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,

And they come nigh — all the heads 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 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, "Please let our petition be presented 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 see us:

and they say unto Jeremiah the prophet, 'Let, we pray thee, our supplication fall before thee, and pray for us unto Jehovah thy God, for all this remnant; for we have been left a few out of many, as thine eyes do see us;

3 that the LORD your God may show us the way in which we should walk, and the thing that we should do."

and Jehovah thy God doth declare to us the way in which we walk, and the thing that we do.'

4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, "I have heard you; look, I will pray to the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall happen that whatever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it to you; I will keep nothing back from you."

And Jeremiah the prophet saith unto them, 'I have heard: lo, I am praying unto Jehovah your God according to your words, and it hath come to pass, the whole word that Jehovah answereth you, I declare to you — I do not withhold from you a word.'

5 Then they said to Jeremiah, "The LORD be a true and faithful witness among us, if we do not do according to all the word with which the LORD your God shall send you to us.

And they have said to Jeremiah, 'Jehovah is against us for a witness true and faithful, if — according to all the word with which Jehovah thy God doth send thee unto us — we do not so.

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."

Whether good or evil, to the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom we are sending thee, we do hearken; because it is good for us when we hearken to the voice of Jehovah our God.'

7 It happened after ten days, that the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah.

And it cometh to pass, at the end of ten days, that there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah,

8 Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,

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

9 and said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before him:

and he saith unto them, 'Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me, to cause your supplication to fall before Him:

10 'If you will still live 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 grieve over the distress that I have brought on you.

'If ye do certainly dwell in this land, then I have builded you up, and I throw not down; and I have planted you, and I pluck not up; for I have repented concerning the evil that I have done to you.

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

Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, whom ye are afraid of; be not afraid of him — an affirmation of Jehovah — for with you [am] I, to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

12 I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you, and cause you to return to your own land.'

And I give to you mercies, and he hath pitied you, and caused you to turn back unto your own ground.

13 But if you say, 'We will not dwell in this land'; so that you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God,

'And if ye are saying, We do not dwell in this land — not to hearken to the voice of Jehovah your God,

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':

saying, No; but the land of Egypt we enter, that we see no war, and the sound of a trumpet do not hear, and for bread be not hungry; and there do we dwell.

15 now therefore hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'If you indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to live there;

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

16 then it shall happen, that the sword, which you fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are afraid, shall follow close behind you there in Egypt; and there you shall die.

then it hath come to pass, the sword that ye are afraid of, doth there overtake you, in the land of Egypt; and the hunger, because of which ye are sorrowful, doth there cleave after you in Egypt, and there ye die.

17 So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to live 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.'

'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 to them a remnant and an escaped one, because of the evil that I am bringing in upon them;

18 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: 'As my anger and my wrath has been poured forth on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my wrath be poured forth on you, when you shall enter into Egypt; and you shall be an object of horror, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more.'

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

19 The LORD has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah, 'Do not go into Egypt': know certainly that I have testified to you this day.

'Jehovah hath spoken against you, O remnant of Judah, do not enter Egypt: know certainly that I have testified against you to-day;

20 For you have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for 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':

for ye have shewed yourselves perverse in your souls, for ye sent me unto Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us unto Jehovah our God, and according to all that Jehovah our God saith, so declare to us, and we have done [it];

21 and I have this day declared it to you; but you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God in anything for which he has sent me to you.

and I declare to you to-day, and ye have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah your God, and to anything with which He hath sent me unto 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 to live there."

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