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 army commanders and Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached Jeremiah the prophet.

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;

They said to him, “Let our pleas come before you. Pray for us to Yahweh your God for these people who remain since we are so few in number, as you see.

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

Ask Yahweh your God to tell us the way we should go and what we should 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.”

So Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Look, I will pray to Yahweh your God as you have requested. Whatever Yahweh answers, I will tell you. I will keep nothing back from you.”

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.

They said to Jeremiah, “May Yahweh be a true and faithful witness against us, if we do not do everything that Yahweh your God tells us to do.

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.”

Whether it is good or if it is bad, we will obey the voice of Yahweh our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of Yahweh our God.”

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

At the end of ten days, the word of Yahweh 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,

So Jeremiah called to Johanan son of Kareah and all the army commanders with him, and to 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:

Then he said to them, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel—to whom you sent me so I might lay your pleas before him—says,

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 go back and live in this land, then I will build you and not tear you down; I will plant you and not pull you up, for I will turn back the disaster that I have brought on you.

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.

Do not fear the king of Babylon, whom you are fearing. Do not fear him—this is Yahweh's declaration—since I am with you to save you and rescue you from his hand.

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

For I will give you mercy. I will have compassion on you, and I will bring you 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 suppose that you say, “We will not stay in this land”—if you do not listen to my voice, the voice of Yahweh 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—

Suppose that you say, “No! We will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see any war, where we will not hear the sound of the trumpet, and we will not go hungry for food. We will live there.”

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,

Now listen to this word of Yahweh, you remnant of Judah. Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, 'If you actually set out to go to Egypt, to go and live 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 the sword that you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt. The famine that you are worrying about will pursue you to Egypt, and you will die there.

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;

So it will happen that all the men who set out to go to Egypt to live there will die by sword, famine, or plague. There will be no survivor of them, no one to escape the disaster that I will bring 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 Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: Just as my wrath and my fury were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, in the same way my fury will be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing and a horror, an object for speaking curses, and something dishonorable, and you will not 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;

Then Jeremiah said, “Yahweh has spoken concerning you—the remnant of Judah. Do not go to Egypt! You certainly know that I have been a witness against you today.

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 fatally deceived yourselves when you sent me to Yahweh your God and said, 'Pray to Yahweh our God for us. Everything that Yahweh our God says, tell us, and we will carry it out.'

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.

For I have reported to you today, but you have not listened to the voice of Yahweh your God or to anything about which he 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.”

So now, you should certainly know that you will die by sword, famine, and plague in the place where you desired to go to live.”