1 In the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of royal descent and one of the king's chief officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam at Mizpah; and they ate a meal together there at Mizpah.
2 Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah got up, with the ten men who were with him, and struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword and killed him, the man 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 found there, the fighting men.
4 The day after he had killed Gedaliah, when no one yet knew,
5 men came from Shechem, from Shiloh and from Samaria, eighty men, with beards shaved, clothes torn and bodies gashed, carrying grain offerings and incense in their hands to bring to the house of the LORD.
6 Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he walked; and when he met them, he said to them, "Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam."
7 But as soon as they came inside the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slaughtered them and threw them into the cistern, he and the men who were with him.
8 Ten men were found among them who said to Ishmael, "Do not kill us, for we have hidden stores in the field, wheat and barley, oil and honey." So he held back and did not kill them among their brothers.
9 The cistern into which Ishmael threw all the corpses of the men he had struck down alongside Gedaliah was the one King Asa had made because of Baasha king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.
10 Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people in Mizpah, the king's daughters and all the people left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had entrusted to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and set off to cross over to the children of Ammon.
11 When Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces with him heard of all the evil Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,
12 they took all the men and went to fight Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and they found him by the great pool at Gibeon.
13 And when all the people with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces with him, they rejoiced.
14 All the people Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around, came back and went to Johanan the son of Kareah.
15 But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah got away from Johanan with eight men and went to the children of Ammon.
16 Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces with him then took from Mizpah all the rest of the people whom he had brought back from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after Ishmael had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: men, fighting men, women, little ones and eunuchs, whom he brought back from Gibeon.
17 They went and stayed at Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem, on their way to go into Egypt
18 away from the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.