Jeremiah 42

1Then all the commanders of the forces approached, along with Yohanan son of Kareah and Yizaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest.

2And they said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our plea come before you, and pray for us to Yahweh your God, for all this remnant, for we are left as few out of many, as your eyes see us.”

3that Yahweh your God may tell us the way in which we should walk, and the thing that we should do.

4Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard. Behold, I am praying to Yahweh your God according to your words, and whatever Yahweh answers you, I will tell you. I will not withhold a word from you.”

5And they said to Jeremiah, “May Yahweh be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word that Yahweh your God sends to us through you.”

6Whether it is good or whether it is bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.

7And it happened, at the end of ten days, that the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah.

8Then he called Johanan son of Kareah, all the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people, from the least to the greatest,

9And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to lay your plea before him:”

10If you will indeed remain in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I relent concerning the harm that I did to you.

11Do not fear the king of Babylon, before whom you are afraid. Do not fear him, declares Yahweh, for I am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand.

12And I will show you mercy, and he will have mercy on you and restore you to your own land.

13But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ not obeying the voice of Yahweh your God—

14saying, ‘No, but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we will not see war, and we will not hear the sound of the trumpet, and we will not be hungry for bread; and there we will live.’

15Now therefore hear the word of Yahweh, O remnant of Judah. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: If you are determined to go to Egypt and to go to sojourn there,

16Then the sword that you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine that you dread will follow close after you there in Egypt, and there you will die.

17Then all the men who have set their faces to go to Egypt to sojourn there shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. None of them shall have a survivor or an escapee from the disaster that I am bringing on them.

18For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: Just as my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt, and you will become an oath, a horror, a curse, and a reproach, and you will never again see this place.

19Yahweh has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah: Do not go to Egypt. Know for certain that I have warned you today.

20For you have deceived yourselves, because you sent me to Yahweh your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to Yahweh our God, and whatever Yahweh our God says, tell us, and we will do it.’

21I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh your God or anything for which he sent me to you.

22Now therefore, know for certain that you will die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desired to go to sojourn there.