Jeremias 42
1 THE WORD THAT CAME TO JEREMIAS from the Lord in the days of Joakim, king of Juda, saying,
Then drew near all the captains of the forces, and Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, —and all the people from the least even unto the greatest;
2 Go to the house of the Archabin, and you shall bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of the courts, and give them wine to drink.
and said unto Jeremiah the prophet—Let our supplication we beseech thee fall prostrate before thee, and pray thou in our behalf unto Yahweh thy God, in behalf of all this remnant, —for we are left a few out of many, just as thine own eyes do behold us:
3 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;
that Yahweh thy God may tell us the way wherein we should walk, —and the thing that we should do.
4 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.
And Jeremiah the prophet, said unto them, I have heard; behold me! praying unto Yahweh your God according to your words, —and it shall come to pass that the whole thing that Yahweh shall answer you, I will tell you, I will keep back from you, nothing.
5 And I set before them a jar of wine, and cups, and I said, Drink you wine.
They, therefore said unto Jeremiah, Yahweh be against us, as a witness true and faithful, —if according to all the word which Yahweh thy God shall send thee unto us, so we do not perform:
6 But they said, We will on no account drink wine, for our father Jonadab the son of Rechab commanded us, saying, You shall on no account drink wine, [neither] you, nor your sons for ever:
whether for good or for ill, unto the voice of Yahweh our God for which we are sending thee unto him, will we hearken, —to the end it may be well with us, because we will hearken unto the voice of Yahweh our God.
7 nor shall you at all build houses, nor sow any seed, nor shall you have a vineyard: for you shall dwell in tents all your days; that you may live many days upon the land, in which you sojourn.
And it came to pass at the end of ten days, that the word of Yahweh came unto Jeremiah.
8 And we listened 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;
Then called he for Johanan son of Kareah, and for all the princes of the forces who were with him—and for all the people from the least even unto the greatest;
9 and so as to build no houses to dwell in: and we have had no vineyard, nor field, nor seed:
and said unto them, Thus, saith Yahweh, God of Israel—unto whom ye sent me, to cause your supplication to fall prostrate before him: —
10 but we have lived in tents, and have listened, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
If ye will indeed abide, in this land, then will I build you up, and not pull [you] down, and plant you and not uproot [you], —for I have compassion as touching the calamity which I have caused you.
11 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 lived there.
Do not fear the face of the king of Babylon, of whose face ye are afraid, —do not fear him, Urgeth Yahweh, for with you, am I, to save you, and to deliver you out of his hand:
12 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
that I may grant you compassions and he may have compassion upon you, —and suffer you to return unto your own soil.
13 Thus says the Lord, Go, and say to the men of Juda, and to them that dwell in Jerusalem, Will you not receive correction to listen to my words?
But, since ye are saying, —We will not dwell in this land, —nor hearken unto the voice of Yahweh your God:
14 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 you listened not.
saying, —No! for, into the land of Egypt, will we go, where we shall not see war, nor the sound of a horn, shall we hear, —nor for bread, shall we be famished, —there, then will we dwell
15 And I sent to you my servants the prophets, saying, Turn you every one from his evil way, and amend your practices, and go not after other gods to serve them, and you shall dwell upon the land which I gave to you and to your fathers: but you inclined not your ears, and listened not.
Now, therefore, for this cause, hear ye the word of Yahweh, O remnant of Judah, —Thus! saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, —If, ye do indeed set your faces to enter Egypt and do enter to sojourn there,
16 But the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command of their father; but this people has not listened to me.
then shall it come to pass that the sword which ye are fearing shall, there, overtake you, in the land of Egypt, —and the famine which ye are dreading, shall, there, lay fast hold of you, in Egypt, and, there, shall ye die.
17 Therefore thus says the Lord; Behold, I [will] bring upon Juda and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evils which I pronounced against them.
So shall it be with all the men who have set their faces to enter Egypt to sojourn there, they shall die by sword, by famine or by pestilence, —and they shall have neither survival nor escape, from the face of the calamity which I am about to bring in upon them.
18 Therefore thus says the Lord; Since the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have listened to the command of their father, to do as their father commanded them:
For—Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, —Just as mine anger and mine indignation have been poured out upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall mine indignation be poured out upon you when ye enter into Egypt, —thus shall ye become a curse, and an astonishment and a contempt and a reproach, and ye shall no more see this place.
19 there shall never be lacking a man of the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab to stand before my face while the earth remains.
Yahweh hath spoken concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah, Do not enter into Egypt: Know certainly, that I have taken you to witness to-day.
For ye have deceived yourselves at the cost of your lives, for, ye yourselves, sent me unto Yahweh your God, saying, —Pray thou in our behalf, unto Yahweh our God, —and according to all that Yahweh our God shall say, so, tell us and we will do it.
Therefore have I told you to-day, —and yet ye have not hearkened unto the voice of Yahweh your God, even in any thing for which he hath sent me unto you.
Now, therefore, know ye certainly, that by sword, by famine, or by pestilence, shall ye die, —in the place whither ye have desired to go, to sojourn.
