Jeremiah 42

1 Then all the army commanders and Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached Jeremiah the prophet.

Then came near all the captains of the armies, and Jochanan the son of Kareach, and Yezanyah the son of Hosha'yah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest,

2 They said to him, “Let our pleas come before you. Pray for us to Yahweh your God for these people who remain since we are so few in number, as you see.

And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our humble supplication be accepted before thee, and pray in our behalf unto the Lord thy God, in behalf of all this remnant; [for we are left but a few of many, as thy own eyes do see us: ]

3 Ask Yahweh your God to tell us the way we should go and what we should do.”

That the Lord thy God may tell us the way whereon we should walk, and the thing that we should do.

4 So Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Look, I will pray to Yahweh your God as you have requested. Whatever Yahweh answers, I will tell you. I will keep nothing back from you.”

Then said Jeremiah the prophet unto them, I have heard you: behold, I will pray unto the Lord your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the Lord will answer you, I will tell unto you; I will withhold not a word from you.

5 They said to Jeremiah, “May Yahweh be a true and faithful witness against us, if we do not do everything that Yahweh your God tells us to do.

But they said to Jeremiah, May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us, if we do not act entirely according to all the word with which the Lord thy God may send thee to us:

6 Whether it is good or if it is bad, we will obey the voice of Yahweh our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of Yahweh our God.”

Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will hearken to the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send thee; in order that it may be well with us, when we hearken to the voice of the Lord our God.

7 At the end of ten days, the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah.

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

8 So Jeremiah called to Johanan son of Kareah and all the army commanders with him, and to all the people from the least to the greatest.

Then called he Jochanan the son of Kareach, and all the captains of the armies who were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,

9 Then he said to them, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel—to whom you sent me so I might lay your pleas before him—says,

And he said unto them, Thus hath said the Lord, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your humble supplication before him:

10 'If you go back and live in this land, then I will build you and not tear you down; I will plant you and not pull you up, for I will turn back the disaster that I have brought on you.

If ye will indeed remain in this land, then will I build you up, and I will not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I have bethought me of the evil that I have done unto you.

11 Do not fear the king of Babylon, whom you are fearing. Do not fear him—this is Yahweh's declaration—since I am with you to save you and rescue you from his hand.

Be ye not afraid because of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid: have no fear of him, saith the Lord; for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you out of his hand.

12 For I will give you mercy. I will have compassion on you, and I will bring you back to your land.

And I will give unto you mercy, that he may have mercy upon you, and let you return to your own land.

13 But suppose that you say, “We will not stay in this land”—if you do not listen to my voice, the voice of Yahweh your God.

But if ye say, We will not remain in this land, so as not to hearken to the voice of the Lord your God,

14 Suppose that you say, “No! We will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see any war, where we will not hear the sound of the trumpet, and we will not go hungry for food. We will live there.”

Saying, No; but into the land of Egypt will we go, that we may not see war, nor hear the sound of the cornet, and that we may not have hunger for bread; and there will we dwell;

15 Now listen to this word of Yahweh, you remnant of Judah. Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this, 'If you actually set out to go to Egypt, to go and live there,

And now therefore hear the word of the Lord, ye remnant of Judah, Thus hath said the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, If ye will indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go thither to sojourn there:

16 then the sword that you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt. The famine that you are worrying about will pursue you to Egypt, and you will die there.

Then shall the sword, of which ye are afraid, there overtake you in the land of Egypt; and the famine, whereof ye are in dread, shall there cleave close unto you in Egypt; and there shall ye die.

17 So it will happen that all the men who set out to go to Egypt to live there will die by sword, famine, or plague. There will be no survivor of them, no one to escape the disaster that I will bring on them.

So shall be all the men that have set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there, —they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; and they shall have none that remaineth or escapeth from the evil that I am bringing over them.

18 For Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, says this: Just as my wrath and my fury were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, in the same way my fury will be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing and a horror, an object for speaking curses, and something dishonorable, and you will not see this place again.'”

For thus hath said the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, As my anger and my fury were poured forth over the inhabitants of Jerusalem: so shall my fury be poured forth over you, when ye enter into Egypt; and ye shall become an oath, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a disgrace; and ye shall never see this place again.

19 Then Jeremiah said, “Yahweh has spoken concerning you—the remnant of Judah. Do not go to Egypt! You certainly know that I have been a witness against you today.

The Lord hath spoken concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah, “Ye shall not go into Egypt:” ye must know for certain that I have warned you this day.

20 For you fatally deceived yourselves when you sent me to Yahweh your God and said, 'Pray to Yahweh our God for us. Everything that Yahweh our God says, tell us, and we will carry it out.'

For ye have dissembled in regard to what your intentions are; for ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, Pray in our behalf unto the Lord our God: and in accordance with all that the Lord our God may say, so tell unto us, and we will do it.

21 For I have reported to you today, but you have not listened to the voice of Yahweh your God or to anything about which he sent me to you.

And I have told it to you this day; but ye have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord your God, and this in all with which he hath sent me unto you.

22 So now, you should certainly know that you will die by sword, famine, and plague in the place where you desired to go to live.”

But now know for certain that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go to sojourn there.