Jeremiah 42

1 Then Johanan and Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the [other] leaders of the [Israeli] soldiers [who had not surrendered to the army of Babylonia], and many [HYP] [other] people, including those who were important and those who were not important, came

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 to me. They said, “Please listen to our request and pray to Yahweh our God for all of us. Although we were previously a huge number of people, you can see that now we are only a small number of people [who have survived].

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

3 [Pray] that Yahweh our God will show us what we should do and where we should go.”

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 I replied, “Okay, I will pray to Yahweh our God, like you have requested, and I will tell you what he says. I will (tell you everything/not hide anything 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 They replied to me, “We hope/wish that Yahweh our God will be a faithful witness against us if we refuse to do everything that he tells us to do.

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 We are requesting you to ask Yahweh our God what we should do. [When he replies], we will obey him, whether we like what he says or not. We will do that because [we know that] things will go well for us if we obey him.”

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 [So I prayed] to Yahweh, and ten days later he gave me his reply.

Ten days later a message from the Lord came to Jeremiah.

8 So I summoned Johanan and all his [other] soldiers and all the [other] people, including those who were important and those who were not important.

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

9 I said to them, “You told me to tell Yahweh, the God whom [we] Israelis [worship], what you were requesting. This is what he replied:

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 ‘You [should] stay here in this land. If you do that, I will cause your [nation] to be strong and not be weak. I will cause you to prosper and not be exiled [again]. I am sorry about the disasters that I [was forced to] cause you to experience.

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 But do not be afraid of the king of Babylon [any more], because I will (be with/help) you. I will rescue you [DOU] from his power [MTY].

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 be merciful to you by causing him to act kindly toward you. So as a result, he will allow you to stay here in your 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 refuse to obey Yahweh our God, and if you say ‘We will not stay here;

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

14 instead, we will go to Egypt. There we will not experience [any] wars, we will not hear trumpets [signaling our soldiers to prepare for battles], and we will not be hungry,’

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 then listen to what the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israelis [worship], says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt, and you go and 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 you will experience those wars and famines that you are afraid of, and you will [all] die there.

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 That is what will happen to all you who are determined to go to Egypt and live there. [Some of you] will be killed by the swords [of your enemies, and others of you will die] from famines and from diseases. None of you will escape the disasters that I will bring on you.’

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 And the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom [we] Israelis [worship], also says this: ‘Because I was very angry, I severely punished [MTY] [all] the people of Jerusalem. I will do the same things to you when you go to Egypt. [The result will be that] people will curse you. They will be horrified about [what has happened to] you. They will make fun of you, and you will never see this land again.’

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 You little group of people of Judah who are still alive, [listen to me]: Yahweh has told you, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ [So] do not forget what I have warned you today.

“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 I know that you were lying when you requested me to pray to Yahweh our God.

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 today I have told you exactly what he said, but [I know that] you will not obey Yahweh our God now, just as you have not obeyed him previously.

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

22 You want to go to Egypt and live there. So now, you can be sure of this: [All of] you will die there. [Some of you will be killed] by the swords [of your enemies and others will die] from famines or from diseases.”

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.”