prophet, Please let our
petition be acceptable to you, and pray for us,
to the Lord your God. for all this remnant, since
we are left but a few of many, as you can see,
that the Lord your God may show us the way in
which we should walk and the thing we should
do. Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I
have heard, indeed, I will pray to the Lord your
God according to your words, and it shall be
that whatever the Lord answers you, I will declare
it to you, I will keep nothing back from you.
So they said to Jeremiah, Let the Lord be a true
and faithful witness between us, if we do not
do according to everything which the Lord your
God sends us by you. Whether it is pleasing or
displeasing, 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. And it happened after ten days that the
word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. Then he called
Joanan the son of Korea. all the captains of
the forces which were with him, and all the people
from the least even to the greatest, and said
to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel,
to whom you sent me to present your petition
before him. If you will still remain in this
land, then I will build you and not pull you
down, and I will plant you and not pluck you
up, for I relent concerning the disaster that
I have brought upon you. Do 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 deliver you from
his hand and i will show you mercy that he may
have mercy on you and cause you to return to
your own land but if you say we will not dwell
in this land disobeying the voice of the lord
your god saying, No, but we will go to the land
of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear
the sound of the trumpet, nor be hungry for bread,
and there we will dwell. Then hear now the word
of the Lord, or remnant of Judah. Thus says the
Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, If you wholly
set your faces to enter Egypt and go to dwell
there, then it shall be that the sword which
you feared shall overtake you there in the land
of Egypt. The famine of which you were afraid
shall follow close after you there in Egypt,
and there you shall die. So shall it be with
all the men who set their faces to go to Egypt
to dwell there. They shall die by the sword,
by famine, and by pestilence, and none of them
shall remain or escape from the disaster that
I will bring upon them. For thus says the Lord
of hosts, the God of Israel, As my anger and
my fury have been poured out on the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, so will my fury be poured out on
you when you enter Egypt. And you shall be an
oath, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach,
and you shall see this place no more. The Lord
has said concerning you, O remnant of Judah,
Do not go to Egypt. Know certainly that I have
admonished you this day. For you were hypocrites
in your hearts when you sent me to the Lord your
God, saying, Pray for us to the Lord our God,
and according to all that the Lord your God says,
so declare to us and we will do it. And I have
this day declared it to you, but you have not
obeyed the voice of the Lord your God or anything
which he has sent you by me. Now therefore know
certainly that you shall die by the sword, by
famine, and by pestilence in the place where
you desire to go to dwell. I hope you enjoyed
today's reading as much as I did and I look forward
to seeing you again tomorrow to continue on our
journey. God bless you and have a great day.