Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth {month}, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace. {feasts: or, solemn, or, set times}

Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh {month}, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, {even} to me?

Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know {it}: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?

And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. {seed...: Heb. seed of the kingdom}

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth {month}, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace. {feasts: or, solemn, or, set times}

And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. {seed...: Heb. seed of the kingdom}

Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day. {trouble: Heb. weariness} {that...: Heb. that hath found us}

Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.

Now it came to pass in the seventh month, {that} Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah.

And he shall break down the house, the stones of it, and the timber thereof, and all the morter of the house; and he shall carry {them} forth out of the city into an unclean place.

Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with him, {even} with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, {and} the men of war.

But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites.

Because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land.

Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; {for} thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.

And {as for} the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler.