Jeremiah 42
1 Then all the army commanders, Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, came forward.
2 They said to the prophet Jeremiah, “Please hear our plea. Pray to the LORD your God for all this remnant. For though we were many, only a few of us remain, as you can see with your own eyes.
3 May the LORD your God show us the way we should go and what we should do.”
4 The prophet Jeremiah answered them, “I have heard you. I will pray to the LORD your God, as you have asked. I will tell you everything the LORD answers; I will hide nothing from you.”
5 They said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we fail to do everything the LORD your God sends you to tell us.
6 Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we are sending you. It will go well with us if we obey the voice of the LORD our God.”
7 At the end of ten days, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah.
8 He summoned Johanan son of Kareah, all the army commanders with him, and all the people, from the least to the greatest.
9 He said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says, to whom you sent me to present your plea:
10 ‘If you remain in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, because I regret the harm I have done to you.
11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the LORD, for I am with you to save you and rescue you from his hand.’”
12 “‘I will grant you compassion, and he will have compassion on you and bring you back to your land.’”
13 “But suppose you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ and so you disobey the voice of the LORD your God.
14 Suppose you say, ‘No! We will go to the land of Egypt, where we will see no war, hear no trumpet call, and suffer no lack of bread. That is where we will live.’
15 “Now then, hear the word of the LORD, remnant of Judah. This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Suppose you are determined to go to Egypt and settle there.
16 Then the sword you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine you dread will follow close behind you there in Egypt. There you will die.
17 All the people who are determined to go to Egypt and settle there will die by the sword, famine, and plague. None will survive or escape the disaster I am bringing on them.
18 For this is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as my anger and fury were poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem, so my fury will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. You will become an object of horror, shock, cursing, and disgrace, and you will never see this place again.’”
19 The LORD has spoken to you, remnant of Judah: ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Know for certain that I have warned you today.
20 You have deceived yourselves. You sent me to the LORD your God and said, ‘Pray to the LORD our God for us; tell us everything the LORD our God says, and we will do it.’
21 Today I have told you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God in anything he sent me to tell you.
22 Now then, know for certain that you will die by the sword, famine, and plague in the place where you want to go and settle.”
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