Jeremiah 41

CHAPTER 41

Ishmael Strikes Down Gedaliah

^1aNow it happened in the seventh month, that ^bIshmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to ^cGedaliah the son of Ahikam. And they ^dwere eating bread together there in Mizpah.

²Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him arose and ^astruck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and ^bput to death the one ^cwhom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

³Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with him, that is with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

⁴Now it happened on the ¹next day after putting Gedaliah to death, when no one knew about it,

⁵that eighty men ^acame from ^bShechem, from ^cShiloh, and from ^dSamaria with ^etheir beards shaved off and their clothes torn and ¹their bodies ^fgashed, having grain offerings and frankincense in their hands to bring to the ^ghouse of Yahweh.

⁶Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, ^aweeping as he went; and it happened that as he encountered them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!”

⁷But it happened that as soon as they came inside the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men that were with him ^aslaughtered them and cast them into the cistern.

⁸But ten men who were found among them said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death; for we have ^astores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field.” So he refrained and did not put them to death along with their ¹companions.

⁹Now as for the cistern where Ishmael had cast all the corpses of the men whom he had struck down ¹because of Gedaliah, it was the ^aone that King Asa had made on ^baccount of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.

¹⁰Then Ishmael took captive all the ^aremnant of the people who were in Mizpah, the ^bking’s daughters and all the people who remained in Mizpah, over whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; thus Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and went to cross over to the sons of ^cAmmon.

Johanan Rescues the People

¹¹But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the ^acommanders of the military forces that were with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done.

¹²So they took all the men and went to ^afight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and they found him by the ^bgreat ¹pool that is in Gibeon.

¹³Now it happened as soon as all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that were with him, they were glad.

¹⁴So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and returned and went to Johanan the son of Kareah.

¹⁵But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah ^aescaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the sons of Ammon.

¹⁶Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that were with him took from Mizpah ^aall the remnant of the people whom he had returned from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the mighty men who were men of war, the women, the little ones, and the eunuchs, whom he had returned from Gibeon.

¹⁷And they went and stayed in ^1aGeruth Chimham, which is beside Bethlehem, in order to ^bproceed into Egypt

¹⁸because of the Chaldeans; for they were ^aafraid of them, since Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom ^bthe king of Babylon had appointed over the land.