The Book of 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, 42:2and 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:
42:3that Jehovah thy God may show us the way wherein we should walk, and the
thing that we should do. 42:4Then 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. 42:5Then 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. 42:6Whether 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. 42:7And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of Jehovah came unto
Jeremiah. 42:8Then 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,
42:9and said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent
me to present your supplication before him: 42:10If 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. 42:11Be 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. 42:12And I will
grant you mercy, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to
your own land. 42:13But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land; so that ye obey not
the voice of Jehovah your God, 42:14saying, 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: 42:15now 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; 42:16then 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. 42:17So 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. 42:18For 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. 42:19Jehovah hath spoken concerning
you, O remnant of Judah, Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have
testified unto you this day. 42:20For 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: 42:21and 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.
42:22Now 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.