Jeremiah 41
Legacy Standard Bible
Ishmael Strikes Down Gedaliah
41 (A)Now it happened in the seventh month, that (B)Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to (C)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And they (D)were eating bread together there in Mizpah. 2 Then 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, as well as the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.
4 Now it happened on the [a]next day after putting Gedaliah to death, 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 [b]their bodies (M)gashed, having grain offerings and frankincense in their hands to bring to the (N)house of Yahweh. 6 Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, (O)weeping as he went; and it happened that as he encountered them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!” 7 But it happened 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 [c]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 remained in Mizpah, over whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; thus Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and went 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 military 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 it happened as soon as all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that were with him, they were glad. 14 So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and returned 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 military forces that were with him took from Mizpah (AA)all the remnant of the people whom he had returned from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the mighty men who were men of war, the women, the little ones, and the eunuchs, whom he had returned from Gibeon. 17 And they went and stayed in [f](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.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 41:4 Or second
- Jeremiah 41:5 Lit having cut themselves
- Jeremiah 41:8 Lit brothers
- Jeremiah 41:9 Or by the side of
- Jeremiah 41:12 Lit waters
- Jeremiah 41:17 Or the lodging place of Chimham
Jeremiah 41
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Insurrection against Gedaliah
41 In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama, of the royal family, one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. As they ate bread together there at Mizpah,(A) 2 Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan with the sword and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had appointed governor in the land.(B) 3 Ishmael also killed all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah and the Chaldean soldiers who happened to be there.
4 On the day after the murder of Gedaliah, before anyone knew of it, 5 eighty men arrived from Shechem and Shiloh and Samaria with their beards shaved and their clothes torn and their bodies gashed, bringing grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord.(C) 6 And Ishmael son of Nethaniah came out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. As he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.”(D) 7 When they reached the middle of the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and threw them[a] into a cistern.(E) 8 But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us, for we have stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the fields.” So he refrained and did not kill them along with their companions.
9 Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck down alongside Gedaliah was the one that King Asa had made for defense against King Baasha of Israel; Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled that cistern with those whom he had killed.(F) 10 Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, the king’s daughters and all the people who were left at Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had committed to Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.(G)
11 But when Johanan son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him heard of all the crimes that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had done,(H) 12 they took all their men and went to fight against Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They came upon him at the great pool that is in Gibeon.(I) 13 And when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him, they were glad.(J) 14 So all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned around and came back and went to Johanan son of Kareah. 15 But Ishmael son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the Ammonites.(K) 16 Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him took all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah from Mizpah after he had slain Gedaliah son of Ahikam—soldiers, women, children, and eunuchs, whom Johanan[b] brought back from Gibeon.[c](L) 17 And they set out and stopped at Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem, intending to go to Egypt(M) 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 made governor over the land.(N)
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.