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.

And 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 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 to Jeremiah the prophet: “Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us to Jehovah, thy God, for all this remnant; (for we are left a few out of many, as thine eyes do behold us; )

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

that Jehovah, thy God, may show us the way wherein we shall walk, and the thing which we shall 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.”

And Jeremiah the prophet said to them: “I have heard; behold, I will pray to Jehovah your God, according to your words, and all which Jehovah shall answer you I will declare to you; I will keep back nothing 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.

Then they said to Jeremiah: “May Jehovah be our witness, a faithful and true witness! According to all for which Jehovah our God shall send thee to us, so will we do.

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 obey the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom we send thee, that it may be well with us when we shall have obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God.”

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

And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of Jehovah came to 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.

And he called Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which 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 said to them: “Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, to whom ye sent me to present your 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 still abide 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 repent me of the evil which I have done to 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 not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith Jehovah; for I will be with you to save you, and to deliver you from 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 show mercies to you, that he may have compassion upon you, and cause you to 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 dwell in this land,' so as not to hearken to the voice of Jehovah 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 we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor be hungry 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,

now, therefore, hear the word of Jehovah, ye remnant of Judah! Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: If ye set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go 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 it shall come to pass that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, of which ye were afraid, shall follow close after you into 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 it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there. They shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence, and not one of them shall remain, or escape from the evil which I bring upon 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 saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: As my anger and my wrath have been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my wrath be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt; and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.

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.

This is the word of Jehovah to you, ye remnant of Judah! Go ye not into Egypt; ye shall surely know 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.'

Ye err to your own ruin; for ye sent me to Jehovah your God, saying, 'Pray for us to Jehovah our God, and according to all that Jehovah our God shall say, so declare to 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 now I have this day declared it to you, but ye have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah your God, nor to anything for which he sent me to 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.”

Now, therefore, ye shall know assuredly, that by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence ye shall die, in the place whither ye have chosen to go and to sojourn.”