The Murder of Gedaliah
Ishmael son of Nethaniah, of royal blood and accompanied by ten men, comes to Gedaliah at Mizpah in the seventh month and eats bread with him. In the midst of that shared table fellowship, Ishmael and his men rise up and kill Gedaliah, along with the Judeans and Babylonian soldiers who are with him there.
I1n the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family and one of the king’s chief officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and they ate a meal together there. 2Then Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the land. 3Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Chaldean soldiers who were there.
Before anyone knows of Gedaliah's death, eighty men come from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria in mourning to bring offerings to the house of the LORD. Ishmael goes out weeping to meet them, lures them into the city, kills most of them, throws their bodies into a cistern, spares ten who promise hidden stores, and then carries away the remaining people at Mizpah, including the king's daughters, intending to cross over to the Ammonites.
4On the second day after the murder of Gedaliah, when no one yet knew about it, 5eighty men who had shaved off their beards, torn their garments, and cut themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, carrying grain offerings and frankincense for the house of the LORD. 6And Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. 7When Ishmael encountered the men, he said, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.” And when they came into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern. 8But ten of the men among them said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us, for we have hidden treasure in the field— wheat, barley, oil, and honey!” So he refrained from killing them with the others. 9Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men he had struck down along with Gedaliah was a large one that King Asa had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. 10Then Ishmael took captive all the remnant of the people of Mizpah— the daughters of the king along with all the others who remained in Mizpah— over whom Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set off to cross over to the Ammonites.