²⁴ Gedaliah took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid of the Babylonian officials,” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.”

²⁵ In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood, came with ten men and assassinated^(A) Gedaliah and also the men of Judah and the Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah.^{(B) 26} At this, all the people from the least to the greatest, together with the army officers, fled to Egypt^(C) for fear of the Babylonians.