42 All the army officers went to speak to the prophet Jeremiah. They included Kareah's son Johanan and Hoshaiah's son Jezaniah. All the people went with them, important people and ordinary people. 2 They said to Jeremiah, ‘Please listen to us. Pray to the Lord your God for those of us who remain alive. You can see that only a few of us remain from the many people that we were before. 3 Please ask the Lord to tell us where we should go. Ask him what we should do.’
4 The prophet Jeremiah replied, ‘I agree to do that. I will pray to the Lord your God, as you have asked me to do. I will tell you everything that the Lord says to answer you. I will not hide anything from you.’
5 They said to Jeremiah, ‘We promise to do everything that the Lord sends you to say to us. We ask the Lord to listen to our promise. May he punish us if we do not do what we have promised to do. 6 We have asked you to pray to the Lord our God for us. We will obey what he tells us to do. We will obey him whether we like what he tells us, or whether we do not like it. We will obey him because we want to enjoy a good life.’
7 Ten days after that, the Lord spoke to Jeremiah. 8 So Jeremiah told Kareah's son Johanan, the other army officers and all the people to come to him. That included everyone, important people and ordinary people. 9 Jeremiah said to them, ‘You sent me to ask the Lord , Israel's God, what you should do. He says this to you: 10 “You should stay here in the land of Judah. If you do that, I will build you up and make you strong again. I will not knock you down. I will help you to grow in the land, like plants with good roots. I will not pull you up. I have punished you with terrible trouble, and that makes me very sad. So now I will help you. 11 You are afraid of the king of Babylon now, but do not be afraid of him any more. I am with you to help you. I will save you and I will rescue you from his power. I, the Lord , promise you this. 12 I will be kind and I will help you. I will cause the king of Babylon to be kind to you. He will let you return to your own land as your home.”
13 You must not refuse to obey this message from the Lord your God. Do not say, “We will not stay here in this land.” 14 Do not say, “We refuse to stay here. Instead, we will go to live in Egypt. There, we will not have trouble from wars. We will not hear the noise of trumpets as people fight battles. We will not be hungry because there is no food.” 15 If you say those things, then the Lord has a message for you, you people who remain in Judah. The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says, “If you decide to go and live in Egypt, I will cause you to have the same troubles there. 16 You are afraid of wars here, but I will cause wars to hurt you in Egypt. You worry that you might be hungry here, but I will make you hungry in Egypt. Finally, you will die in Egypt. 17 All the people who decide to go and live in Egypt will die there. War, famine or disease will kill everyone. Nobody will escape from the terrible trouble that I will send. Nobody will remain alive.”
18 The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says, “If you go to Egypt, I will be very angry with you. I punished the people of Jerusalem because I was very angry with them. I will be as angry as that with you, if you go to Egypt. Other people will think that you are disgusting. They will insult you. They will use your name as a curse, because God has cursed you. You will never see this land of Judah again.”
19 Listen to me, you people who still remain in Judah. The Lord has said to you, “Do not go to Egypt.” You must understand that I am now warning you. 20 You made a terrible mistake when you asked me to pray to the Lord your God for you. You told me, “Tell us everything that the Lord our God says, and we will do it.” 21 Today I have told you what he said. But you still do not want to obey the Lord . You will not do what he sent me to tell you. 22 So now I tell you this: When you go to the place where you want to live, war, famine or disease will kill you.’
42 While they were at Geruth Kimham, Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah went to Jeremiah the prophet. All the army officers went with Johanan and Jezaniah. All the people, from the least important to the most important, went to Jeremiah. 2 They said to him, “Jeremiah, please listen to what we ask. Pray to the Lord your God for all those who are survivors from the family of Judah. Jeremiah, you can see that there are not many of us left. At one time there were many of us. 3 Jeremiah, pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.”
4 Then Jeremiah the prophet answered, “I understand what you want me to do. I will pray to the Lord your God, as you asked me to do. I will tell you everything the Lord says. I will not hide anything from you.”
