Jeremiah
42
- Then all the army officers, including Johanan
son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least
to the greatest approached
- Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, "Please
hear our petition and pray to the LORD your God for this entire remnant. For
as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left.
- Pray that the LORD your God will tell us
where we should go and what we should do."
- "I have heard you," replied Jeremiah
the prophet. "I will certainly pray to the LORD your God as you have
requested; I will tell you everything the LORD says and will keep nothing
back from you."
- Then they said to Jeremiah, "May the
LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance
with everything the LORD your God sends you to tell us.
- Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we
will obey the LORD our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go
well with us, for we will obey the LORD our God."
- Ten days later the word of the LORD came
to Jeremiah.
- So he called together Johanan son of Kareah
and all the army officers who were with him and all the people from the least
to the greatest.
- He said to them, "This is what the LORD,
the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says:
- 'If you stay in this land, I will build you
up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I am grieved
over the disaster I have inflicted on you.
- Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon,
whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the LORD, for I am with
you and will save you and deliver you from his hands.
- I will show you compassion so that he will
have compassion on you and restore you to your land.'
- "However, if you say, 'We will not stay
in this land,' and so disobey the LORD your God,
- and if you say, 'No, we will go and live
in Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or be hungry for bread,'
- then hear the word of the LORD, O 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,
- then the sword you fear will overtake you
there, and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you
will die.
- Indeed, all who are determined to go to Egypt
to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague; not one of them
will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.'
- This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of
Israel, says: 'As my anger and wrath have been poured out on those who lived
in Jerusalem, so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt.
You will be an object of cursing and horror, of condemnation and reproach;
you will never see this place again.'
- "O remnant of Judah, the LORD has told
you, 'Do not go to Egypt.' Be sure of this: I warn you today
- that 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.'
- I have told you today, but you still have
not obeyed the LORD your God in all he sent me to tell you.
- So now, be sure of this: You will die by
the sword, famine and plague in the place where you want to go to settle."
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