1Then, in the seventh month, Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, grandson of Elishama, of the seed royal, came with ten officials of the king to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, to Mizpah; and they ate there together. 2Then Ishmael, and the ten men that were with him, rose and killed Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had appointed governor over the land, with the sword. 3Ishmael also killed all the Jews that were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and any Chaldean soldiers that happened to be there.

4And on the day after they had assassinated Gedaliah, before anyone knew of it, 5Eighty men came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, with their beards shaved, and their clothes torn, and having cut themselves, to bring offerings and incense to the Temple of the LORD. 6And Ishmael went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went; and when he met them, he said, “Come, see what has happened to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam.” 7And when they came into the center of the city, Ishmael, and those with him, killed them, and threw their bodies into a pit. 8But ten of those eighty men said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us; for we have caches of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field.” So Ishmael did not kill them with the other seventy. 9Now the pit in which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men he had murdered was the large pit which Asa, king of Judah, had dug as part of his defense against Baasha, king of Israel; and Ishmael filled it with the bodies of those he killed. 10Then Ishmael made captives of all the rest of the people that were in Mizpah, including the king's daughters, whom Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the guard, had left under the care of Gedaliah; and Ishmael took these captives, and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.

11But when Johanan, son of Kareah, and the commanders of all the forces with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael had done, 12They took all their men, and went to fight with Ishmael, and caught up with him by the great pool in Gibeon. 13And when all those captives who were with Ishmael saw Johanan, son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces that with him, they were glad. 14So all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned around and joined Johanan, son of Kareah. 15But Ishmael and his eight men escaped from Johanan, and fled to the Ammonites.

16Then Johanan, and all the military commanders with him, took all the rest of the people from Mizpah - men of war, women, children, and court officials - that he had rescued from Ishmael, and brought them back from Gibeon; 17And they went on, stopping in the settlement of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, on their way to Egypt, 18To escape the Chaldeans (Babylonians); for they were afraid of what they might do when they learned that Ishmael had killed Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had made governor in the land.