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he advised them to cultivate the land and to dwell in whatever city each one wished and to rebuild the ruins. And recognizing Gedaliah to be a good man, they loved him exceedingly. And there returned with the others also a certain man called Ishmael, being of the royal family, who had fled to the Ammonites during the time of the siege. When this man came to Gedaliah, some said that he was plotting against him; and if he would permit them to kill 1.176 the man, he would escape the plot. But he did not believe it, and he said it was better to consider that he himself die than to kill a man who had entrusted himself to him. But after a time this Ishmael, having come to Gedaliah with others and having been entertained as a guest, killed both Gedaliah and those dining with him. Then, attacking by night the Babylonians left in the city, he slew them and all the Jews there. And on the next day, when eighty men from the country came to Gedaliah with gifts, Ishmael slew these too, except for a few who promised to show him furniture and garments and grain hidden in the fields. And taking also many captives, he went away to the Ammonites. But when some leaders of the Jews learned these things, and having incited those with them, they pursued him; and they rescued the captives, but Ishmael escaped with eight men. But those who had been saved, fearing the Babylonians, planned to go away to Egypt. And though Jeremiah advised them to stay, for if they stayed, the divine would provide for them that they would suffer no evil, but if they left, it would not be with them, they did not believe, but disobeying, they departed for Egypt, taking both Jeremiah and Baruch. And when the prophet had gone there, the divine revealed the future things. And he foretold to his countrymen that the Babylonian would march against the Egyptians and would conquer Egypt, and that some of them he would kill, and others he would lead away as captives. On account of which things he was also stoned by his fellow tribesmen and died. And the things which he had foretold came to pass; for the fifth year after the 1.177 sack of Jerusalem was being completed, and Nebuchadnezzar marched out against Coele-Syria, and having seized it, he went against the Ammonites and Moabites, and from there he campaigned against Egypt, and having subjected it, he killed the king, and installed another, and he transferred the Jews there to Babylon. And when Jeremiah was buried in Egypt, it is said that King Alexander, having become master of Egypt along with the other places, as the Egyptians were extolling the prophet, transferred his bones to the city founded by him, Alexandria. The prophet, therefore, foretold, as