Jeremiah 41

1 And it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, and [one] of the king's chief men, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam unto Mizpah, and there they ate bread together, in Mizpah.

In the seventh month of the year, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, a member of the royal family and one of the king's chief officers, came with ten of his men to see Gedaliah at Mizpah. While they were eating to have a meal together,

2 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah arose, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

suddenly Ishmael and his ten men got up and attacked Gedaliah, killing him—the one appointed by the king of Babylon as the country's governor.

3 And Ishmael smote all the Jews that were with him, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, the men of war.

Ishamel also killed all the other Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with the Babylonian soldiers there.

4 And it came to pass the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, and no man knew it,

The day after Gedaliah had been murdered and before anyone knew about it,

5 that there came men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men, having their beards shaven and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves; with oblations and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of Jehovah.

a group of eighty men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. They had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes, and cut themselves. They were carrying grain offerings and frankincense for the Lord's Temple.

6 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went; and it came to pass when he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.

Ishmael came out to meet them from Mizpah, weeping as he went along. When Ishmael met the men, he said, “Come and see what's happened to Gedaliah son of Ahikam!”

7 And it was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, he and the men that were with him, slew them, [and cast them] into the midst of the pit.

But when they arrived in town, Ishmael and his men killed most of them and threw their bodies into a cistern.

8 But ten men were found among them that said unto Ishmael, Do not kill us, for we have hidden stores in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbore, and did not kill them among their brethren.

But ten of them pleaded with Ishmael, “Don't kill us! We've got some good things hidden in the fields—wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey.” So Ishmael didn't kill them along with the others.

9 And the pit into which Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had slain by the side of Gedaliah was the one which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel: Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.

(The cistern where Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men he'd killed, including Gedaliah, was a large one that King Asa had dug because of the threat of attack by Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael filled it with bodies.)

10 And Ishmael carried away captive all the remnant of the people that were in Mizpah, the king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon.

Then Ishmael took all the people left in Mizpah prisoner, including the daughters of the king, as well as everyone else living there. These were the people that Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard had put under the care of Gedaliah. Ishmael took them prisoner and left to go to the Ammonites.

11 And Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done;

Johanan and all the army commanders of the armies with him found out about all of Ishmael's crimes.

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

So they assembled all their men and went to attack Ishmael. They caught up with him near the large pool in Gibeon.

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

When Ishmael's prisoners saw Johanan and all the army commanders with him, they were happy.

14 And all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah.

All those that Ishmael had taken prisoner at Mizpah turned around and ran back to Johanan.

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

Ishmael and eight of his men managed to escape from Johanan and get away to the Ammonites.

16 Then Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, took all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again from Gibeon;

Then Johanan and all the army commanders with him took charge of the survivors from Mizpah he'd rescued from Ishmael in Gibeon—the soldiers, women, children, and court officials that Ishmael had taken prisoner after he'd killed Gedaliah.

17 and they departed, and dwelt at Geruth-Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt,

They set off for Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem and stayed there, before leaving for Egypt

18 because of the Chaldeans; for they feared them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had smitten Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

to get away from the Babylonians. They were afraid of what the Babylonians would do because Ishmael had assassinated Gedaliah, the governor of the country appointed by the king of Babylon.