¹² But the captain of the guard left some of ^(A)the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

¹⁰ But some of the ^(A)poorest people who had nothing, ^(B)Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had them remain in the land of Judah and gave them vineyards and fields ^[a]at that time.

² And the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, “^(A)Yahweh your God promised this calamity against this place; ³ and Yahweh has brought it on and done just as He promised. Because you people ^(B)sinned against Yahweh and did not listen to His voice, therefore this thing has happened to you. ⁴ So now, behold, I am ^(C)freeing you today from the chains which are on your hands. If it is good in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, come along, and I will set my eyes to look after you; but if it ^[a]is displeasing in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, ^[b]never mind. Look, the ^(D)whole land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right in your eyes to go.” ⁵ But as ^[c]Jeremiah had not yet set out to return, ^[d]he said, “Return then to ^(E)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has ^(F)appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people; or else go anywhere that is right in your eyes to go.” So the captain of the bodyguard gave him a ^(G)ration and a ^(H)gift and let him go. ⁶ Then Jeremiah went to ^(I)Mizpah to ^(J)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and stayed with him among the people who remained in the land.