Jeremiah 42

1 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

THE WORD THAT CAME TO JEREMIAS from the Lord in the days of Joakim, king of Juda, saying,

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

Go to the house of the Archabin, and thou shalt bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of the courts, and give them wine to drink.

3 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.”

So I brought forth Jechonias the son of Jeremin the son of Chabasin, and his brethren, and his sons, and all the family of the Archabin;

4 “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.”

and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Joanan, the son of Ananias, the son of Godolias, a man of God, who dwells near the house of the princes that are over the house of Maasaeas the son of Selom, who kept the court.

5 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.

And I set before them a jar of wine, and cups, and I said, Drink ye wine.

6 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.”

But they said, We will on no account drink wine, for our father Jonadab the son of Rechab commanded us, saying, Ye shall on no account drink wine, [neither] ye, nor your sons for ever:

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

nor shall ye at all build houses, nor sow any seed, nor shall ye have a vineyard: for ye shall dwell in tents all your days; that ye may live many days upon the land, in which ye sojourn.

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

And we hearkened to the voice of Jonadab our father, so as to drink no wine all our days, we, and our wives, and our sons, and our daughters;

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

and so as to build no houses to dwell in: and we have had no vineyard, nor field, nor seed:

10 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.

but we have dwelt in tents, and have hearkened, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

11 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.

And it came to pass, when Nabuchodonosor came up against the land, that we said we would come in; and we entered into Jerusalem, for fear of the host of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the host of the Assyrians: and we dwelt there.

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

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

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

Thus saith the Lord, Go, and say to the men of Juda, and to them that dwell in Jerusalem, Will ye not receive correction to hearken to my words?

14 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;”

The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the word which he commanded his children, that they should drink no wine; and they have not drunk [it]: but I spoke to you early, and ye hearkened not.

15 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,

And I sent to you my servants the prophets, saying, Turn ye every one from his evil way, and amend your practices, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell upon the land which I gave to you and to your fathers: but ye inclined not your ears, and hearkened not.

16 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.

But the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command of their father; but this people has not hearkened to me.

17 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.

Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I [will] bring upon Juda and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evils which I pronounced against them.

18 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.

Therefore thus saith the Lord; Since the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have hearkened to the command of their father, to do as their father commanded them:

19 “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!

there shall never be wanting a man of the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab to stand before my face while the earth remains.

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

22 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.”