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But ten of the men said, ‘Please do not kill us! We have hidden lots of wheat, barley, olive oil and honey in a field. We will give it to you.’ So Ishmael let them stay alive. He did not kill them with the other men. Ishmael filled the deep hole with all the dead bodies of the men he had murdered. The hole had been built by King Asa to store water. Asa had dug holes like that to keep the city safe from King Baasha of Israel.

10 Then Ishmael took hold of all the other people in Mizpah who were still alive. He made them his prisoners. These people included the king's daughters, as well as all the other people who remained in Mizpah. Captain Nebuzaradan had said that Ahikam's son Gedaliah would have authority over those people. But Ishmael took them away as his prisoners. He started to take them towards the land of Ammon.

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