Jeremiah 42

¹Then 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 unto the greatest, came near,

²and said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we pray thee, our supplication be presented before thee, and pray for us unto Jehovah thy God, even for all this remnant (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us),

³that Jehovah thy God may show us the way wherein we should walk, and the thing that we should do.

⁴Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto Jehovah your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass that whatsoever thing Jehovah shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.

⁵Then they said to Jeremiah, Jehovah be a true and faithful witness amongst us, if we do not according to all the word wherewith Jehovah thy God shall send thee to us.

⁶Whether 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 obey the voice of Jehovah our God.

⁷And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah.

⁸Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,

⁹and said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him:

¹⁰If 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 that I have done unto you.

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

¹²And I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.

¹³But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land; so that ye obey not the voice of Jehovah your God,

¹⁴saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:

¹⁵now therefore hear ye the word of Jehovah, O remnant of Judah: Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, If ye indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;

¹⁶then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, whereof ye are afraid, shall follow hard after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.

¹⁷So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there: they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.

¹⁸For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: As mine anger and my wrath hath 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.

¹⁹Jehovah hath spoken concerning you, O remnant of Judah, Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have testified unto you this day.

²⁰For ye have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for ye sent me unto Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us unto Jehovah our God; and according unto all that Jehovah our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.

²¹And I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah your God in anything for which he hath sent me unto you.

²²Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go to sojourn there.

Jeremiah 42

¹And they come nighall 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

²and 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;

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

⁴And 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 youI do not withhold from you a word.'

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

⁶Whether 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.'

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

⁸and 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,

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

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.

¹¹Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, whom ye are afraid of; be not afraid of himan affirmation of Jehovahfor with you am I, to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

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

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

¹⁴saying, 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.

¹⁵And 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,

¹⁶then 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.

¹⁷`Thus are all the men who have set their faces to enter Egypt to sojourn there; they dieby 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;

¹⁸for 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.

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

²⁰for 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 ;

²¹and 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.

²²And 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.'