Jeremiah 41

41 ¹ In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family and one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. And there at Mizpah they shared a meal together. ² Then Ishmael son of Nethaniah got up, along with the ten men with him, and they struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword and killed him—the one the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. ³ Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with the Chaldean soldiers who were found there—the fighting men.

⁴ On the second day after Gedaliah had been killed, before anyone knew of it, ⁵ eighty men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, their beards shaved, their clothes torn, and their bodies gashed, bringing grain offerings and incense to present at the house of our Father. ⁶ Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. And when he met them, he said, "Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam." ⁷ But when they came into the heart of the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern. ⁸ But ten of them said to Ishmael, "Do not kill us, for we have stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field." So he held back and did not kill them along with the others.

⁹ Now the cistern where Ishmael threw all the bodies of the men he had struck down was the large one King Asa had made because he feared Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead.

¹⁰ Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were at Mizpah—the king's daughters and all the people left at Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had entrusted to Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out for the land of Ammon.

¹¹ But when Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had done, ¹² they gathered all their men and went to fight against Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and they found him at the large pool in Gibeon. ¹³ And when all the people with Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces with him, they were glad. ¹⁴ So all the people Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned back and joined Johanan son of Kareah. ¹⁵ But Ishmael son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went on to the Ammonites.

¹⁶ Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces with him took from Mizpah all the rest of the people he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam—the soldiers, the women, the children, and the court officials he brought back from Gibeon. ¹⁷ They set out and stopped at Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem, heading for Egypt, ¹⁸ because they feared the Chaldeans—Ishmael son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.