Jeremiah 41:1-9 ▼

1 And it comes to pass, in the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal seed, and of the chiefs of the king, and ten men with him, have come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, to Mizpah, and there they eat bread together in Mizpah.

2 And Ishmael son of Nethaniah rises, and the ten men who have been with him, and they strike Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword, and he puts him to death whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the land.

3 And all the Jews who have been with him, with Gedaliah, in Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who have been found there—the men of war—Ishmael has struck.

4 And it comes to pass, on the second day of the putting of Gedaliah to death (and no one has known),

5 that men come in from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria—eighty men—with shaven beards, and torn garments, and cutting themselves, and [with] an offering and frankincense in their hand, to bring [them] to the house of YHWH.

6 And Ishmael son of Nethaniah goes forth to meet them, from Mizpah, going on and weeping, and it comes to pass, at meeting them, that he says to them, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.”

7 And it comes to pass, at their coming into the midst of the city, that Ishmael son of Nethaniah slaughters them, at the midst of the pit, he and the men who [are] with him.

8 And ten men have been found among them, and they say to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death, for we have things hidden in the field—wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey.” And he refrains, and has not put them to death in the midst of their brothers.

9 And the pit to where Ishmael has cast all the carcasses of the men whom he has struck along with Gedaliah, is that which King Asa made because of Baasha king of Israel—Ishmael son of Nethaniah has filled it with the pierced.