5 Then the people said to Jeremiah, “If we don’t do everything the Lord your God tells us, then we hope the Lord will be a true and faithful witness against us. We know he will send you to tell us what to do. 6 It doesn’t matter if we like the message or if we don’t like the message. We will obey the Lord our God. We are sending you to the Lord for a message from him. We will obey what he says. Then good things will happen to us. Yes, we will obey the Lord our God.”
7 At the end of ten days, the message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8 Then Jeremiah called together Johanan son of Kareah and the army officers who were with him. He also called all the other people together, from the least important to the most important. 9 Then Jeremiah said to them, “You sent me to the Lord , the God of Israel, and I asked him what you wanted me to ask. This is what he says: 10 ‘If you will stay in Judah, I will make you strong—I will not destroy you. I will plant you, and I will not pull you up. I will do this because I am sad about the terrible things that I made happen to you. 11 Now you are afraid of the king of Babylon. But don’t be afraid of him. Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon,’ says the Lord , ‘because I am with you. I will save you. I will rescue you. He will not get his hands on you. 12 I will be kind to you, and the king of Babylon will also treat you with mercy. He will bring you back to your land.’ 13 But you might say, ‘We will not stay in Judah.’ If you say that, you will disobey the Lord your God. 14 And you might say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt. We will not be bothered with war there. We will not hear the trumpets of war, and in Egypt we will not be hungry.’ 15 If you say that, listen to this message from the Lord , you survivors from Judah. This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of the people of Israel, says: ‘If you decide to go and live in Egypt, this will happen: 16 You are afraid of the sword of war, but it will defeat you there. And you are worried about hunger, but you will be hungry in Egypt. You will die there. 17 Everyone who decides to go live in Egypt will die by war, hunger, or disease. Not one person who goes to Egypt will survive. Not one of them will escape the terrible things that I will bring to them.’
18 “This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of the people of Israel, says: ‘I showed my anger against Jerusalem. I punished the people who lived there. In the same way I will show my anger against everyone who goes to Egypt. People will use you as an example when they ask for bad things to happen to other people. You will become like a curse word. People will be ashamed of you, and they will insult you. And you will never see Judah again.’
19 “Survivors of Judah, the Lord told you: ‘Don’t go to Egypt.’ I warn you right now, 20 you are making a mistake that will cause your deaths. You sent me to the Lord your God. You said to me, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us. Tell us everything the Lord our God says to do. We will obey him.’ 21 So today I have told you the message from the Lord. But you have not obeyed the Lord your God. You have not done all that he sent me to tell you to do. 22 So now be sure you understand this: You want to go live in Egypt. But these things will happen to you in Egypt: You will die by a sword, or hunger, or terrible sickness.”
42 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near,
2 And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the Lord thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:)
3 That the Lord thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.
4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the Lord your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the Lord shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.
5 Then they said to Jeremiah, The Lord be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the Lord thy God shall send thee to us.
6 Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.
7 And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah.
8 Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,
9 And said unto them, Thus saith the Lord , the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;
10 If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.
11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the Lord : for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
12 And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
13 But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the Lord your God,
14 Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:
15 And now therefore hear the word of the Lord , ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;
16 Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.
17 So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.
18 For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.
19 The Lord hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.
20 For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, Pray for us unto the Lord our God; and according unto all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.
21 And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you.
22 Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.
42 Then all the commanders of the forces, ( A ) Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people ( B ) from the small to the great approached 2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our ( C ) pleading [ a ] come before you, and ( D ) pray for us to the Lord your God for all this remnant—since we have been left only a ( E ) few out of many, just as your own eyes now see us— 3 that the Lord your God will tell us the ( F ) way in which we should walk, and the thing that we should do.” 4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you . Behold, I am going to ( G ) pray to the Lord your God in accordance with your words; and I will tell you the whole [ b ] message which the ( H ) Lord gives you as an answer. I will ( I ) not withhold a word from you.” 5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the ( J ) Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole [ c ] message with which the Lord your God will send you to us. 6 Whether it is [ d ] pleasant or [ e ] unpleasant, we will ( K ) listen to the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go ( L ) well for us when we listen to the voice of the Lord our God.”
