Jeremiah 42

1 And they come nigh — all the heads of the forces, and Johanan son of Kareah, and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest —

Then all the commanders of the forces, along with Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, approached

2 and they say unto Jeremiah the prophet, 'Let, we pray thee, our supplication fall before thee, and pray for us unto Jehovah thy God, for all this remnant; for we have been left a few out of many, as thine eyes do see us;

Jeremiah the prophet and said, “May our petition come before you; pray to the LORD your God on behalf of this entire remnant. For few of us remain of the many, as you can see with your own eyes.

3 and Jehovah thy God doth declare to us the way in which we walk, and the thing that we do.'

Pray that the LORD your God will tell us the way we should walk and the thing we should do.”

4 And Jeremiah the prophet saith unto them, 'I have heard: lo, I am praying unto Jehovah your God according to your words, and it hath come to pass, the whole word that Jehovah answereth you, I declare to you — I do not withhold from you a word.'

“I have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the prophet. “I will surely pray to the LORD your God as you request, and I will tell you everything that the LORD answers; I will not withhold a word from you.”

5 And they have said to Jeremiah, 'Jehovah is against us for a witness true and faithful, if — according to all the word with which Jehovah thy God doth send thee unto us — we do not so.

Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act upon every word that the LORD your God sends you to tell us.

6 Whether good or evil, to the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom we are sending thee, we do hearken; because it is good for us when we hearken to the voice of Jehovah our God.'

Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us, for we will obey the voice of the LORD our God!”

7 And it cometh to pass, at the end of ten days, that there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah,

After ten days the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah,

8 and he calleth unto Johanan son of Kareah, and unto all the heads of the forces that [are] with him, and to all the people, from the least even unto the greatest,

and he summoned Johanan son of Kareah, all the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest.

9 and he saith unto them, 'Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me, to cause your supplication to fall before Him:

Jeremiah told them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition:

10 'If ye do certainly dwell in this land, then I have builded you up, and I throw not down; and I have planted you, and I pluck not up; for I have repented concerning the evil that I have done to you.

‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I will relent of the disaster I have brought upon you.

11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, whom ye are afraid of; be not afraid of him — an affirmation of Jehovah — for with you [am] I, to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear; do not be afraid of him, declares the LORD, for I am with you to save you and deliver you from him.

12 And I give to you mercies, and he hath pitied you, and caused you to turn back unto your own ground.

And I will show you compassion, and he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own land.’

13 'And if ye are saying, We do not dwell in this land — not to hearken to the voice of Jehovah your God,

But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and you thus disobey the voice of the LORD your God,

14 saying, No; but the land of Egypt we enter, that we see no war, and the sound of a trumpet do not hear, and for bread be not hungry; and there do we dwell.

and if you say, ‘No, but we will go to the land of Egypt and live there, where we will not see war or hear the sound of the ram’s horn or hunger for bread,’

15 And now, therefore, hear ye a word of Jehovah, O remnant of Judah: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: If ye really set your faces to enter Egypt, and have gone in to sojourn there,

then hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah! This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and reside there,

16 then it hath come to pass, the sword that ye are afraid of, doth there overtake you, in the land of Egypt; and the hunger, because of which ye are sorrowful, doth there cleave after you in Egypt, and there ye die.

then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow on your heels into Egypt, and you will die there.

17 'Thus are all the men who have set their faces to enter Egypt to sojourn there; they die — by sword, by hunger, and by pestilence, and there is not to them a remnant and an escaped one, because of the evil that I am bringing in upon them;

So all who resolve to go to Egypt to reside there will die by sword and famine and plague. Not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring upon them.’

18 for thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: As poured out hath been Mine anger and My fury on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so poured out is My fury upon you in your entering Egypt, and ye have been for an execration, and for an astonishment, and for a reviling, and for a reproach, and ye do not see any more this place.

For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as My anger and wrath were poured out on the residents of Jerusalem, so will My wrath be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and disgrace, and you will never see this place again.’

19 'Jehovah hath spoken against you, O remnant of Judah, do not enter Egypt: know certainly that I have testified against you to-day;

The LORD has told you, O remnant of Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Know for sure that I have warned you today!

20 for ye have shewed yourselves perverse in your souls, for ye sent me unto Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us unto Jehovah our God, and according to all that Jehovah our God saith, so declare to us, and we have done [it];

For you have deceived yourselves by sending me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray to the LORD our God on our behalf, and as for all that the LORD our God says, tell it to us and we will do it.’

21 and I declare to you to-day, and ye have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah your God, and to anything with which He hath sent me unto you.

For I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God in all He has sent me to tell you.

22 And now, know ye certainly that by sword, by famine, and by pestilence ye die, in the place that ye have desired to go in to sojourn there.'

Now therefore, know for sure that by sword and famine and plague you will die in the place where you desire to go to reside.”