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Jeremiah 41 - Good News Bible bible

Jeremiah 41

¹In the seventh month of that year, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, a member of the royal family and one of the king's chief officers, went to Mizpah with ten men to see Governor Gedaliah. While they were all eating a meal together,

²Ishmael and the ten men with him pulled out their swords and killed Gedaliah.

³Ishmael also killed all the Israelites who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah and the Babylonian soldiers who happened to be there.

⁴The next day, before anyone knew about Gedaliah's murder,

⁵eighty men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. They had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes, and gashed themselves. They were taking grain and incense to offer in the Temple.

⁶So Ishmael went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. When he came to them, he said, "Please come in to see Gedaliah."

⁷As soon as they were inside the city, Ishmael and his men killed them and threw their bodies in a well.

⁸But there were ten men in the group who said to Ishmael, "Please don't kill us! We have wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey hidden in the fields." So he spared them.

⁹The well into which Ishmael threw the bodies of the men he had killed was the large one that King Asa had dug when he was being attacked by King Baasha of Israel. Ishmael filled the well with the bodies.

¹⁰Then he made prisoners of the king's daughters and all the rest of the people in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the commanding officer had placed under the care of Gedaliah. Ishmael took them prisoner and started off in the direction of the territory of Ammon.

¹¹Johanan and all the army leaders with him heard of the crime that Ishmael had committed.

¹²So they went after him with their men and overtook him near the large pool at Gibeon.

¹³When Ishmael's prisoners saw Johanan and the leaders of the forces with him, they were glad,

¹⁴and turned and ran to them.

¹⁵But Ishmael and eight of his men got away from Johanan and escaped to the land of Ammon.

¹⁶Then Johanan and the leaders of the forces with him took charge of the people whom Ishmael had taken away as prisoners from Mizpah after murdering Gedaliah---soldiers, women, children, and eunuchs.

¹⁷They were afraid of the Babylonians because Ishmael had murdered Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylonia had made governor of the land. So they set out for Egypt, in order to get away from the Babylonians. On the way they stopped at Chimham near Bethlehem.