Jeremiah 41

Gedaliah Is Murdered

11Now in the seventh month 2Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal 3family and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to 4Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. While they 5were eating bread together there in Mizpah, 2Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him rose up, and 6struck and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and 7put to death the one 8whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. 3Ishmael also struck and killed all the Jews who were with him, that is with Gedaliah in Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

4Now it happened on the 9next day after the killing of Gedaliah, when no one knew about it, 5that eighty men 10came from 11Shechem, from 12Shiloh, and from 13Samaria with 14their beards shaved off, their clothes torn, and 15their bodies 16gashed, having grain offerings and incense in their hands to bring to the 17house of the Lord. 6Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah left Mizpah to meet them, 18weeping as he went; and as he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!” 7Yet it turned out that as soon as they came inside the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him 19slaughtered them and threw them into the cistern. 8But ten men who were found among them said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death, for we have 20supplies of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field.” So he refrained and did not put them to death along with their companions.

9Now as for the cistern where Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck and killed 21because of Gedaliah, it was the 22one that King Asa had constructed on 23account of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead. 10Then Ishmael took captive all the 24remnant of the people who were in Mizpah, the 25king’s daughters and all the people who were left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had put in the custody of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and proceeded to cross over to the sons of 26Ammon.

Johanan Rescues the People

11But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the 27commanders of the forces that were with him heard about all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done. 12So they took all the men and went to 28fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and they found him by the 29large 30pool that is in Gibeon. 13Now as soon as all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, they were joyful. 14So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. 15But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah 31escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the sons of Ammon. 16Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him took from Mizpah 32all the remnant of the people whom he had 33recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the men who were 34soldiers, the women, the 35children, and the high officials, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. 17And they went and stayed in 3637Geruth Chimham, which is beside Bethlehem, in order to 38proceed into Egypt 18because of the Chaldeans; for they were 39afraid of them, since Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom 40the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.