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 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 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, “Please listen to our request.

3 and Jehovah thy God doth declare to us the way in which we walk, and the thing that we 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 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'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 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 don't do everything that the Lord your God tells you we should.

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.'

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

Ten days later a message from 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,

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

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, This what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to those of who you sent to me to present your request:

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 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 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.

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

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

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 won't stay here in this country,” and by doing so disobey what the Lord your God says;

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.

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 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 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 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 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 '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;

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 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.

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 '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, survivors from Judah, ‘Don't go to Egypt,’” Jeremiah concluded. “Be absolutely clear about this warning I'm giving 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];

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 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.

I have told you today what he said, but you have not obeyed everything the Lord your God 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.'

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.”