Gedaliah Is Murdered

1Now in the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal [a]family and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. While they were eating bread together there in Mizpah, 2Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him rose up, and struck and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and put to death the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. 3Ishmael also struck and killed all the Jews who were with him, that is with Gedaliah in Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

4Now it happened on the [b]next day after the killing of Gedaliah, when no one knew about it, 5that eighty men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria with their beards shaved off, their clothes torn, and [c]their bodies gashed, having grain offerings and incense in their hands to bring to the house of the LORD. 6Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah left Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went; and as he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!” 7Yet it turned out that as soon as they came inside the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into the cistern. 8But ten men who were found among them said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death, for we have supplies of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field.” So he refrained and did not put them to death along with their companions.

9Now as for the cistern where Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck and killed [d]because of Gedaliah, it was the one that King Asa had constructed on account of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead. 10Then Ishmael took captive all the remnant of the people who were in Mizpah, the king’s daughters and all the people who were left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had put in the custody of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and proceeded to cross over to the sons of Ammon.

Johanan Rescues the People

11But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him heard about all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done. 12So they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and they found him by the large [e]pool that is in Gibeon. 13Now as soon as all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, they were joyful. 14So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. 15But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the sons of Ammon. 16Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him took from Mizpah all the remnant of the people whom he had [f]recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the men who were [g]soldiers, the women, the [h]children, and the high officials, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. 17And they went and stayed in [i]Geruth Chimham, which is beside Bethlehem, in order to proceed into Egypt 18because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, since Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.