¹¹All of the Jews in Moab, Ammon and Edom heard what had happened. So did the Jews in all of the other countries. They heard that the king of Babylonia had left some people behind in Judah. They also heard that he had appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, as governor over them. Ahikam was the son of Shaphan.

¹²When they heard those things, all of them came back to the land of Judah. They went to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They came from all of the countries where they had been scattered. And they harvested a large amount of wine and summer fruit.

¹³Johanan and all of the other army officers who were still in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. Johanan was the son of Kareah. ¹⁴The officers said to Gedaliah, “Don’t you know that Baalis, the king of Ammon, has sent someone to take your life? It’s Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah.” But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, didn’t believe them.

¹⁵Then Johanan, the son of Kareah, spoke in private to Gedaliah in Mizpah. He said, “Let me go and kill Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah. No one will know about it. Why should he take your life? Why should he cause all of the Jews who are gathered around you to be scattered? Why should he cause the people who remain in Judah to die?”

¹⁶But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, spoke to Johanan, the son of Kareah. He said, “Don’t do an awful thing like that! What you are saying about Ishmael isn’t true.”

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