10 I will stay here at Mizpah and meet with the Babylonian officials on each of their visits. But you must go back to your towns and bring in the harvest, then store the wine, olive oil, and dried fruit.”
11-12 Earlier, when the Babylonians had invaded Judah, many of the Jews escaped to Moab, Ammon, Edom, and several other countries. But these Jews heard that the king of Babylonia had appointed Gedaliah as ruler of Judah, and that only a few people were left there. So the Jews in these other countries came back to Judah and helped with the grape and fruit harvest, which was especially large that year.
13 One day, Johanan got together with some of the other men who had been army officers, and they came to Mizpah and met with Gedaliah.
14 They said, “Gedaliah, we came to warn you that King Baalis of Ammon hired Ishmael to murder you!”Gedaliah refused to believe them,
15 so Johanan went to Gedaliah privately and said, “Let me kill Ishmael. No one will find out who did it. There are only a few people left in Judah, but they are depending on you. And if you are murdered, they will be scattered or killed.”
16 Gedaliah answered, “Don't kill Ishmael! What you've said about him can't be true.”