Jeremiah 42

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1. 1Then all the military commanders, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, along with everyone from the least important to the most important, came to Jeremiah.
2. 2They said to Jeremiah the prophet, "Please hear our plea. Pray to the LORD your God for us — for all of us who are left. As you can see with your own eyes, only a few of us remain out of what was once a great number.
3. 3Ask the LORD your God to show us which way we should go and what we should do."
4. 4Jeremiah the prophet answered them, "I hear you. I will pray to the LORD your God just as you've asked, and whatever the LORD tells me, I'll pass it on to you — every word, holding nothing back."
5. 5They replied, "May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we don't follow every instruction the LORD your God gives you for us.
6. 6Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we are sending you. It will be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.
7. 7And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah.
8. 8So he called together Johanan son of Kareah, all the military commanders who were with him, and all the people from the least important to the most important.
9. 9He told them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel — the one you sent me to bring your plea before — has to say:
10. 10If you remain in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down. I will plant you and not uproot you, for I repent of the evil I have done to you.
11. 11Don't be afraid of the king of Babylon — the one you're so terrified of. Don't fear him,' declares the LORD, 'because I am with you. I will save you and rescue you from his power.
12. 12I will show you mercy so that he will also have mercy on you and cause you to return to your own land.
13. 13"But if you say, 'We refuse to stay in this land,' and you disobey the LORD your God,
14. 14saying, 'No — we're going to Egypt, where we won't see any war, won't hear any battle trumpets, and won't go hungry. That's where we'll settle' —
15. 15then listen to the word of the LORD, you remnant of Judah. The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says: 'If you are determined to go to Egypt and settle there,
16. 16then the very sword you're afraid of will catch up with you there in Egypt. The very famine you dread will follow you there. And you will die in Egypt.
17. 17Everyone who is determined to go live in Egypt will die by the sword, by famine, and by disease. Not a single one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.'
18. 18For this is what the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says: Just as my anger and my fury have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my fury will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will be an object of cursing, a horror, a curse, and a reproach. And you will see this place no more.
19. 19"The LORD has spoken to you, remnant of Judah: 'Do not go to Egypt!' Understand this clearly — I am warning you today.
20. 20For you were deceitful in your hearts when you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, 'Pray to the LORD our God for us, and whatever the LORD our God says, tell us and we'll do it.'
21. 21Well, today I've told you exactly what he said — and you have not obeyed the LORD your God in anything he sent me to tell you.
22. 22So understand this clearly: you will die by the sword, by famine, and by disease in the very place where you want to go and settle."