7 Now at the ( M ) end of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8 Then he called for Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, and for all the people from the small to the great, 9 and said to them, “This is what the Lord ( N ) says, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your plea before Him: 10 ‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will ( O ) build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I [ f ] will ( P ) relent of the disaster that I have inflicted on you. 11 ( Q ) Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,’ declares the Lord , ‘for ( R ) I am with you to save you and rescue you from his hand. 12 I will also show you compassion, so that ( S ) he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own soil. 13 But if you are going to say, “We will ( T ) not stay in this land,” so as not to listen to the voice of the Lord your God, 14 saying, “No, but we will ( U ) go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war, or ( V ) hear the sound of a trumpet, or hunger for bread, and we will stay there”; 15 then [ g ] in that case listen to the word of the Lord , you remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “If you really set your [ h ] minds to enter ( W ) Egypt and go in to reside there, 16 then the ( X ) sword, of which you are afraid, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are anxious, will follow closely after you there in Egypt, and you will die there. 17 So all the people who set their [ i ] minds to go to Egypt to reside there will die by the ( Y ) sword, by famine, or by plague; and they will ( Z ) have no refugees or survivors from the disaster that I am going to bring on them.”’”
18 For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “As My ( AA ) anger and wrath have gushed out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will gush out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a ( AB ) curse, an object of horror, [ j ] an imprecation, and a disgrace; and ( AC ) you will not see this place again.” 19 The Lord has spoken to you, you remnant of Judah, “Do not ( AD ) go to Egypt!” You ( AE ) know for certain that I have ( AF ) admonished you today. 20 For you have only [ k ] ( AG ) deceived yourselves; for it is you who sent me to the Lord your God, saying, “Pray for us to the Lord our God; and whatever the Lord our God says, tell us so, and we will do it.” 21 So I have ( AH ) told you today, but you have ( AI ) not [ l ] obeyed the Lord your God in whatever He has sent me to tell you. 22 And now you shall know for certain that you will ( AJ ) die by the sword, by famine, or by plague in the ( AK ) place where you desire to go to reside.
42 Then all the army officers, including Johanan ( A ) son of Kareah and Jezaniah [ a ] son of Hoshaiah, ( B ) and all the people from the least to the greatest ( C ) approached 2 Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, “Please hear our petition and pray ( D ) to the Lord your God for this entire remnant. ( E ) For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few ( F ) are left. 3 Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.” ( G )
4 “I have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the prophet. “I will certainly pray ( H ) to the Lord your God as you have requested; I will tell ( I ) you everything the Lord says and will keep nothing back from you.” ( J )
5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true ( K ) and faithful ( L ) witness ( M ) against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us. 6 Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well ( N ) with us, for we will obey ( O ) the Lord our God.”
7 Ten days later the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8 So he called together Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers ( P ) who were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest. ( Q ) 9 He said to them, “This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, ( R ) says: ( S ) 10 ‘If you stay in this land, ( T ) I will build ( U ) you up and not tear you down; I will plant ( V ) you and not uproot you, ( W ) for I have relented concerning the disaster I have inflicted on you. ( X ) 11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, ( Y ) whom you now fear. ( Z ) Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord , for I am with you and will save ( AA ) you and deliver you from his hands. ( AB ) 12 I will show you compassion ( AC ) so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’ ( AD )
13 “However, if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and so disobey ( AE ) the Lord your God, 14 and if you say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt, ( AF ) where we will not see war or hear the trumpet ( AG ) or be hungry for bread,’ ( AH ) 15 then hear the word of the Lord , ( AI ) you remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there, 16 then the sword ( AJ ) you fear ( AK ) will overtake you there, and the famine ( AL ) you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die. ( AM ) 17 Indeed, all who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague; ( AN ) not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.’ 18 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and wrath ( AO ) have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem, ( AP ) so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be a curse [ b ] ( AQ ) and an object of horror, ( AR ) a curse [ c ] and an object of reproach; ( AS ) you will never see this place again.’ ( AT )
19 “Remnant ( AU ) of Judah, the Lord has told you, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ ( AV ) Be sure of this: I warn you today 20 that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the Lord your God and said, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.’ ( AW ) 21 I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the Lord your God in all he sent me to tell you. ( AX ) 22 So now, be sure of this: You will die by the sword, famine ( AY ) and plague ( AZ ) in the place where you want to go to settle.” ( BA )
