Gedaliah Is Murdered

41 ^(A)In the seventh month ^(B)Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal ^[a]family and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to ^(C)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. While they ^(D)were eating bread together there in Mizpah, ² Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him arose and ^(E)struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and ^(F)put to death the one ^(G)whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. ³ Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with him, that is with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

⁴ Now it happened on the ^[b]next day after the killing of Gedaliah, when no one knew about it, ⁵ that eighty men ^(H)came from ^(I)Shechem, from ^(J)Shiloh, and from ^(K)Samaria with ^(L)their beards shaved off and their clothes torn and ^[c]their bodies ^(M)gashed, having grain offerings and incense in their hands to bring to the ^(N)house of the Lord. ⁶ Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, ^(O)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 that were with him ^(P)slaughtered them and cast 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 ^(Q)stores 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 cast all the corpses of the men whom he had struck down ^[d]because of Gedaliah, it was the ^(R)one that King Asa had made on ^(S)account of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. ¹⁰ Then Ishmael took captive all the ^(T)remnant of the people who were in Mizpah, the ^(U)king’s daughters and all the people who were left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had put under the charge of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; thus Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and proceeded to cross over to the sons of ^(V)Ammon.

Johanan Rescues the People

¹¹ But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the ^(W)commanders of the forces that were with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done. ¹² So they took all the men and went to ^(X)fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and they found him by the ^(Y)great ^[e]pool that is in Gibeon. ¹³ Now as soon as all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and the commanders of the forces that were with him, they were glad. 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 ^(Z)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 ^(AA)all the remnant of the people whom he had ^[f]recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the men who were ^[g]soldiers, the women, the ^[h]children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. ¹⁷ And they went and stayed in ^[i](AB)Geruth Chimham, which is beside Bethlehem, in order to ^(AC)proceed into Egypt ¹⁸ because of the Chaldeans; for they were ^(AD)afraid of them, since Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom ^(AE)the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

Pe.

Made Alive in Christ

2 And you ^[a]were ^(A)dead ^[b]in your trespasses and sins, ² in which you ^(B)formerly walked according to the ^[c]course of ^(C)this world, according to ^(D)the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in ^(E)the sons of disobedience. ³ Among them we too all ^(F)formerly lived in ^(G)the lusts of our flesh, ^[d]indulging the desires of the flesh and of the ^[e]mind, and were ^(H)by nature ^(I)children of wrath, ^(J)even as the rest. ⁴ But God, being ^(K)rich in mercy, because of ^(L)His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were ^(M)dead ^[f]in our transgressions, made us alive together ^[g]with Christ (^(N)by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and ^(O)raised us up with Him, and ^(P)seated us with Him in ^(Q)the heavenly places in ^(R)Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing ^(S)riches of His grace in ^(T)kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For ^(U)by grace you have been saved ^(V)through faith; and ^[h]that not of yourselves, it is ^(W)the gift of God; ^9 (X)not as a result of works, so that ^(Y)no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, ^(Z)created in ^(AA)Christ Jesus for ^(AB)good works, which God ^(AC)prepared beforehand so that we would ^(AD)walk in them.

¹¹ Therefore remember that ^(AE)formerly ^(AF)you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “^(AG)Uncircumcision” by the so-called “^(AH)Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— ¹² remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, ^[i](AI)excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to ^(AJ)the covenants of promise, having ^(AK)no hope and ^(AL)without God in the world. ¹³ But now in ^(AM)Christ Jesus you who ^(AN)formerly were ^(AO)far off ^[j]have ^(AP)been brought near ^[k](AQ)by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For He Himself is ^(AR)our peace, ^(AS)who made both groups into one and broke down the ^[l]barrier of the dividing wall, ^15 [m]by ^(AT)abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is ^(AU)the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might ^[n](AV)make the two into ^(AW)one new man, thus establishing ^(AX)peace, ¹⁶ and might ^(AY)reconcile them both in ^(AZ)one body to God through the cross, ^[o]by it having ^(BA)put to death the enmity. ¹⁷ And ^(BB)He came and preached ^(BC)peace to you who were ^(BD)far away, and peace to those who were ^(BE)near; ¹⁸ for through Him we both have ^(BF)our access in ^(BG)one Spirit to ^(BH)the Father. ¹⁹ So then you are no longer ^(BI)strangers and aliens, but you are ^(BJ)fellow citizens with the ^[p]saints, and are of ^(BK)God’s household, ²⁰ having been ^(BL)built on ^(BM)the foundation of ^(BN)the apostles and prophets, ^(BO)Christ Jesus Himself being the ^(BP)corner stone, ^21 (BQ)in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into ^(BR)a holy ^[q]temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being ^(BS)built together into a ^(BT)dwelling of God in the Spirit.