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 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,

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 to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our supplication be presented before you, and pray for us to Yahweh your God, even for all this remnant, for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes see us,

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

that Yahweh your God may show us the way in which we should walk, and the things 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).”

Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to Yahweh your God according to your words; and it will happen that whatever thing Yahweh answers you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing 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 Yahweh be a true and faithful witness among us, if we don’t do according to all the word with which Yahweh your God sends you to tell us.

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 it is good, or whether it is bad, we will obey the voice of Yahweh our God, to whom we send you; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of Yahweh our God.”

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

After ten days, Yahweh’s word 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.

Then he called 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,

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 to them, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before him, says:

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 still live in this land, then I will 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.

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].

Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Don’t be afraid of him,’ says Yahweh, ‘for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from 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.’

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

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

“‘But if you say, “We will not dwell in this land,” so that you don’t obey Yahweh your God’s voice,

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, but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we will see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there we will 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 hear Yahweh’s word, O remnant of Judah! Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘If you indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to live there,

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

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

So will it be with all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to live there. They will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. None of them will remain or escape from the evil that I will bring 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.’

For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and my wrath has been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you, when you enter into Egypt; and you will be an object of horror, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach; and you will see this place no more.’

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 has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah, ‘Don’t go into Egypt!’ Know certainly that I have testified to you today.

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

For you have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for you sent me to Yahweh your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to Yahweh our God; and according to all that Yahweh our God says, so declare to 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.

I have declared it to you today; but you have not obeyed Yahweh your God’s voice in anything for which he has sent me to 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 certainly that you will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live.”