Jeremiah 42

1 And alle the princes of werriours neiyiden, and Johannan, the sone of Caree, and Jeconye, the sone of Josie, and the residue comyn puple, fro a litil man `til to a greet man.

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 And thei seiden to Jeremye, the profete, Oure preier falle in thi siyt, and preie thou for vs to thi Lord God, for alle these remenauntis; for we ben left a fewe of manye, as thin iyen biholden vs; and thi Lord God telle to vs the weie,

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

3 bi which we schulen go, and the word which we schulen do.

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 Forsothe Jeremye, the profete, seide to hem, Y haue herd; lo! Y preye to oure Lord God, bi youre wordis; Y schal schewe to you ech word, what euere word the Lord schal answere to me, nether Y schal hide ony thing fro 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 And thei seiden to Jeremye, The Lord be witnesse of treuthe and of feith bitwixe vs; if not bi ech word, in which thi Lord God schal sende thee to vs, so we schulen do, whether it be good ether yuel.

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 schulen obeie to the vois of oure Lord God, to whom we senden thee, that it be wel to vs, whanne we han herd the vois of oure Lord God.

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 Forsothe whanne ten daies weren fillid, the word of the Lord was maad to Jeremye.

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

8 And he clepide Johannan, the sone of Caree, and alle the princes of werriours, that weren with hym, and al the puple fro the leste `til to the mooste; and he seide to hem,

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

9 The Lord God of Israel seith these thingis, to whom ye senten me, that Y schulde mekeli sette forth youre preyeris in his siyt.

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 If ye resten, and dwellen in this lond, Y schal bilde you, and Y schal not distrie; Y schal plaunte, and Y schal not drawe out; for now Y am plesid on the yuel which Y dide to you.

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 Nyle ye drede of the face of the kyng of Babiloyne, whom ye `that ben ferdful, dreden; nyle ye drede hym, seith the Lord, for Y am with you, to make you saaf, and to delyuere fro his hond.

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 And Y schal yyue mercies to you, and Y schal haue merci on you, and Y schal make you dwelle in youre lond.

I will be merciful to you, so that he will be merciful to you and will let you stay in your own country.

13 Forsothe if ye seien, We schulen not dwelle in this lond, nether we schulen here the vois of oure Lord God, and seie,

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

14 Nai, but we schulen go to the lond of Egipt, where we schulen not se batel, and schulen not here the noise of trumpe, and we schulen not suffre hungur, and there we schulen dwelle;

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 for this thing, ye remenauntis of Juda, here now the word of the Lord. The Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis, If ye setten youre face, for to entre in to Egipt, and if ye entren,

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 to dwelle there, the swerd whiche ye dreden schal take you there in the lond of Egipt, and the hungur for which ye ben angwischid schal cleue to you in Egipt; and there ye schulen die.

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 And alle the men that settiden her face, to entre in to Egipt, and to dwelle there, schulen die bi swerd, and hungur, and pestilence; no man of hem schal dwelle stille, nether schal aschape fro the face of yuel, which Y schal brynge on hem.

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 For why the Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis, As my strong veniaunce and myn indignacioun is wellid togidere on the dwelleris of Jerusalem, so myn indignacioun schal be wellid togidere on you, whanne ye han entrid in to Egipt; and ye schulen be in to sweryng, and in to wondring, and in to cursyng, and in to schenschipe; and ye schulen no more se this place.

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 The word of the Lord is on you, ye remenauntis of Juda; nyle ye entre in to Egipt; ye witinge schulen wite, that Y haue witnessid to you to dai;

“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 for ye han disseyued youre soulis, for ye senten me to youre Lord God, and seiden, Preye thou for vs to oure Lord God, and bi alle thingis what euer thingis oure Lord schal seie to thee, so telle thou to vs, and we schulen do.

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 Y telde to you to dai, and ye herden not the vois of youre Lord God, on alle thingis for whiche he sente me to you.

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

22 Now therfor ye witynge schulen wite, for ye schulen die bi swerd, and hungur, and pestilence, in the place to which ye wolden entre, to dwelle there.

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.”