He deported all Jerusalem and all the commanders and all the best soldiers— ten thousand captives including all the craftsmen and metalsmiths. Except for the poorest people of the land, no one remained.
All the commanders of the armies that were in the countryside— they and their men— heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land. He had been put in charge of the men, women, and children from among the poorest of the land, who had not been deported to Babylon.
However, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guards, left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and he gave them vineyards and fields at that time.
“ Son of man, those who live in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying,‘ Abraham was only one person, yet he received possession of the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’