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

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

² Now the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, “The ^(A)Lord your God promised this disaster against this place; ³ and the Lord has brought it and done just as He promised. Because you people ^(B)sinned against the Lord and did not listen to His voice, this thing has happened to you. ⁴ But now, behold, I am ^(C)setting you free today from the chains that are on your hands. If ^[a]you would prefer to come with me to Babylon, come along, and I will ^[b]look after you; but if ^[c]you would prefer not to come with me to Babylon, ^[d]do not come. Look, the ^(D)whole land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right for you to go.” ⁵ As ^[e]Jeremiah was still not going back, ^[f]he said, “Go on back 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 it seems right for you 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 were left in the land.