Jeremiah 41:1–10

GEDALIAH ASSASSINATED BY ISHMAEL

41In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family and one of the king’s chief officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. They ate a meal together there in Mizpah, ²but then Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword; he killed the one the king of Babylon had appointed in the land.^{j 3}Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Chaldean soldiers who were there.^k

⁴On the day after he had killed Gedaliah, when no one knew yet, ⁵eighty men came from Shechem, Shiloh,^l and Samaria^m who had shaved their beards,ⁿ torn their clothes, and gashed themselves, and^o who were carrying grain and incense offerings to bring to the temple of the Lord.^{p 6}Ishmael son of Nethaniah came out of Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. When he encountered them, he said, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam!” ⁷But when they came into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and threw them into^A a cistern.

⁸However, there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us, for we have hidden treasure in the field—wheat, barley, oil, and honey!” So he stopped and did not kill them along with their companions. ⁹Now the cistern where Ishmael had thrown all the corpses of the men he had struck down was a large one^B that King Asa had made in the encounter with King Baasha of Israel.^q Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.

¹⁰Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people of Mizpah including the daughters of the king—all those who remained in Mizpah over whom Nebuzaradan, captain of the guards, had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set off to cross over to the Ammonites.^r