Jeremiah 42

1 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 to the greatest, came near,

Then all the captains of the warriors, and Johanan the son of Caree, and Jezonias the son of Osaias, and the rest of the people from the least to the greatest came near:

2 And said to Jeremiah the prophet, Let our request come before you, and make prayer for us to the Lord your God, even for this small band of us; for we are only a small band out of what was a great number, as your eyes may see:

And they said to Jeremias the prophet: Let our supplication fall before thee: and pray thou for us to the Lord thy God for all this remnant, for we are left but a few of many, as thy eyes do behold us.

3 That the Lord your God may make clear to us the way in which we are to go and what we are to do.

And let the Lord thy God shew us the way by which we may walk, and the thing that we must do.

4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have given ear to you; see, I will make prayer to the Lord your God, as you have said; and it will be that, whatever the Lord may say in answer to you, I will give you word of it, keeping nothing back.

And Jeremias the prophet said to them: I have heard you: behold I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words: and whatsoever thing he shall answer me, I will declare it to you: and I will hide nothing from you.

5 Then they said to Jeremiah, May the Lord be a true witness against us in good faith, if we do not do everything which the Lord your God sends you to say to us.

And they said to Jeremias: The Lord be witness between us of truth and faithfulness, if we do not according to every thing for which the Lord thy God shall send thee to us.

6 If it is good or if it is evil, we will be guided by the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you; so that it may be well for us when we give ear to the voice of the Lord our God.

Whether it be good or evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom me send thee: that it may be well with us when we shall hearken to the voice of the Lord our God.

7 And it came about that after ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.

Now after ten days, the word of the Lord came to Jeremias.

8 And he sent for Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were still with him, and all the people, from the least to the greatest,

And he called Johanan the son of Caree, and all the captains of the fighting men that were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest.

9 And said to them, These are the words of the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to put your request before him:

And he said to them: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, to whom you sent me, to present your supplications before him:

10 If you still go on living in the land, then I will go on building you up and not pulling you down, planting you and not uprooting you: for my purpose of doing evil to you has been changed.

If you will be quiet and remain in this land, I will build you up, and not pull you down: I will plane you, and not pluck you up: for now I am appeased for the evil that I have done to you.

11 Have no fear of the king of Babylon, of whom you are now in fear; have no fear of him, says the Lord: for I am with you to keep you safe and to give you salvation from his hands.

Fear not because of the king of Babylon, of whom you are greatly afraid: fear him not, saith the Lord: for I am with you, to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

12 And I will have mercy on you, so that he may have mercy on you and let you go back to your land.

And I will shew mercies to you, and will take pity on you, and will cause you to dwell in your own land.

13 But if you say, We have no desire to go on living in this land; and do not give ear to the voice of the Lord your God,

But if you say: We will not dwell in this land, neither will we hearken to the voice of the Lord our God,

14 Saying, No, but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we will not see war, or be hearing the sound of the horn, or be in need of food; there we will make our living-place;

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 suffer hunger: and there we will dwell.

15 Then give ear now to the word of the Lord, O you last of Judah: the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said, If your minds are fixed on going into Egypt and stopping there;

For this now hear the word of the Lord, ye remnant of Juda: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to go into Egypt, and enter in to dwell there:

16 Then it will come about that the sword, which is the cause of your fear, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and need of food, which you are fearing, will go after you there in Egypt; and there death will come to you.

The sword which you fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt: and the famine, whereof you are afraid, shall cleave to you in Egypt, and there you shall die.

17 Such will be the fate of all the men whose minds are fixed on going into Egypt and stopping there; they will come to their end by the sword, by being short of food, and by disease: not one of them will keep his life or get away from the evil which I will send on them.

And all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt, to dwell there, shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence: none of them shall remain, nor escape from the face of the evil that I will bring upon them.

18 For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: As my wrath and passion have been let loose on the people of Jerusalem, so will my passion be let loose on you when you go into Egypt: and you will become an oath and a cause of wonder and a curse and a name of shame; and you will never see this place again.

For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: As my anger and my indignation hath been kindled against the inhabitants of Jerusalem: so shall my indignation be kindled against you, when you shall enter into Egypt, and you shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach: and you shall see this place no more.

19 The Lord has said about you, O last of Judah, Go not into Egypt: be certain that I have given witness to you this day.

This is the word of the Lord concerning you, O ye remnant of Juda: Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have adjured you this day.

20 For you have been acting with deceit in your hearts; for you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, Make prayer for us to the Lord our God, and give us word of everything he may say, and we will do it.

For you have deceived your own souls: for you sent me to the Lord our God, saying: Pray for us to the Lord our God, and according to all that the Lord our God shall say to thee, so declare unto us, and we will do it.

21 And this day I have made it clear to you, and you have not given ear to the voice of the Lord your God in anything for which he has sent me to you.

And now I have declared it to you this day, and; you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, with regard to all the things for which he hath sent me to you.

22 And now be certain that you will come to your end by the sword and by being short of food and by disease, in the place to which you are pleased to go for a living-place.

Now therefore know certainly that you shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence in the place to which you desire to go to dwell there.