1. In the seventh month of that year, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, a member of the royal family and one of the king's chief officers, went to Mizpah with ten men to see Gedaliah. While they were all eating a meal together,
2. Ishmael and the ten men with him pulled out their swords and killed Gedaliah.
3. Ishmael also killed all the Israelites who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah and the Babylonian soldiers who happened to be there.
4. The next day, before anyone knew about Gedaliah's murder,
5. eighty men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. They had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes, and gashed themselves. They were taking corn and incense to offer in the Temple.
6. So Ishmael went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. When he came to them, he said, “Please come in to see Gedaliah.”
7. As soon as they were inside the city, Ishmael and his men killed them and threw their bodies in a well.
8. But there were ten men in the group who said to Ishmael, “Please don't kill us! We have wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey hidden in the fields.” So he spared them.
17-18. They were afraid of the Babylonians because Ishmael had murdered Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylonia had made governor of the land. So they set out for Egypt, in order to get away from the Babylonians. On the way, they stopped at Chimham, near Bethlehem.