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4-5 The day after Gedaliah was murdered, 80 men came to Mizpah. They were bringing grain offerings and incense to the Lord’s Temple. They had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes, and cut themselves.[a] They came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. None of these men knew that Gedaliah had been murdered. Ishmael left Mizpah and went to meet the 80 men. He cried[b] while he walked out to meet them. Ishmael met them and said, “Come with me to meet with Gedaliah son of Ahikam.” 7-8 As soon as they were in the city, Ishmael and the men with him began to kill the 80 men and throw them into a deep cistern! But ten of the men said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us! We have hidden some things in a field. We have wheat and barley and oil and honey.” So Ishmael stopped and didn’t kill them with the others.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 41:4 shaved … cut themselves The men did this to show that they were sad about the destruction of the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem.
  2. Jeremiah 41:6 He cried Ishmael was acting like he was sad about the destruction of the Temple.

eighty men who had shaved off their beards,(A) torn their clothes(B) and cut(C) themselves came from Shechem,(D) Shiloh(E) and Samaria,(F) bringing grain offerings and incense(G) with them to the house of the Lord.(H) Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping(I) as he went. When he met them, he said, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.”(J) When they went into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern.(K)

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