¹In the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the royal seed and one of the great men of the king, came, and ten men with him, to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam at Mizpah; and there they ate food together at Mizpah.

²And 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 killed him, the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

³And Ishmael struck down all the Jews who were with him, with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

⁴And it happened on the second day after he put Gedaliah to death, while no one knew.

⁵And men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men, with beards shaved and garments torn and having gashed themselves, with a grain offering and frankincense in their hands to bring to the house of Yahweh.

⁶And Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went along; and when he met them he said to them: Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.

⁷And it happened, when they came into the middle of the city, that Ishmael son of Nethaniah slaughtered them into the middle of the cistern, he and the men who were with him.

⁸And ten men were found among them, and they said to Ishmael, Do not put us to death, for we have hidden riches in the field: wheat and barley, oil and honey. And he ceased and did not put them to death among their brothers.

⁹And the cistern where Ishmael threw all the corpses of the men whom he had struck down beside Gedaliah—it was the one King Asa had made in the face of Baasha king of Israel; Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.

¹⁰And Ishmael took captive all the remnant of the people who were in Mizpah—the daughters of the king, and all the people who were left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the chief of the guardsmen had placed in the charge of Gedaliah son of Ahikam; Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and went off to cross over to the children of Ammon.

¹¹And Johanan son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, heard all the evil that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had done.

¹²And they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and found him at the many waters that are in Gibeon.

¹³And it happened that when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces who were with him, they rejoiced.

¹⁴And all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned about and came back, and went to Johanan son of Kareah.

¹⁵And Ishmael son of Nethaniah slipped away with eight men from the face of Johanan, and went to the children of Ammon.

¹⁶Then Johanan son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, took all the remnant of the people whom he had brought back from Ishmael son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after he had struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam—the warriors, the men of war, and women, and children, and officials—whom he had brought back from Gibeon.

¹⁷And they went and stayed at Geruth Kimham, which is beside Bethlehem, on their way to go on into Egypt.

¹⁸In the face of the Chaldeans, for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had put in charge over the land.