Jeremiah 41

¹In the seventh month, Ishʹmael the son of Nethaniʹah, son of Elishʹama, of the royal family, one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliʹah the son of Ahiʹkam, at Mizpah. As they ate bread together there at Mizpah, ²Ishʹmael the son of Nethaniʹah and the ten men with him rose up and struck down Gedaliʹah the son of Ahiʹkam, son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had appointed governor in the land. ³Ishʹmael also slew all the Jews who were with Gedaliʹah at Mizpah, and the Chaldeʹan soldiers who happened to be there.

⁴On the day after the murder of Gedaliʹah, before any one knew of it, ⁵eighty men arrived from Shechem and Shiloh and Samarʹia, with their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and their bodies gashed, bringing cereal offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord. ⁶And Ishʹmael the son of Nethaniʹah came out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. As he met them, he said to them, “Come in to Gedaliʹah the son of Ahiʹkam.” ⁷When they came into the city, Ishʹmael the son of Nethaniʹah and the men with him slew them, and cast them into a cistern. ⁸But there were ten men among them who said to Ishʹmael, “Do not kill us, for we have stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the fields.” So he refrained and did not kill them with their companions.

⁹Now the cistern into which Ishʹmael cast all the bodies of the men whom he had slain was the large cistern which King Asa had made for defense against Baʹasha king of Israel; Ishʹmael the son of Nethaniʹah filled it with the slain. ¹⁰Then Ishʹmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, the king’s daughters and all the people who were left at Mizpah, whom Nebuʹzaradʹan, the captain of the guard, had committed to Gedaliʹah the son of Ahiʹkam. Ishʹmael the son of Nethaniʹah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.

¹¹But when Johaʹnan the son of Kareʹah and all the leaders of the forces with him heard of all the evil which Ishʹmael the son of Nethaniʹah had done, ¹²they took all their men and went to fight against Ishʹmael the son of Nethaniʹah. They came upon him at the great pool which is in Gibʹeon. ¹³And when all the people who were with Ishʹmael saw Johaʹnan the son of Kareʹah and all the leaders of the forces with him, they rejoiced. ¹⁴So all the people whom Ishʹmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about and came back, and went to Johaʹnan the son of Kareʹah. ¹⁵But Ishʹmael the son of Nethaniʹah escaped from Johaʹnan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites. ¹⁶Then Johaʹnan the son of Kareʹah and all the leaders of the forces with him took all the rest of the people whom Ishʹmael the son of Nethaniʹah had carried away captive from Mizpah after he had slain Gedaliʹah the son of Ahiʹkam—soldiers, women, children, and eunuchs, whom Johaʹnan brought back from Gibʹeon. ¹⁷And they went and stayed at Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem, intending to go to Egypt ¹⁸because of the Chaldeʹans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishʹmael the son of Nethaniʹah had slain Gedaliʹah the son of Ahiʹkam, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.