Jeremiah_Chapter 42

The commanders of the army and Johanan the son of Kareah, as well as Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah (also known as Azariah, see 43:2) and all the people, from the smallest to the greatest, came forward,

And he said to the prophet Jeremiah, Let us pray before you, and pray to the Lord your God for us who are left. We were originally numerous, but now there are very few left, as you have seen with your own eyes.

May the Lord your God show us the path we should take and the things we should do.

The prophet Jeremiah said to them, “I have heard of you, and I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words.”. Whatever the Lord answers, I will tell you without concealing anything.

So they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness among us, if we do not walk in all the words that the Lord your God has sent you to speak.”.

We now invite you to the presence of the Lord our God, and we will obey his words, whether good or bad. If we obey the word of the Lord our God, we will be blessed.

After ten days, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.

He called Johanan the son of Kareah, along with all the commanders of the army and all the people, from the smallest to the greatest,

And he said to them, This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, whom you have asked me to pray for you before him, says:,

If you continue to live in this land, I will establish you, not demolish you, plant you, and not uproot you, because I have regretted the disaster that has befallen you.

Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you fear. The Lord said, Do not be afraid of him. Because I am with you, to save you from his hands.

I will also make him show mercy, so that he may have mercy on you and bring you back to your own land.

If you say, ‘We do not dwell in this land, so that we do not obey the voice of the Lord your God,’,

We will not dwell in this land, but we will enter the land of Egypt, where we will not see war, nor hear the sound of the horn, nor be hungry without food. We must live there.

Listen now to the word of the Lord, you remaining Jews. This is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: If you decide to enter Egypt and sojourn there,

The sword that you fear will catch up with you in the land of Egypt. The famine that you fear will closely follow you in Egypt. You will die there.

Anyone who intends to enter Egypt and sojourn there will die by the sword, famine, and plague, and no one will be left to escape the calamity that I have brought upon them.

This is what the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: As I pour out my anger and wrath on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will I pour out my wrath on you when you enter Egypt, so that you will be cursed, horrified, cursed, and humiliated, and you will not see this place again.

And the Lord said of you, O remaining Judah, do not enter Egypt. You must truly know that the police taught you today.

You harm yourself with deceit. Because you have invited me to the Lord your God and said, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us, and tell us all that the Lord our God has said, and we will do it.’.

I tell you these words today: The Lord your God sent me to speak to you about your affairs, but you did not listen.

Now you must know for sure that you will die by the sword, famine, and plague in the land you are going to sojourn in.