5. King Nebuchadnezzar has chosen Gedaliah to rule Judah. You can live near Gedaliah, and he will provide for you, or you can live anywhere else you want.Nebuzaradan gave me a supply of food, then let me leave.
6. I decided to stay with the people of Judah, and I went to live near Gedaliah in Mizpah.
9. Gedaliah told them, “There's no need to be afraid of the Babylonians. Everything will be fine, if we live peacefully and obey King Nebuchadnezzar.
10. I will stay here at Mizpah and meet with the Babylonian officials on each of their visits. But you must go back to your towns and bring in the harvest, then store the wine, olive oil, and dried fruit.”
13. One day, Johanan got together with some of the other men who had been army officers, and they came to Mizpah and met with Gedaliah.
14. They said, “Gedaliah, we came to warn you that King Baalis of Ammon hired Ishmael to murder you!”Gedaliah refused to believe them,
15. so Johanan went to Gedaliah privately and said, “Let me kill Ishmael. No one will find out who did it. There are only a few people left in Judah, but they are depending on you. And if you are murdered, they will be scattered or killed.”
16. Gedaliah answered, “Don't kill Ishmael! What you've said about him can't be true.”