CLICK HERE to read Jeremiah 40.
The captain of the guard released Jeremiah from prison and from his chains (verse 1), and told him that they (the Chaldeans) knew that the prophet’s God had pronounced these consequences on these people (verse 2). The captain told Jeremiah to once again remind the people that all this had happened to them because of their own behavior and choices, and that this destruction was the consequences they had chosen by not obeying the Lord (verse 3).
Jeremiah did this as he was instructed, as it was consistent with what the Lord had said already.
The captain released Jeremiah, inviting him to come to Babylon if he wanted to be cared for, or to stay in Judah to work the land if he preferred that (verse 4). The captain fed Jeremiah, and gave him food, and gave him a reward for his good service, and then released him (verse 5).
Jeremiah went to live with the people left in the land, living with the one who was made governor (verse 6).
When the people heard who had been made governor of the land, and that all the land had been given to the poor (verse 7), they all started coming to him (verse 8). The governor told them not to be afraid to live in the land under the Chaldean rule, and assured them that they would be safe there and provided for and cared for (verse 9). He told them they could harvest the fields, and feed the people in their new cities they just inherited (verse 10).
All the Jews in the surrounding areas, even in Moab and in Edom and those living amongst the Ammonites, heard that a remnant of poor had been left and that they now ruled the land (verse 11). All these Jews that had gone into hiding before the others had been taken into captivity now returned to the land to help with the harvest and feed the people (verse 12).
The poor people who inherited the land began to gather (verse 13), though some stirred up trouble between groups (verse 14). One group made secret plans to kill another group, that they could take the inheritance and maybe more if the others then scattered in fear (verse 15). But they stood up to them, and did not allow it to happen (verse 16).
