Jeremiah 41
41
1In the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah came to Gedaliah son of Ahikam. (Nethaniah was the son of Elishama.) Ishmael came with ten of his men to Mizpah. Now Ishmael was a member of the king’s family. He had been one of the officers of the king of Judah. Ishmael and his men ate a meal with Gedaliah at Mizpah. 2While they were eating together, Ishmael and his ten men got up. They killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam with a sword. Gedaliah was the man the king of Babylon had chosen as governor over Judah. 3Ishmael killed all the Jews with Gedaliah at Mizpah, too. He also killed the Babylonian soldiers who were there with Gedaliah.
4-5The day after Gedaliah was murdered, 80 men came to Mizpah. They were bringing grain offerings and incense to the Temple of the Lord. Those 80 men had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes and cut themselves.# The men did this to show they were sad about the Temple in Jerusalem being destroyed. They came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria. None of them knew that Gedaliah had been murdered. 6Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them. He cried as he walked. When he met them, he said, “Come with me to meet Gedaliah son of Ahikam.” 7So they went into Mizpah. Then Ishmael son of Nethaniah and his men killed 70 of them! They threw the bodies into a deep well. 8But the 10 men who were left alive said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us! We have wheat and barley. And we have oil and honey. We have hidden these things in a field.” So Ishmael let those 10 men alone. He did not kill them with the others. 9Now the well where he had thrown the bodies had been made by King Asa. Asa had made the well as a part of his defenses against Baasha king of Israel. But Ishmael son of Nethaniah put dead bodies in it until it was full.
10Ishmael captured all the other people in Mizpah. He captured the king’s daughters and all the other people who were left there. They were the people whom Nebuzaradan commander of the guard had chosen Gedaliah son of Ahikam to take care of. So Ishmael son of Nethaniah captured those people. And he started to cross over to the country of the Ammonites.
11Johanan son of Kareah heard about all the evil things Ishmael son of Nethaniah had done. All the army officers with him heard it, too. 12So Johanan and the army officers took their men and went to fight Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They caught him near the big pool of water at Gibeon. 13The captives Ishmael had taken saw Johanan and the army officers. And they became very happy. 14Then all the people Ishmael had taken captive turned around. They ran to Johanan son of Kareah. 15But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped from Johanan. And they ran away to the Ammonites.
16So Johanan son of Kareah and all his army officers saved the captives. Ishmael son of Nethaniah had murdered Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Then he had taken those people from Mizpah. Among those left alive were soldiers, women, children and court officers. Johanan brought them back from the town of Gibeon.
The Escape to Egypt
17-18Johanan and the other army officers were afraid of the Babylonians. The king of Babylon had chosen Gedaliah son of Ahikam to be governor of Judah. But Ishmael son of Nethaniah had murdered Gedaliah. So Johanan was afraid that the Babylonians would be angry. They decided to run away to Egypt. On the way they stayed at Geruth Kimham, near the town of Bethlehem.
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 41: ICB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Jeremiah 41
41
1 And it happened that, in the seventh month, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama of royal descent, with the nobles of the king, and accompanied by ten men, went to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. And they ate bread together there, in Mizpah.
2 Then Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, rose up, and the ten men who were with him, and they struck down Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, and they killed him whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.
3 Likewise, Ishmael struck down all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, with the Chaldeans who were found there, and the men of war.
4 Then, on the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, while no one yet knew of it,
5 men arrived from Shechem, and from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men, with their beards shaved, and their garments rent, and unbathed. And they had gifts and frankincense in hand, so that they might make an offering in the house of the Lord.
6 Therefore, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, departing from Mizpah to meet them, went forth weeping as he was walking. And when he had met them, he said to them, "Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam."
7 And when they had arrived at the center of the city, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, put them to death around the public cistern, he and the men who were with him.
8 But ten men were found among them, who said to Ishmael: "Do not kill us! For in the field we have storehouses of grain and barley and oil and honey." And so he ceased, and he did not put them to death with their brothers.
9 Now the cistern, into which Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had struck down because of Gedaliah, is the same one that king Asa made out of fear of Baasha, the king of Israel. This same cistern Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, filled with those who were slain.
10 Then Ishmael led away captive all the remnant of the people who were at Mizpah, the king's daughters as well as all the people who remained at Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan, the leader of the military, had committed to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, seized them and went away, so that he might go over to the sons of Ammon.
11 But Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the fighters who were with him, heard about all the evil that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had done.
12 And taking all the men, they set out to make war against Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah. And they found him at the great waters that are in Gibeon.
13 And when all the people who were with Ishmael had seen Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the fighters who were with him, they rejoiced.
14 And all the people whom Ishmael had seized turned back to Mizpah. And they returned and went over to Johanan, the son of Kareah.
15 But Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, fled with eight men from the face of Johanan, and they went over to the sons of Ammon.
16 Therefore, Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the fighters who were with him, took from Mizpah the entire remnant of the common people, whom they had led away from Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. These were strong men of battle, and women, and children, and eunuchs: those whom he had led away from Gibeon.
17 And they went away and settled as sojourners at Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, so that they might continue on and enter into Egypt,
18 away from the face of 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 made governor in the land of Judah.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in