Jeremiah 42

1 And they come near—all the heads of the forces, and Johanan son of Kareah, and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest—

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,

2 and they say to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our supplication fall before you, and pray for us to your God YHWH for all this remnant; for we have been left a few out of many, as your eyes see us;

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:

3 and your God YHWH declares to us the way in which we walk, and the thing that we do.”

That the Lord your God may make clear to us the way in which we are to go and what we are to do.

4 And Jeremiah the prophet says to them, “I have heard: behold, I am praying to your God YHWH according to your words, and it has come to pass, the whole word that YHWH answers you, I declare to you—I do not withhold a word from you.”

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.

5 And they have said to Jeremiah, “YHWH is against us for a true and faithful witness, if—according to all the word with which your God YHWH sends you to us—we do not do so.

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.

6 Whether [it is] good or evil, to the voice of our God YHWH, to whom we are sending you, we listen; because it is good for us when we listen to the voice of our God YHWH.”

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.

7 And it comes to pass, at the end of ten days, that there is a word of YHWH to Jeremiah,

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

8 and he calls to Johanan son of Kareah, and to all the heads of the forces that [are] with him, and to all the people, from the least even to the greatest,

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,

9 and he says to them, “Thus said YHWH, God of Israel, to whom you sent me, to cause your supplication to fall before Him:

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:

10 If you certainly dwell in this land, then I have built you up, and I do not throw down; and I have planted you, and I do not pluck up; for I have relented concerning the calamity that I have done to you.

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.

11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are afraid of; do not be afraid of him—a declaration of YHWH—for I [am] with you, to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

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.

12 And I give mercies to you, and he has pitied you, and caused you to return to your own ground.

And I will have mercy on you, so that he may have mercy on you and let you go back to your land.

13 And if you are saying, We do not dwell in this land—not to listen to the voice of your God YHWH,

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,

14 saying, No; but we enter the land of Egypt, that we see no war, and do not hear the sound of a horn, and are not hungry for bread; and we dwell there—

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;

15 And now, therefore, hear a word of YHWH, O remnant of Judah! Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: If you really set your faces to enter Egypt, and have gone to sojourn there,

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;

16 then it has come to pass, the sword that you are afraid of, overtakes you there, in the land of Egypt; and the hunger, because of which you are sorrowful, cleaves after you there in Egypt, and there you die.

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.

17 Thus are all the men who have set their faces to enter Egypt to sojourn there; they die—by sword, by hunger, and by pestilence, and there is not a remnant and an escaped one to them, because of the calamity that I am bringing in on them;

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.

18 for thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: As My anger and My fury have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My fury is poured out on you in your entering Egypt, and you have been for an execration, and for an astonishment, and for a reviling, and for a reproach, and you do not see this place anymore.

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.

19 YHWH has spoken against you, O remnant of Judah, do not enter Egypt: certainly know that I have testified against you today;

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.

20 for you have showed yourselves perverse in your souls, for you sent me to your God YHWH, saying, Pray for us to our God YHWH, and according to all that our God YHWH says, so declare to us, and we have done [it];

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.

21 and I declare to you today, and you have not listened to the voice of your God YHWH, and to anything with which He has sent me to you.

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.

22 And now, certainly know that by sword, by famine, and by pestilence you die, in the place that you have desired to go to sojourn there.”

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.