that the <sc>Lord,sc> the God of Israel, says,<n id="1" /> &#8216;The forces at your disposal<n id="2" /> are now outside the walls fighting against King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Babylonians<n id="3" /> who have you under siege. I will gather those forces back inside the city.<n id="4" />

So these officials said to the king, &#8220;This man must be put to death. For he is demoralizing<n id="1" /> the soldiers who are left in the city as well as all the other people there by these things he is saying.<n id="2" /> This<n id="3" /> man is not seeking to help these people but is trying to harm them.&#8221;<n id="4" />

<p class="bodytext">Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him led off all the people who had been left alive at Mizpah. They had rescued them from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after he killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. They led off the men, women, children, soldiers, and court officials whom they had brought away from Gibeon.

From the city he took an official who was in charge of the soldiers, seven of the king&#8217;s advisers who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens<n id="1" /> for military service, and sixty citizens who were discovered in the middle of the city.