I have said, the things that would happen; and the race of the Hebrews met such an end, being transferred beyond the Euphrates. For the ten tribes, when Hoshea was king, were taken captive to Samaria by the Assyrians, and the two tribes after this were taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar, and as many as were left after the capture of Jerusalem. And Shalmaneser moved the nation of the Cuthites from Persia into Samaria, but Nebuchadnezzar left Judaea desolate, and it remained so for seventy years. And the time between the captivity of the ten tribes from Samaria and that of the two from Jerusalem was one hundred and thirty years and six months and ten days. The more noble of the captive boys and those related to King Zedekiah and the most vigorous and beautiful of the others, the 1.178 Babylonian made into eunuchs, and handing them over to tutors, he taught them the letters and customs of the Chaldeans, having appointed for them their diet from his own table. And four of the boys were of the royal family, beautiful in appearance and good in nature; of whom the one called Daniel the Babylonian renamed Belteshazzar, and the one named Hananiah, Shadrach, and the other called Mishael, Meshach, and the remaining one, Azariah, Abednego; whom he also held in greater honor than the others, on account of their natural ability

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γεωργεῖν τὴν χώραν αὐτοῖς συνεβούλευε καὶ κατοικεῖν ην εκαστος βούλεται πόλιν καὶ ἀνοικοδομεῖν τὰ ἐρείπια. γνόντες δὲ τὸν Γοδολίαν ανδρα χρηστόν, ὑπερηγάπησαν αὐτόν. ̓Επανῆλθε δὲ σὺν τοῖς αλλοις καί τις καλούμενος ̓Ισμαήλ, ἐκ τοῦ βασιλείου γένους ὑπάρχων, ος πρὸς τοὺς ̓Αμμανίτας ἀπέδρα κατὰ τὸν τῆς πολιορκίας καιρόν. τοῦτον προσελθόντα τῷ Γοδολίᾳ τινὲς ἐπιβουλεύειν αὐτῷ ελεγον· εἰ δ' ἐπιτρέψει αὐτοῖς κτεῖναι 1.176 τὸν ανδρα, διαφεύξεται τὴν ἐπιβουλήν. ὁ δ' ἠπίστει, η καὶ βέλτιον ελεγεν ἡγεῖσθαι αὐτὸς ἀποθανεῖν η ανθρωπον κτεῖναι πιστεύσαντα αὐτῷ ἑαυτόν. μετὰ καιρὸν δὲ σὺν ἑτέροις ὁ ̓Ισμαὴλ ουτος πρὸς Γοδολίαν ἐλθὼν καὶ ξενισθεὶς ἀπέκτεινε τόν τε Γοδολίαν καὶ τοὺς συμποσιάζοντας. ειτα νυκτὸς ἐπιθέμενος τοῖς καταλειφθεῖσιν ἐν τῇ πόλει Βαβυλωνίοις αὐτούς τε ἀνεῖλε καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἐκεῖ ̓Ιουδαίους. τῇ ἐπαύριον δὲ ὀγδοήκοντα ἀνδρῶν ἐκ τῆς χώρας σὺν δώροις πρὸς Γοδολίαν ἐλθόντων, καὶ τούτους ἀνεῖλεν ὁ ̓Ισμαήλ, ανευ ὀλίγων τινῶν, οι κεκρυμμένα ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς επιπλά τε καὶ ἐσθῆτας καὶ σῖτον ὑπέσχοντο δείξειν αὐτῷ. λαβὼν δὲ καὶ αἰχμαλωσίαν πολλὴν ἀπῄει πρὸς ̓Αμμανίτας. ταῦτα δὲ μαθόντες ἡγεμόνες τῶν ̓Ιουδαίων τινές, καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτοῖς παραθήξαντες, κατεδίωξαν αὐτόν· καὶ τὴν μὲν