Jeremiah 42

1 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:

Then all the army commanders, together with Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and everyone from the least to the most important came to

2 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.

Jeremiah the prophet and said, “Please listen to our request.

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

Pray to the Lord your God for all of us. As you can see there's only a few of us left compared to how many there were before. In your prayer please ask the Lord your God to tell where to go and what to do.”

4 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.

“I'll do as you ask,” Jeremiah replied. “I will definitely pray to the Lord your God as you've requested, and I'll tell you everything he says. I won't keep anything back from you.”

5 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.

Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we don't do everything that the Lord your God tells you we should.

6 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.

Good or bad, we will obey what the Lord our God says, the one we're asking you to speak to. That way everything will go well with us, because we will be obeying what the Lord our God says.”

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

Ten days later a message from the Lord came to Jeremiah.

8 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.

He summoned Johanan, all the army commanders, and everyone from the least to the most important.

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

Jeremiah told them, This what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to those of who you sent to me to present your request:

10 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.

If you will stay right here in this country, then I will build you up and I won't tear you down; I will plant you and I won't uproot you; because I'm very sad about the disaster I have brought down on you.

11 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.

I know you fear the king of Babylon, but you don't need to be afraid of him, declares the Lord. I am with you to save you and rescue you from him.

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

I will be merciful to you, so that he will be merciful to you and will let you stay in your own country.

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

But if you say, “We won't stay here in this country,” and by doing so disobey what the Lord your God says;

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 suffer hunger: and there we will dwell.

or if you say instead, “No, we're going to Egypt to live there, where we won't experience war or hear trumpets sounding or go hungry;”

15 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:

then listen to what the Lord says, you survivors from Judah! This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: If you're absolutely determined to go to Egypt and live there,

16 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.

then the war you're so frightened of will catch up with you there, and the famine you're so terrified of will chase after you into Egypt, and you will die there.

17 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.

Everyone who decides to go to Egypt and live there will die by war and famine and disease. Not a single one will survive or escape the disaster I will bring down on them.

18 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.

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: In the same way that my furious anger was poured out on the people living in Jerusalem, so will my anger be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. People will be horrified at what happens to you, and you will become a curse word, an insult, an expression of condemnation. You won't ever see your homeland again.

19 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.

“The Lord has told you, survivors from Judah, ‘Don't go to Egypt,’” Jeremiah concluded. “Be absolutely clear about this warning I'm giving you today!

20 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.

You've made a big mistake that will cost you your lives by sending me to the Lord your God, asking, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us, and let us know everything the Lord our God says and we'll do it.’

21 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.

I have told you today what he said, but you have not obeyed everything the Lord your God sent me to tell you.

22 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.

So you should know that without question you're going to die by war and famine and disease in Egypt where you want to go and live.”