Remnant Hope After Destruction's Ashes

1. The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after 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. 2. The captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said to him, “Yahweh your God pronounced this evil on this place; 3. and Yahweh has brought it, and done according as he spoke. Because you have sinned against Yahweh, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing has come on you. 4. Now, behold, I release you today 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, don’t. Behold, all the land is before you. Where it seems good and right to you to go, there go.” 5. Now 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. 6. Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and lived with him among the people who were left in the land. 7. Now 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, women, children, and of the poorest of the land, of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon; 8. then 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 came to Gedaliah to Mizpah. 9. Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore to them and to their men, saying, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you. 10. As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who will 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.” 11. Likewise 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; 12. then 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 very much wine and summer fruits. 13. Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, 14. and 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 didn’t believe them. 15. Then 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 will 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?” 16. But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “You shall not do this thing; for you speak falsely of Ishmael.” 1. Now in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal offspring 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. 2. Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah arose, 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. 3. Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war. 4. The second day after he had killed Gedaliah, and no man knew it, 5. men came 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 Yahweh’s house. 6. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and as he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” 7. It was so, when they came into the middle of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed them, and cast them into the middle of the pit, he, and the men who were with him. 8. But ten men were found among those who said to Ishmael, “Don’t 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 didn’t kill them among their brothers. 9. Now 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 that 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. 10. Then Ishmael carried away captive all the of the people who were left 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. 11. But 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, 12. then 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. 13. Now 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. 14. So all the people who Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. 15. But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the children of Ammon. 16. Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces who were with him took all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the men of war, with the women, the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. 17. They departed and lived in Geruth Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt 18. because 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. 1. Then 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, 2. and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our supplication be presented before you, and pray for us to Yahweh your God, even for all this remnant; for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes see us; 3. that Yahweh your God may show us the way in which we should walk, and the things that we should do.” 4. Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to Yahweh your God according to your words; and it will happen that whatever thing Yahweh answers you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you.” 5. Then they said to Jeremiah, “May Yahweh be a true and faithful witness among us, if we don’t do according to all the word with which Yahweh your God sends you to tell us. 6. Whether it is good, or whether it is bad, we will obey the voice of Yahweh our God, to whom we send you; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of Yahweh our God.” 7. After ten days, Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah. 8. Then he called 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, 9. and said to them, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before him, says: 10. ‘If you will still live 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 grieve over the distress that I have brought on you. 11. Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Don’t be afraid of him,’ says Yahweh: ‘for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. 12. I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you, and cause you to return to your own land. 13. “‘But if you say, “We will not dwell in this land;” so that you don’t obey Yahweh your God’s voice, 14. saying, “No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we will see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:”’ 15. now therefore hear Yahweh’s word, O remnant of Judah: Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘If you indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to live there; 16. then it will happen that the sword, which you fear, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are afraid, will follow close behind you there in Egypt; and you will die there. 17. So will it be with all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to live there. They will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. None of them will remain or escape from the evil that I will bring on them.’ 18. For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and my wrath has been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you, when you enter into Egypt; and you will be an object of horror, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach; and you will see this place no more.’ 19. “Yahweh has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah, ‘Don’t go into Egypt!’ Know certainly that I have testified to you today. 20. For you have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for you sent me to Yahweh your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to Yahweh our God; and according to all that Yahweh our God says, so declare to us, and we will do it.’ 21. I have declared it to you today; but you have not obeyed Yahweh your God’s voice in anything for which he has sent me to you. 22. Now therefore know certainly that you will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live there.”

1. Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s chosen ones, and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, 2. in hope of eternal life, which God, who can’t lie, promised before time began; 3. but in his own time revealed his word in the message with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior; 4. to Titus, my true child according to a common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. 5. I left you in Crete for this reason, that you would set in order the things that were lacking, and appoint elders in every city, as I directed you; 6. if anyone is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, who are not accused of loose or unruly behavior. 7. For the overseer must be blameless, as God’s steward; not self-pleasing, not easily angered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain; 8. but given to hospitality, a lover of good, sober minded, fair, holy, self-controlled; 9. holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching, that he may be able to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to convict those who contradict him. 10. For there are also many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11. whose mouths must be stopped; men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for dishonest gain’s sake. 12. One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and idle gluttons.” 13. This testimony is true. For this cause, reprove them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14. not paying attention to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. 15. To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. 16. They profess that they know God, but by their deeds they deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work. 1. But say the things which fit sound doctrine, 2. that older men should be temperate, sensible, sober minded, sound in faith, in love, and in perseverance: 3. and that older women likewise be reverent in behavior, not slanderers nor enslaved to much wine, teachers of that which is good; 4. that they may train the young wives to love their husbands, to love their children, 5. to be sober minded, chaste, workers at home, kind, being in subjection to their own husbands, that God’s word may not be blasphemed. 6. Likewise, exhort the younger men to be sober minded; 7. in all things showing yourself an example of good works; in your teaching showing integrity, seriousness, incorruptibility, 8. and soundness of speech that can’t be condemned; that he who opposes you may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say about us. 9. Exhort servants to be in subjection to their own masters, and to be well-pleasing in all things; not contradicting; 10. not stealing, but showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God, our Savior, in all things. 11. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12. instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age; 13. looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ; 14. who 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. 15. Say these things and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no man despise you. 1. Remind them to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2. to speak evil of no one, not to be contentious, to be gentle, showing all humility toward all men. 3. For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. 4. But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared, 5. not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6. whom he poured out on us richly, through Jesus Christ our Savior; 7. that being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8. This saying is faithful, and concerning these things I desire that you affirm confidently, so that those who have believed God may be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men; 9. but shun foolish questionings, genealogies, strife, and disputes about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. 10. Avoid a factious man after a first and second warning, 11. knowing that such a one is perverted and sins, being self-condemned. 12. When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, be diligent to come to me to Nicopolis, for I have determined to winter there. 13. Send Zenas, the lawyer, and Apollos on their journey speedily, that nothing may be lacking for them. 14. Let our people also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they may not be unfruitful. 15. All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.

1. Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing? 2. The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh, and against his Anointed, saying, 3. “Let’s break their bonds apart, and cast their cords from us.” 4. He who sits in the heavens will laugh. The Lord will have them in derision. 5. Then he will speak to them in his anger, and terrify them in his wrath: 6. “Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion.” 7. I will tell of the decree. Yahweh said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father. 8. Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. 9. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 10. Now therefore be wise, you kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth. 11. Serve Yahweh with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12. Give sincere homage to the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish on the way, for his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.