Common English Bible

Jeremiah 41:5-14 Common English Bible (CEB)

5. eighty men with shaved beards, torn clothes, and gashed bodies arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. They were bringing grain offerings and incense to present at the Lord’s temple.

6. Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, left Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. When he reached them, he said, "Come to Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son!"

7. When they arrived in the middle of the town, Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, and the men with him slaughtered them and threw their bodies into a cistern.

8. But there were ten men among them who begged Ishmael, "Don’t kill us; we have wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in a field." So he stopped and didn’t kill them along with the rest.(

9. Now the cistern that Ishmael used to discard the bodies of the men he had killed because of their association with Gedaliah was the one that King Asa had made to defend against Israel’s King Baasha. Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, filled it with the dead.)

10. Ishmael captured the rest of the people who were at Mizpah, including the daughters of the king and all those assigned to Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son, at Mizpah by Nebuzaradan the captain of the special guard. Then Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, set out to cross over to the Ammonites with the hostages.

11. Johanan, Kareah’s son, and all the army officers at his side heard of the terrible acts committed by Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son.

12. So they mustered all their forces and went to fight him. They found Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, at the great pool in Gibeon.

13. When all those taken by Ishmael at Mizpah saw Johanan, Kareah’s son, and all his army officers with him, they were delighted.

14. They rallied around Johanan, Kareah’s son, and returned home with him.