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 even to the greatest, came near,

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

2 And said to Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech you, our supplication be accepted before you, and pray for us to the LORD your God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes do behold us: )

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 That the LORD your God may show us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may 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 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray to the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it to you; I will keep nothing 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, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD your God shall send you to us.

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

6 Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send you; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.

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 And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of 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 Then called he 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,

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 And said to them, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before him;

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

10 If you 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 that I have done to you.

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

11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; be not afraid of him, says the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

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 And I will show mercies to you, that he may have mercy on you, and cause you to return to your own land.

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

13 But if you say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,

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 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 have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:

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 And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, you remnant of Judah; Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If you wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn 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 it shall come to pass, that the sword, which you feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof you were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there you shall die.

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 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, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring 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 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As my anger and my fury has been poured forth on the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth on 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.

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 said concerning you, O you remnant of Judah; Go you not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.

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 For you dissembled in your hearts, when you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us to the LORD our God; and according to all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare to us, and we will do it.

21 And now I have this day declared it to you; but you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for the which he has sent me to you.

22 Now therefore know certainly that you shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place where you desire to go and to sojourn.