Jeremiah 42

VIN^{(i) 1} Then all the commanders of the armies, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the smallest to the greatest, approached ² came to Jeremias the prophet and said to him, Have compassion on us, we beseech thee and pray to the Lord thy God for this remnant; for we are left only few of many as thine eyes see. ³ "Pray that the LORD our God will show us the way we should go and what we should do." ⁴ I answered: "Very well, then. I will pray to the LORD our God, just as you have asked. I will tell you what he says. I will not keep back anything from you." ⁵ Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness among us, if we don't do according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to tell us. ⁶ Whether it seems good or bad, we will obey the LORD our God to whom we send you, so it may go well for us. Indeed, we will obey the LORD our God." ⁷ At the end of ten days the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. ⁸ So he called Kareah's son Jonathan, all the military leaders who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest. ⁹ and said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before him: ¹⁰ 'If you will just remain in this land, I'll build you up and not pull you down. I'll plant you and not uproot you, for I'm sorry about the disaster I've brought on you. ¹¹ Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not be afraid of him, says the LORD, for I am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand. ¹² I'll show you compassion, so he will have compassion on you and return you to your land. ¹³ "‘If you say: "We will not stay in this land, and you disobey the LORD your God." ¹⁴ Then you say: "We will go to Egypt, where we will not have to see war, hear the sound of a ram's horn, or be hungry. We will stay there." ¹⁵ then therefore hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel: "If you are determined to go to Egypt, and you go to dwell as aliens there, ¹⁶ the sword that you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt. The famine that you dread will pursue you into Egypt, and there you will die. ¹⁷ All the people who are determined to go into Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, by famine, and by the plague. No one will survive the disaster that I'll bring on them." ¹⁸ For the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'As my anger and my wrath has been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you, when you enter into Egypt; and you will be an object of horror, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach; and you will see this place no more.' ¹⁹ The LORD has told you, remnant of Judah, 'Don't go to Egypt!' So be fully aware that I've warned you, today, ²⁰ that you have made a fatal mistake, for you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, 'Pray for us to the LORD our God, and all that the LORD our God says, so tell us and we will do it.' ²¹ I've told you today, but you haven't obeyed the LORD your God in all that he sent me to tell you. ²² Now, be fully aware that you will die by the sword, by famine, and by plague in the place where you want to settle."