Jeremiah 41

41 ¹In the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of royal lineage and a king's chief officer, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. There they ate a meal together at Mizpah. ²Ishmael son of Nethaniah got up, along with the ten men with him, and they struck Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the man the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. ³Ishmael also killed all the Jews with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Babylonian soldiers found there—the fighting men.

⁴On the second day after Gedaliah had been killed, before anyone knew of it, ⁵eighty men from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria came—beards shaved, clothes torn, bodies slashed—carrying grain offerings and incense to our Father's house. ⁶Ishmael son of Nethaniah left Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. On meeting them he said, "Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam." ⁷When they came into the city's midst, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and his men killed them, throwing them into the cistern's midst. ⁸Ten of them told Ishmael, "Don't kill us—we have wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field." So he spared them, not killing them with the rest.

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

¹⁰Ishmael captured all the rest of the people at Mizpah—the king's daughters, everyone left at Mizpah—whom Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, had entrusted to Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah captured them and set out to cross to the Ammonites.

¹¹When Johanan son of Kareah and all the army commanders with him heard all the evil Ishmael son of Nethaniah did, ¹²they took all the men, went to fight Ishmael son of Nethaniah, finding him at the great pool in Gibeon. ¹³When all Ishmael's people saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the army commanders with him, they were glad. ¹⁴So all the captives Ishmael took from Mizpah turned back and went to Johanan son of Kareah. ¹⁵But Ishmael son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went on to the Ammonites.

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