1. In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama, who was of royal descent and one of the king's commanders, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah; and they ate together there at Mizpah.
2. Then Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him arose and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan with the sword and killed him, because the king of Babylon had put him in charge of the land.
3. Ishmael also killed all the Judeans who were with him -- with Gedaliah in Mizpah -- and the Chaldean soldiers who were stationed there.
4. The second day after Gedaliah was killed, when no one yet knew about it,
5. eighty men came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, their beards shaved, their garments torn, and their bodies gashed, carrying meal offerings and frankincense to present at the House of the LORD.
6. Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he walked. As he met them, he said to them, "Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam."
7. When they came inside the town, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them [and threw their bodies] into a cistern.
8. But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, "Don't kill us! We have stores hidden in a field -- wheat, barley, oil, and honey." So he stopped, and did not kill them along with their fellows. --
9. The cistern into which Ishmael threw all the corpses of the men he had killed in the affair of Gedaliah was the one that King Asa had constructed on account of King Baasha of Israel. That was the one which Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled with corpses. --
10. Ishmael carried off all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, including the daughters of the king -- all the people left in Mizpah, over whom Nebuzaradan, the chief of the guards, had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah carried them off, and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.
11. Johanan son of Kareah, and all the army officers with him, heard of all the crimes committed by Ishmael son of Nethaniah.
12. They took all their men and went to fight against Ishmael son of Nethaniah; and they encountered him by the great pool in Gibeon.
13. When all the people held by Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers with him, they were glad;
14. all the people whom Ishmael had carried off from Mizpah turned back and went over to Johanan son of Kareah.
15. But Ishmael son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites.
16. Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers with him took all the rest of the people whom he had rescued from Ishmael son of Netha- niah from Mizpah after he had murdered Gedaliah son of Ahikam -- the men, soldiers, women, children, and eunuchs whom [Johanan] had brought back from Gibeon.
17. They set out, and they stopped at Geruth Chimham, near Bethlehem, on their way to go to Egypt
18. because of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them, because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had put in charge of the land.
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