Jeremiah 40:7-41:18

New American Standard Bible

^7 (A)Now all the commanders of the forces that were in the field, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam over the land, and that he had put him in charge of the men, women, and ^[a]children, those of the ^(B)poorest of the land who had not been exiled to Babylon. ⁸ So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with ^(C)Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, ^(D)Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the ^(E)Netophathite, and ^(F)Jezaniah the son of the ^(G)Maacathite, both they and their men. ⁹ Then Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ^(H)swore to them and to their men, saying, “^(I)Do not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans; stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, so that it may go well for you. ¹⁰ Now as for me, behold, I am going to stay in Mizpah to ^(J)stand for you before the Chaldeans who come to us; but as for you, ^(K)gather wine, ^(L)summer fruit, and oil, and put them in your storage vessels, and live in your cities that you have taken over.” ¹¹ Likewise, also all the Jews who were in ^(M)Moab and among the sons of ^(N)Ammon and in ^(O)Edom, and who were in all the other countries, heard that the king of Babylon had ^[b]left a remnant for Judah, and that he had appointed over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. ¹² Then all the Jews ^(P)returned from all the places to which they had been scattered and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruit in great abundance.

¹³ Now Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, ¹⁴ and said to him, “Are you well aware that Baalis the king of the sons of ^(Q)Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them. ¹⁵ Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “^(R)Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no one will know! Why should he ^(S)take your life, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered and the ^(T)remnant of Judah would perish?” ¹⁶ But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “^(U)Do not do this thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael.”

Gedaliah Is Murdered

41 ^(V)Now in the seventh month ^(W)Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal ^[c]family and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to ^(X)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. While they ^(Y)were eating bread together there in Mizpah, ² Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him rose up, and ^(Z)struck and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and ^(AA)put to death the one ^(AB)whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. ³ Ishmael 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.

⁴ Now it happened on the ^[d]next day after the killing of Gedaliah, when no one knew about it, ⁵ that eighty men ^(AC)came from ^(AD)Shechem, from ^(AE)Shiloh, and from ^(AF)Samaria with ^(AG)their beards shaved off, their clothes torn, and ^[e]their bodies ^(AH)gashed, having grain offerings and incense in their hands to bring to the ^(AI)house of the Lord. ⁶ Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah left Mizpah to meet them, ^(AJ)weeping as he went; and as he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!” ⁷ Yet it turned out that as soon as they came inside the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him ^(AK)slaughtered them and threw them into the cistern. ⁸ But ten men who were found among them said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death, for we have ^(AL)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.

⁹ Now as for the cistern where Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck and killed ^[f]because of Gedaliah, it was the ^(AM)one that King Asa had constructed on ^(AN)account of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead. ¹⁰ Then Ishmael took captive all the ^(AO)remnant of the people who were in Mizpah, the ^(AP)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 ^(AQ)Ammon.

Johanan Rescues the People

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