Jeremiah 41

1 Ishmael was a member of the king’s family. He had been one of King Zedekiah’s important officials. In October of that year, he went to Mizpah with ten other men to [talk with] Gedaliah. While they were eating together,

And it happened that, in the seventh month, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama of royal descent, with the nobles of the king, and accompanied by ten men, went to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. And they ate bread together there, in Mizpah.

2 Ishmael and the other ten men jumped up, and with their swords they killed Gedaliah—the man whom the king of Babylon had appointed to be their governor!

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

3 Ishmael [and the other men] also killed all the Jews and the soldiers from Babylonia who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah.

Likewise, Ishmael struck down all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, with the Chaldeans who were found there, and the men of war.

4 The next day, before anyone had found out that Gedaliah had been murdered,

Then, on the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, while no one yet knew of it,

5 eighty men from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria [cities] came to worship at the temple of Yahweh [in Mizpah]. They had shaved off their beards and torn their clothes and cut themselves [to show that they were mourning]. And they had brought grain offerings and incense [to burn on the altar].

men arrived from Shechem, and from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men, with their beards shaved, and their garments rent, and unbathed. And they had gifts and frankincense in hand, so that they might make an offering in the house of the Lord.

6 Ishmael went out of the city to meet them, crying as he went. When he reached them, he said, “Come [and see what has happened to] Gedaliah!”

Therefore, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, departing from Mizpah to meet them, went forth weeping as he was walking. And when he had met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam.”

7 But as soon as they had all entered the town, Ishmael and his men killed [most of] them and threw their corpses into a well.

And when they had arrived at the center of the city, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, put them to death around the public cistern, he and the men who were with him.

8 There were [only] ten of them whom they (spared/did not kill). They were not killed because they promised to Ishmael that [if he allowed them to remain alive, they would bring him] lots of wheat and barley and olive oil and honey that they had hidden.

But ten men were found among them, who said to Ishmael: “Do not kill us! For in the field we have storehouses of grain and barley and oil and honey.” And so he ceased, and he did not put them to death with their brothers.

9 The well where Ishmael’s men had thrown the corpses of the men whom they had murdered was the deep well that King Asa’s [men] had dug [in order that they would have water in the city] if the army of King Baasha of Israel would surround the city. Ishmael’s men filled that well with corpses.

Now the cistern, into which Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had struck down because of Gedaliah, is the same one that king Asa made out of fear of Baasha, the king of Israel. This same cistern Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, filled with those who were slain.

10 Then Ishmael [and his men] captured the king’s daughters and some of the other people who had been left in Mizpah by Nebuzaradan in order that Gedaliah would take care of them. Ishmael and his men took those people and started back toward the Ammon area.

Then Ishmael led away captive all the remnant of the people who were at Mizpah, the king’s daughters as well as all the people who remained at Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan, the leader of the military, had committed to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, seized them and went away, so that he might go over to the sons of Ammon.

11 But Johanan and all the other leaders of the Israeli soldiers who had not surrendered to the army of Babylonia heard about what Ishmael [and his men] had done.

But Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the fighters who were with him, heard about all the evil that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had done.

12 So they [immediately] went with all their men to stop them. They caught up with them at the large pool near Gibeon [city].

And taking all the men, they set out to make war against Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah. And they found him at the great waters that are in Gibeon.

13 When all the people whom Ishmael and his men had captured saw Johanan and the soldiers who were with him, they [shouted] joyfully.

And when all the people who were with Ishmael had seen Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the fighters who were with him, they rejoiced.

14 So all those who had been captured in Mizpah escaped, and they started to help Johanan.

And all the people whom Ishmael had seized turned back to Mizpah. And they returned and went over to Johanan, the son of Kareah.

15 But Ishmael and eight of his men escaped and fled to the Ammon area.

But Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, fled with eight men from the face of Johanan, and they went over to the sons of Ammon.

16 Then Johanan and the men who were with him [gathered together] all the people whom they had rescued at Gibeon. They included soldiers and women and children and some of the king’s palace officials. They were all people whom Ishmael [and his men] had captured after they had killed Gedaliah.

Therefore, Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the fighters who were with him, took from Mizpah the entire remnant of the common people, whom they had led away from Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. These were strong men of battle, and women, and children, and eunuchs: those whom he had led away from Gibeon.

17 They took them all to Geruth-Kimham [village] near Bethlehem. And they all prepared to go to Egypt.

And they went away and settled as sojourners at Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, so that they might continue on and enter into Egypt,

18 They were worried about what the soldiers of Babylonia [would do to them when they found out] that Ishmael had killed Gedaliah, who had been appointed by the King of Babylonia to be their governor.

away from the face of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them, because Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had struck down Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had made governor in the land of Judah.