Jeremiah 42

42Then all the army officers, including Johanan^h son of Kareah and Jezaniah^a son of Hoshaiah,ⁱ and all the people from the least to the greatest^j approached ²Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, “Please hear our petition and pray^k to the Lord your God for this entire remnant.^l For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few^m are left. ³Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.”ⁿ

⁴“I have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the prophet. “I will certainly pray^o to the Lord your God as you have requested; I will tell^p you everything the Lord says and will keep nothing back from you.”^q

⁵Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true^r and faithful^s witness^t against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us. ⁶Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well^u with us, for we will obey^v the Lord our God.”

⁷Ten days later the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. ⁸So he called together Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers^w who were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest.^{x 9}He said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition,^y says:^{z 10}‘If you stay in this land,^a I will build^b you up and not tear you down; I will plant^c you and not uproot you,^d for I have relented concerning the disaster I have inflicted on you.^{e 11}Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon,^f whom you now fear.^g Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord, for I am with you and will save^h you and deliver you from his hands.^{i 12}I will show you compassion^j so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’^k

¹³“However, if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and so disobey^l the Lord your God, ¹⁴and if you say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt,^m where we will not see war or hear the trumpetⁿ or be hungry for bread,’^{o 15}then hear the word of the Lord,^p you remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there, ¹⁶then the sword^q you fear^r will overtake you there, and the famine^s you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die.^{t 17}Indeed, all who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague;^u not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.’ ¹⁸This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and wrath^v have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem,^w so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be a curse^bx and an object of horror,^y a curse^c and an object of reproach;^z you will never see this place again.’^a

¹⁹“Remnant^b of Judah, the Lord has told you, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’^c Be sure of this: I warn you today ²⁰that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the Lord your God and said, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.’^{d 21}I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the Lord your God in all he sent me to tell you.^{e 22}So now, be sure of this: You will die by the sword, famine^f and plague^g in the place where you want to go to settle.”^h