αἰχμαλωσίαν ἐπανεσώσαντο, ̓Ισμαὴλ δὲ σὺν ἀνδράσιν ὀκτὼ διαπέφευγεν. Οἱ δὲ περισωθέντες τοὺς Βαβυλωνίους δεδοικότες ἀπιέναι πρὸς Αιγυπτον ἐβουλεύοντο. καὶ τοῦ ̔Ιερεμίου μένειν αὐτοῖς συμβουλεύοντος, μένουσι γὰρ τὸ θεῖον αὐτοῖς προμηθεύσεσθαι μή τι πείσεσθαι κακόν, ἀπιοῦσι δὲ μὴ συνέσεσθαι αὐτοῖς, οὐκ ἐπίστευον, ἀλλ' ἀπειθήσαντες ἀπῆραν εἰς Αιγυπτον, αγοντες καὶ τὸν ̔Ιερεμίαν καὶ τὸν Βαρούχ. ἀπελθόντι δ' ἐκεῖ τῷ προφήτῃ δηλοῖ τὸ θεῖον τὰ μέλλοντα. ὁ δὲ προύλεγε τοῖς ὁμοφύλοις ὡς ἐπὶ τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους στρατεύσει ὁ Βαβυλώνιος καὶ τῆς Αἰγύπτου κρατήσει, καὶ ὡς τοὺς μὲν αὐτῶν κτενεῖ, τοὺς δὲ δορυαλώτους ἀπάξει. δι' α καὶ καταλευσθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν συμφυλετῶν τέθνηκεν. α δὲ προείρηκε γέγονε· πέμπτον γὰρ ετος μετὰ τὴν τῶν ̔Ιεροσολύμων ἠνύετο 1.177 πόρθησιν καὶ Ναβουχοδονόσορ κατὰ τῆς Κοίλης Συρίας ἐξώρμησε, καὶ κατασχὼν αὐτὴν ̓Αμμανίταις ἐπῆλθε καὶ Μωαβίταις, κἀκεῖθεν ἐπ' Αιγυπτον ἐξεστράτευσε, καὶ ὑποτάξας αὐτὴν κτείνει τὸν βασιλεύοντα, ετερον δ' ἐγκαθίστησι, τοὺς δ' ἐκεῖ ̓Ιουδαίους εἰς Βαβυλῶνα μετήνεγκεν. ̔Ιερεμίου δ' ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ταφέντος, λέγεται ὁ βασιλεὺς ̓Αλέξανδρος, κυριεύσας τῆς Αἰγύπτου μετὰ τῶν αλλων, ἐξυμνούντων τὸν προφήτην τῶν Αἰγυπτίων, μετενεγκεῖν τὰ ὀστᾶ ἐκείνου εἰς τὴν παρ' αὐτοῦ κτισθεῖσαν πόλιν τὴν ̓Αλεξάνδρειαν. ̔Ο μὲν ουν προφήτης προεῖπεν, ὡς ειρηταί μοι, τὰ συμβησόμενα· τὸ δὲ τῶν ̔Εβραίων γένος τοιοῦτον ευρατο τέλος, πέραν Εὐφράτου μετενεχθέν. αἱ μὲν γὰρ δέκα φυλαὶ ̓Ωσηὲ βασιλεύοντος εἰς Σαμάρειαν παρὰ τῶν ̓Ασσυρίων ᾐχμαλωτίσθησαν, αἱ δὲ δύο φυλαὶ μετὰ ταῦτα παρὰ Ναβουχοδονόσορ ἐλήφθησαν δορυάλωτοι, καὶ οσοι μετὰ τὴν τῶν ̔Ιεροσολύμων αλωσιν ὑπελείφθησαν. καὶ ὁ μὲν Σαλμανασὰρ τὸ τῶν Χουθαίων εθνος ἐκ Περσίδος μετῴκισεν εἰς Σαμάρειαν, ὁ δὲ Ναβουχοδονόσορ ερημον ἀφῆκε τὴν ̓Ιουδαίαν, καὶ εμεινεν ουτως ἐπὶ ἐνιαυτοὺς ἑβδομήκοντα. ὁ μεταξὺ δὲ τῆς τῶν δέκα φυλῶν αἰχμαλωσίας ἐκ Σαμαρείας καὶ τῆς τῶν δύο ἐξ ̔Ιερουσαλὴμ χρόνος ἑκατὸν τριάκοντα ετη καὶ μῆνες εξ πρὸς ἡμέραις δέκα ἐγένοντο. Τοὺς δ' εὐγενεστέρους τῶν αἰχμαλώτων παῖδας καὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ Σεδεκίᾳ προσήκοντας καὶ τῶν αλλων ἀκμαιοτέρους καὶ ὡραιοτέρους ἐκτομίας ποιήσας ὁ 1.178 Βαβυλώνιος, καὶ παιδαγωγοῖς παραδούς, τά τε τῶν Χαλδαίων ἐδίδασκε γράμματα καὶ τὰ ἐπιχώρια, ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας τραπέζης ἀποτάξας σφίσι τὴν δίαιταν. τέσσαρες δὲ τῶν παίδων ησαν ἐκ τοῦ βασιλικοῦ γεγονότες γένους, καλοὶ τὰς οψεις καὶ ἀγαθοὶ τὰς φύσεις· ων τὸν μὲν ∆ανιὴλ καλούμενον Βαλτάσαρ ὁ Βαβυλώνιος μετωνόμασε, τὸν δὲ ̓Ανανίαν ὠνομασμένον Σεδράχ, Μισαὴλ δὲ τὸν ετερον κεκλημένον Μισάκ, καὶ τὸν λοιπὸν ̓Αζαρίαν ̓Αβδεναγώ· ους καὶ τῶν αλλων ηγεν ἐντιμοτέρους, δι' εὐφυΐαν