Jeremiah 41

1. And it came to pass in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, and the rulers of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah. And there they ate bread together in Mizpah.

2. Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah arose, and the ten men who were with him, and struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and killed him whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

3. Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

4. And it came to pass the second day after he had killed Gedaliah (and no one knew it),

5. Some men from Shechem came from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even eighty men, with their beards shaved, and their clothes torn, and having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the LORD.

6. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he walked. And it came to pass as he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.”

7. And it came to pass when they came into the middle of the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed them, he and the men with him, and they threw them into the middle of the pit.

8. But ten men were found among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us, for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey.” So he held back and did not kill them among their brothers.

9. And the pit in which Ishmael had thrown all the dead bodies of the men, whom he had killed because of Gedaliah, was the one which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.

10. Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, even the king’s daughters and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the Captain of the Guard had entrusted to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took captive and left to go over to the Ammonites.

11. But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,

12. Then they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah. And they found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.

13. And it came to pass when all the people with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces with him, then they were glad.

14. So all the people that Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and went back, and came to Johanan the son of Kareah.

15. But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites.

16. Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces with him took all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. They took mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the officials, whom he had brought again from Gibeon.

17. And they departed and lived in the Geruth Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, in order to go to Egypt

18. Because of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land.