⁹ Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid to serve^(A) the Babylonians,^[a](B)” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.^(C)

⁵ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.^(A)