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,

Then all the army commanders, together with Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and everyone from the least to the most important came to

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:

Jeremiah the prophet and said, “Please listen to our request.

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

Pray to the Lord your God for all of us. As you can see there's only a few of us left compared to how many there were before. In your prayer please ask the Lord your God to tell where to go and what to 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."

“I'll do as you ask,” Jeremiah replied. “I will definitely pray to the Lord your God as you've requested, and I'll tell you everything he says. I won't keep anything back from you.”

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.

Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we don't do everything that the Lord your God tells you we should.

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."

Good or bad, we will obey what the Lord our God says, the one we're asking you to speak to. That way everything will go well with us, because we will be obeying what the Lord our God says.”

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

Ten days later a message from the Lord came to 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,

He summoned Johanan, all the army commanders, and everyone from the least to the most important.

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

Jeremiah told them, This what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to those of who you sent to me to present your request:

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 you will stay right here in this country, then I will build you up and I won't tear you down; I will plant you and I won't uproot you; because I'm very sad about the disaster I have brought down on 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.

I know you fear the king of Babylon, but you don't need to be afraid of him, declares the Lord. I am with you to save you and rescue you from him.

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

I will be merciful to you, so that he will be merciful to you and will let you stay in your own country.

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,

But if you say, “We won't stay here in this country,” and by doing so disobey what the Lord your God says;

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':

or if you say instead, “No, we're going to Egypt to live there, where we won't experience war or hear trumpets sounding or go hungry;”

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;

then listen to what the Lord says, you survivors from Judah! This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: If you're absolutely determined to go to Egypt and live 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 the war you're so frightened of will catch up with you there, and the famine you're so terrified of will chase after you into Egypt, and you will die there.

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.'

Everyone who decides to go to Egypt and live there will die by war and famine and disease. Not a single one will survive or escape the disaster I will bring down on 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.'

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: In the same way that my furious anger was poured out on the people living in Jerusalem, so will my anger be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. People will be horrified at what happens to you, and you will become a curse word, an insult, an expression of condemnation. You won't ever see your homeland again.

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.

“The Lord has told you, survivors from Judah, ‘Don't go to Egypt,’” Jeremiah concluded. “Be absolutely clear about this warning I'm giving you today!

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':

You've made a big mistake that will cost you your lives by sending me to the Lord your God, asking, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us, and let us know everything the Lord our God says and we'll do 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.

I have told you today what he said, but you have not obeyed everything the Lord your God sent me to tell 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."

So you should know that without question you're going to die by war and famine and disease in Egypt where you want to go and live.”