Now it happened on the [a]next day after the killing of Gedaliah, when no one knew about it, that eighty men (A)came from (B)Shechem, from (C)Shiloh, and from (D)Samaria with (E)their beards shaved off, their clothes torn, and [b]their bodies (F)gashed, having grain offerings and incense in their hands to bring to the (G)house of the Lord. Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah left Mizpah to meet them, (H)weeping as he went; and as he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!” 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 (I)slaughtered them and threw them into the cistern. But ten men who were found among them said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death, for we have (J)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.

Now as for the cistern where Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck and killed [c]because of Gedaliah, it was the (K)one that King Asa had constructed on (L)account of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 41:4 Or second
  2. Jeremiah 41:5 Lit having cut themselves
  3. Jeremiah 41:9 Lit by the hand of

The day after Gedaliah was killed, before anyone knew of it, eighty men with shaved beards, torn clothes, and gashed bodies arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. They were bringing grain offerings and incense to present at the Lord’s temple. Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, left Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. When he reached them, he said, “Come to Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son!” When they arrived in the middle of the town, Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, and the men with him slaughtered them and threw their bodies[a] into a cistern.

But there were ten men among them who begged Ishmael, “Don’t kill us; we have wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in a field.” So he stopped and didn’t kill them along with the rest.

(Now the cistern that Ishmael used to discard the bodies of the men he had killed because of their association with Gedaliah[b] was the one that King Asa had made to defend against Israel’s King Baasha. Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, filled it with the dead.)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 41:7 Heb lacks and threw their bodies; cf 41:9.
  2. Jeremiah 41:9 Or by the hand of Gedaliah