1
In the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama,
who was of royal blood and had been one of the king's officers,
came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah.
While they were eating together there,
2
Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up
and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan,
with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed
as governor over the land.
3
Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah,
as well as the Babylonian soldiers who were there.
4
The day after Gedaliah's assassination, before anyone knew about it,
5
eighty men who had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes and
cut themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria,
bringing grain offerings and incense with them to the house of the LORD.
6
Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them,
weeping as he went. When he met them, he said,
"Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam."
7
When they went into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men
who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern.
8
But ten of them said to Ishmael,
"Don't kill us! We have wheat and barley, oil and honey, hidden in a field."
So he let the alone and did not kill them with the others.
9
Now the cistern where he threw all the bodies of the men he had killed
along with Gedaliah was the one King Asa had made as part of his defense
against Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead.
10
Ishmael made captives of all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah -
the king's daughters along with all the others who were left there,
over whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had appointed
Gedaliah son of Aikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive
and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.
11
When Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him
heard about all the cirmes Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed,
12
they took all their men and went to fight Ishmael son of Nethaniah.
They caught up with him near the great pool in Gibeon.
13
When all the people Ishmael had with him saw Johanan son of Karea
and the army officers who were with him, they were glad.
14
All the people Ishmael had taken captive at Mizpah
turned and went over to Johanan son of Kareah.
15
But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped
from Johanan and fled to the Ammonites.
Flight to Egypt
16
Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him
led away all the survivors from Mizpah whom he had recovered from
Ishmael son of Nethaniah after he had assassinated Gedaliah son of Ahikam:
the soldiers women, children and court officials he had brought from Gibeon
17
And they went on, stopping at Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem on their way to Egypt
18
to escape the Babylonians. They were afraid of them because Ishmael son
of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon
had appointed as governor over the land.
