42:1 Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached
42:2 Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, “Please hear our petition and pray to the LORD your God for this entire remnant. For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left.
42:3 Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.”
42:4 “I have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the prophet. “I will certainly pray to the LORD your God as you have requested; I will tell you everything the LORD says and will keep nothing back from you.”
42:5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the LORD your God sends you to tell us.
42:6 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 with us, for we will obey the LORD our God.”
42:7 Ten days later the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah.
42:8 So he called together Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest.
42:9 He said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says:
42:10 ‘If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I am grieved over the disaster I have inflicted on you.
42:11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the LORD, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands.
42:12 I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’
42:13 “However, if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and so disobey the LORD your God,
42:14 and if you say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or be hungry for bread,’
42:15 then hear the word of the LORD, O 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,
42:16 then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die.
42:17 Indeed, all who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague; not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.’
42:18 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and wrath have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem, so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be an object of cursing and horror, of condemnation and reproach; you will never see this place again.’
42:19 “O remnant of Judah, the LORD has told you, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Be sure of this: I warn you today
42:20 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.’
42:21 I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the LORD your God in all he sent me to tell you.
42:22 So now, be sure of this: You will die by the sword, famine and plague in the place where you want to go to settle.”
42:1 And all the captains of the forces and Johanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah and all the people, from the small even unto the great, came near
42:2 And said to Jeremiah the prophet, Let our supplication come before you, and pray for us to Jehovah your God for all this remnant ? for we are left only a few out of many, as your eyes see us ?
42:3 That Jehovah your God may tell us the way in which we should go and the thing which we should do.
42:4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have heard. I will pray to Jehovah your God according to your words; and whatever Jehovah answers you, I will tell you; I will not withhold anything from you.
42:5 And they said to Jeremiah, May Jehovah be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not do according to every word with which Jehovah your God sends you to us.
42:6 Whether it is good or whether it is evil, we will listen to the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom we send you, that it may be well with us, when we listen to the voice of Jehovah our God.
42:7 And at the end of ten days the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah.
42:8 Then he called Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces who were with him and all the people, from the small even unto the great,
42:9 And said to them, Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before Him:
42:10 If you will still remain in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up; for I repent of the evil which I have done to you.
42:11 Do not fear the king of Babylon, whom you fear. Do not fear him, declares Jehovah, for I am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand.
42:12 And I will show compassions to you, that he may have compassion on you and may bring you back to your own land.
42:13 But if you say, We will not remain in this land, so that you do not listen to the voice of Jehovah your God,
42:14 Saying, No, but we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread, and we will dwell there;
42:15 Then hear now the word of Jehovah, O remnant of Judah: Thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, If indeed you set your faces to go to Egypt and go to sojourn there,
42:16 Then the sword, which you fear, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, about which you are worried, will follow hard after you there in Egypt; and you will die there.
42:17 And all the men who set their faces to go to Egypt, to sojourn there, will die by sword, by famine, and by pestilence; and they will have no survivors or any who have escaped from the evil which I will bring on them.
42:18 For thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, As My anger and My wrath have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. And you will become an execration and an astonishment and a curse and a reproach, and you will see this place no more.
42:19 Jehovah has spoken concerning you, O remnant of Judah, Do not go to Egypt! Know assuredly that today I have testified against you,
42:20 That you deceived yourselves when you sent me to Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us to Jehovah our God, and whatever Jehovah our God says, tell this to us, and we will do it.
42:21 And today I have told you, but you have not listened to the voice of Jehovah your God in anything for which He has sent me to you.
42:22 And now therefore know assuredly that you will die by sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go and sojourn.