Jeremiah 41 - Easy To Read Version

¹ In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah (the son of Elishama) came to Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael came with ten of his men. Those men came to the town of Mizpah. Ishmael was a member of the king’s family. He had been one of the officers of the king of Judah. Ishmael and his men ate a meal with Gedaliah.

² While they were eating together, Ishmael and his ten men got up and killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam with a sword. Gedaliah was the man that the king of Babylon had chosen to be governor of Judah.

^3-5 Ishmael also killed all the men of Judah that were with Gedaliah at the town of Mizpah. Ishmael also killed the Babylonian soldiers that were there with Gedaliah.

^6-8 Ishmael left Mizpah and went to meet those 80 men. He cried {\cf2\super [337]} while he walked out to meet them. Ishmael met those 80 men and said, “Come with me to meet with Gedaliah son of Ahikam.”

⁹ (Ishmael threw the dead bodies into the cistern until it was full—and that cistern was very big! It had been built by a king of Judah named Asa. King Asa had made the cistern so that during war there would be water in the city. {\cf2\super [339]} Asa did this to protect his city from Baasha, the king of Israel.)

¹⁰ Ishmael captured all the other people in the town of Mizpah and started to cross over to the country of the Ammonite people. (Those people included the king’s daughters, and all the other people that were left there. Nebuzaradan, the commander of the king of Babylon’s special guards, had chosen Gedaliah to watch over those people.)

¹¹ Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers that were with him, heard about all the evil things Ishmael had done.

¹² So Johanan and the army officers with him took their men and went to fight Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They caught Ishmael near the big pool of water that is at the town of Gibeon.

¹³ The captives {\cf2\super [340]} that Ishmael had taken captive saw Johanan and the army officers. Those people became very happy.

¹⁴ Then all those people that Ishmael had taken captive at the town of Mizpah ran to Johanan son of Kareah.

¹⁵ But Ishmael and eight of his men escaped from Johanan. They ran away to the Ammonite people.

¹⁶ But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Don’t kill Ishmael. The things you are saying about Ishmael are not true.”