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 drew near all the captains 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 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].

and said unto Jeremiah the prophet—Let our supplication we beseech thee fall prostrate before thee, and pray thou in our behalf unto Yahweh thy God, in behalf of all this remnant, —for we are left a few out of many, just as thine own eyes do behold us:

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

that Yahweh thy God may tell us the way wherein we should walk, —and the thing that we should 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).”

And Jeremiah the prophet, said unto them, I have heard; behold me! praying unto Yahweh your God according to your words, —and it shall come to pass that the whole thing that Yahweh shall answer you, I will tell you, I will keep back from you, nothing.

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.

They, therefore said unto Jeremiah, Yahweh be against us, as a witness true and faithful, —if according to all the word which Yahweh thy God shall send thee unto us, so we do not perform:

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.”

whether for good or for ill, unto the voice of Yahweh our God for which we are sending thee unto him, will we hearken, —to the end it may be well with us, because we will hearken unto the voice of Yahweh our God.

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

And it came to pass at the end of ten days, that the word of Yahweh came unto 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.

Then called he for Johanan son of Kareah, and for all the princes of the forces who were with him—and for all the people from the least even unto the greatest;

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:

and said unto them, Thus, saith Yahweh, God of Israel—unto whom ye sent me, to cause your supplication to fall prostrate before him: —

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 ye will indeed abide, in this land, then will I build you up, and not pull [you] down, and plant you and not uproot [you], —for I have compassion as touching the calamity which I have caused 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].

Do not fear the face of the king of Babylon, of whose face ye are afraid, —do not fear him, Urgeth Yahweh, for with you, am I, to save you, and to deliver you out of his hand:

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.’

that I may grant you compassions and he may have compassion upon you, —and suffer you to return unto your own soil.

13 But if you refuse to obey Yahweh our God, and if you say ‘We will not stay here;

But, since ye are saying, —We will not dwell in this land, —nor hearken unto the voice of Yahweh your God:

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,’

saying, —No! for, into the land of Egypt, will we go, where we shall not see war, nor the sound of a horn, shall we hear, —nor for bread, shall we be famished, —there, then will we dwell

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,

Now, therefore, for this cause, hear ye the word of Yahweh, O remnant of Judah, —Thus! saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, —If, ye do indeed set your faces to enter Egypt and do enter to sojourn there,

16 you will experience those wars and famines that you are afraid of, and you will [all] die there.

then shall it come to pass that the sword which ye are fearing shall, there, overtake you, in the land of Egypt, —and the famine which ye are dreading, shall, there, lay fast hold of you, in Egypt, and, there, shall ye die.

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.’

So shall it be with all the men who have set their faces to enter Egypt to sojourn there, they shall die by sword, by famine or by pestilence, —and they shall have neither survival nor escape, from the face of the calamity which I am about to bring in upon 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.’

For—Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, —Just as mine anger and mine indignation have been poured out upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall mine indignation be poured out upon you when ye enter into Egypt, —thus shall ye become a curse, and an astonishment and a contempt and a reproach, and ye shall no more see this place.

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.

Yahweh hath spoken concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah, Do not enter into Egypt: Know certainly, that I have taken you to witness to-day.

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

For ye have deceived yourselves at the cost of your lives, for, ye yourselves, sent me unto Yahweh your God, saying, —Pray thou in our behalf, unto Yahweh our God, —and according to all that Yahweh our God shall say, so, tell us and we will 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.

Therefore have I told you to-day, —and yet ye have not hearkened unto the voice of Yahweh your God, even in any thing for which he hath sent me unto 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.”

Now, therefore, know ye certainly, that by sword, by famine, or by pestilence, shall ye die, —in the place whither ye have desired to go, to sojourn.