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,

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 least even 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 said to Jeremiah the prophet: “Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us to Jehovah, thy God, for all this remnant; (for we are left a few out of many, as thine 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.

that Jehovah, thy God, may show us the way wherein we shall walk, and the thing which we shall 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 Jeremiah the prophet said to them: “I have heard; behold, I will pray to Jehovah your God, according to your words, and all which Jehovah shall answer you I will declare to you; I will keep back 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.

Then they said to Jeremiah: “May Jehovah be our witness, a faithful and true witness! According to all for which Jehovah our God shall send thee to us, so will we do.

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 whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom we send thee, that it may be well with us when we shall have obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God.”

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

And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah.

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 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 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 said to them: “Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, to whom ye sent me to present your supplication 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 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 which 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.

Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith Jehovah; for I will be 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 show mercies to you, that he may have compassion upon you, and cause you to return to 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 ye say, 'We will not dwell in this land,' so as not to hearken to the voice of Jehovah your 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 be hungry for bread, and there will we 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;

now, therefore, hear the word of Jehovah, ye remnant of Judah! Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: If ye set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn 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.

then it shall come to pass that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, of which ye were afraid, shall follow close after you into Egypt, and there shall ye 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.

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, and by famine, and by pestilence, and not one of them shall remain, or escape from the evil which I 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 Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: As my anger and my wrath have been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my wrath 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 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 Jehovah to you, ye remnant of Judah! Go ye not into Egypt; ye shall surely know that I have warned 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.

Ye err to your own ruin; for ye sent me to Jehovah your God, saying, 'Pray for us to Jehovah our God, and according to all that Jehovah our God shall say, so declare to 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 this day declared it to you, but ye have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah your God, nor to anything for which he 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, ye shall know assuredly, that by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence ye shall die, in the place whither ye have chosen to go and to sojourn.”