Jeremiah 40:16

Christian Standard Bible ®

But Gedaliah son of Ahikam responded to Johanan son of Kareah, “Don’t do that! What you’re saying about Ishmael is a lie.”

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
But Gedalyahu the son of Achikam said to Yochanan the son of Kareach, You shall not do this thing; for you speak falsely of Yishma'el.

King James Version
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.

English Standard Version
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, "You shall not do this thing, for you are speaking falsely of Ishmael."

New American Standard Bible
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, "Do not do this thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael."

New Century Version
But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, "Do not kill Ishmael! The things you are saying about Ishmael are not true."

Amplified Bible
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, "Do not do this thing, for you are lying about Ishmael."

World English Bible
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.

Geneva Bible (1587)
But Gedaliah the sonne of Ahikam said vnto Iohanan the sonne of Kareah, Thou shalt not doe this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.

Legacy Standard Bible
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, "Do not do this thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael."

Berean Standard Bible
But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, "Do not do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is a lie."

Contemporary English Version
Gedaliah answered, "Don't kill Ishmael! What you've said about him can't be true."

Complete Jewish Bible
But G'dalyahu the son of Achikam said to Yochanan the son of Kareach, "Don't do it. What you are saying about Yishma‘el is not true."

Darby Translation
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing; for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.

Easy-to-Read Version
But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, "Don't kill Ishmael. The things you are saying about Ishmael are not true."

George Lamsa Translation
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, You shall not do this thing; for you are speaking falsely of Ishmael.

Good News Translation
But Gedaliah answered, "Don't do it! What you are saying about Ishmael is not true!"

Lexham English Bible
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, "You must not do this thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael."

Literal Translation
But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, said to Johanan, the son of Kareah, You shall not do this thing. For you speak falsely concerning Ishmael.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The sayde Godolias the sonne of Ahicam to Iohanna the sonne of Carea: Thou shalt not do it, for they are but lies, that men saye of Ismael.

American Standard Version
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing; for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.

Bible in Basic English
But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, said to Johanan, the son of Kareah, You are not to do this: for what you say about Ishmael is false.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah: 'Thou shalt not do this thing; for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.'

King James Version (1611)
But Gedaliah the sonne of Ahikam sayd vnto Iohanan the sonne of Kareah; Thou shalt not do this thing, for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Gedaliah the sonne of Ahicam sayde to Iohanan the sonne of Careah, Thou shalt not do it: for they are but lyes that thou sayest of Ismael.

English Revised Version
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Godolie, the sone of Aicham, seide to Johannan, the sone of Caree, Nyle thou do this word, for thou spekist fals of Ismael.

Update Bible Version
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.

Webster's Bible Translation
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.

New English Translation
But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, "Do not do that because what you are saying about Ishmael is not true."

New King James Version
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, "You shall not do this thing, for you speak falsely concerning Ishmael."

New Living Translation
But Gedaliah said to Johanan, "I forbid you to do any such thing, for you are lying about Ishmael."

New Life Bible
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, "Do not do this. For you are telling a lie about Ishmael."

New Revised Standard
But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, "Do not do such a thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said Gedaliah son of Ahikam unto Johanan son of Kareah, Thou mayest not do this thing, - for, falsely, art thou speaking against Ishmael.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Godolias the son of Ahicam said to Johanan the son of Caree: Do not this thing: for what thou sayst of Ismahel is false.

Revised Standard Version
But Gedali'ah the son of Ahi'kam said to Joha'nan the son of Kare'ah, "You shall not do this thing, for you are speaking falsely of Ish'mael."

Young's Literal Translation
And Gedaliah son of Ahikam saith unto Johanan son of Kareah, `Thou dost not do this thing, for falsehood thou art speaking concerning Ishmael.'

THE MESSAGE
But Gedaliah son of Ahikam told Johanan son of Kareah, "Don't do it. I forbid it. You're spreading a false rumor about Ishmael."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, "Do not do this thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael."

Contextual Overview

⁷All the commanders of the armies that were in the countryside—they and their men—heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land. He had been put in charge of the men, women, and children from among the poorest of the land, who had not been deported to Babylon. ⁸So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. The commanders included Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah son of the Maacathite—they and their men. ⁹Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men, assuring them, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you. ¹⁰As for me, I am going to live in Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. As for you, gather wine, summer fruit, and oil, place them in your storage jars, and live in the cities you have captured.” ¹¹When all the Judeans in Moab and among the Ammonites and 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, son of Shaphan, over them, ¹²they all returned from all the places where they had been banished and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and harvested a great amount of wine and summer fruit. ¹³Meanwhile, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies in the countryside came to Gedaliah at Mizpah ¹⁴and warned him, “Don’t you realize that Baalis, king of the Ammonites, has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to kill you?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam would not believe them. ¹⁵Then Johanan son of Kareah suggested to Gedaliah in private at Mizpah, “Let me go kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah. No one will know it. Why should he kill you and allow all of Judah that has gathered around you to scatter and the remnant of Judah to perish?” ¹⁶But Gedaliah son of Ahikam responded to Johanan son of Kareah, “Don’t do that! What you’re saying about Ishmael is a lie.”

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Thou shalt: Jeremiah 41:2, Matthew 10:16, Matthew 10:17, Romans 3:8

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 25:25 - Ishmael Job 31:31 - the men Isaiah 33:15 - stoppeth

Cross-References

Genesis 40:1
After this, the king of Egypt’s cupbearer and baker offended their master, the king of Egypt.

Genesis 40:2
Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah,.... In answer to his request, and the motion made by him:

thou shalt not do this thing; or, "do not do this thing" z; dissuading him from it, as being unlawful to take away a man's life in such a secret manner, without any legal process against him; though it seems to carry more in it, that he laid his commands upon him not to do it, and threatened him if he did:

for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael; or "a lie" a; a falsehood, a mere calumny; which was not using Johanan well, neither kindly nor genteelly, who had expressed such a concern for him, and for the public good. The event related in the following chapter shows that the information was good, and that it was no lie or calumny that was told; and it would have been well for Gedaliah, and the people of the Jews, had he given credit to it; but the time was not come for the Jewish commonwealth to be restored; and things were thus suffered to be, for the further punishment of the sins of that people.

z אל תעש את הדבר "noli facere hoc verbum", V. L. "ne facias verbum hoc", Pagninus, Montanus, Schmidt. a שקר "mendacium", Schmidt; "falsum", Pagninus, Montanus.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 40:16. Thou shalt not do this thing — He cannot be so base.

Thou speakest falsely of Ishmael. — He thought it quite possible that the man who was capable of becoming an assassin was capable of telling a lie; and therefore he would not credit what he said. Had he been a little more distrustful, he would have saved his own life. The next chapter shows that Johanan's information was too true. So noble Gedaliah lost his life by not believing that evil of others of which he himself was incapable.