Jeremiah 41
New American Standard Bible
Gedaliah Is Murdered
41 (A)Now 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 rose up, and (E)struck and killed 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 and killed all the Jews who were with him, that is with Gedaliah in 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, 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 left 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 who were with him (P)slaughtered them and threw 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)supplies 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 thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck and killed [d]because of Gedaliah, it was the (R)one that King Asa had constructed on (S)account of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead. 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 in the custody of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. 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 about 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)large [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 all the commanders of the forces that were with him, they were joyful. 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 and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the men who were [g]soldiers, the women, the [h]children, and the high officials, 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 and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom (AE)the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 41:1 Lit seed
- Jeremiah 41:4 Or second
- Jeremiah 41:5 Lit having cut themselves
- Jeremiah 41:9 Lit by the hand of
- Jeremiah 41:12 Lit waters
- Jeremiah 41:16 Lit brought back
- Jeremiah 41:16 Lit men of war
- Jeremiah 41:16 Lit infants
- Jeremiah 41:17 Or the lodging place of Chimham
Jeremiah 41
International Standard Version
Gedaliah is Assassinated
41 In the seventh month, Nethaniah’s son Ishmael, the grandson of Elishama, a member of the royal family and one of the chief officers of the king, came to Ahikam’s son Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with ten men. While they were dining together there at Mizpah, 2 Nethaniah’s son Ishmael and the ten men with him got up and killed Ahikam’s son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, with swords and killed the man whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. 3 Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with him (that is, with Gedaliah) at Mizpah, along with the Chaldean soldiers who were found there.
4 Now on the day after Gedaliah was killed, when as yet no one knew about it,[a] 5 eighty men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria came with their beards shaved, their clothes torn, and their bodies slashed. They had grain offerings and incense with them to present at the Lord’s Temple.
6 Nethaniah’s son Ishmael went out from Mizpah to meet them, crying as he went. As he met them he told them, “Come meet with Ahikam’s son Gedaliah.” 7 When they reached the middle of the city, Nethaniah’s son Ishmael and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern.[b]
8 Ten men who were among[c] them told Ishmael, “Don’t kill us, because we have stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field.” So Ishmael stopped and did not kill them or their companions. 9 Ishmael threw the bodies of the men he killed on account of Gedaliah into the cistern that King Asa had made for protection against[d] King Baasha of Israel. That is the same one Nethaniah’s son Ishmael filled with those he killed. 10 Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, including the king’s daughters and all the rest of the people in Mizpah over whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had appointed Ahikam’s son Gedaliah. Nethaniah’s son Ishmael took them captive and then set out to cross over to the Ammonites.
The Captives Rescued; Ishmael Escapes
11 Kareah’s son Jonathan and all the military leaders who were with him heard about all the terrible things that Nethaniah’s son Ishmael had done. 12 So they took all the men and went to fight Nethaniah’s son Ishmael, and they found him at the large pool that is at Gibeon. 13 When all the people who were with Ishmael saw Kareah’s son Jonathan and all the military leaders who were with him, they were glad. 14 All the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and went back to Kareah’s son Jonathan. 15 But Nethaniah’s son Ishmael and eight other[e] men escaped from Jonathan and went to the Ammonites. 16 Kareah’s son Jonathan and all the military leaders who were with him took all the rest of the people from Mizpah whom he had rescued[f] from Nethaniah’s son Ishmael after he had killed Ahikam’s son Gedaliah, including the young men, the soldiers, women, children, and eunuchs[g] whom he had rescued from Gibeon. 17 They traveled and then stopped at Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem on their way to Egypt 18 because of the Chaldeans. They were afraid of the Chaldeans[h] because Nethaniah’s son Ishmael had killed Ahikam’s son Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 41:4 The Heb. lacks about it
- Jeremiah 41:7 Lit. slaughtered them to the middle of the cistern
- Jeremiah 41:8 Lit. found among
- Jeremiah 41:9 Lit. made on account of
- Jeremiah 41:15 The Heb. lacks other
- Jeremiah 41:16 Lit. brought back
- Jeremiah 41:16 Or officials
- Jeremiah 41:18 Lit. them
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