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Jeremiah 42

Warning Against Going to Egypt

1 Then ^aall the commanders of the forces, and ^bJohanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah the son of ^cHoshaiah, and all the people ^dfrom the least to the greatest, came near 2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Let ^eour plea for mercy come before you, and ^fpray to the Lord your God for us, for all ^gthis remnant— ^hbecause we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us— 3 that ⁱthe Lord your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do.” 4 Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your request, and ^jwhatever the Lord answers you I will tell you. ^kI will keep nothing back from you.” 5 Then they said to Jeremiah, ^l“May the Lord be a true and ^mfaithful witness against us ⁿif we do not act according to all the word ^owith which the Lord your God sends you to us. 6 Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, ^pthat it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.”

7 ^qAt the end of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8 Then he summoned ^rJohanan the son of Kareah and ^sall the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people ^tfrom the least to the greatest, 9 and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ^uto whom you sent me to present your plea for mercy before him: 10 If you will remain in this land ^vthen I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; ^wfor I relent of the disaster that I did to you. 11 ^xDo not fear the king of Babylon ^yof whom you are afraid. ^zDo not fear him, declares the Lord ^aafor I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. 12 ^abI will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land. 13 ^acBut if you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord your God 14 and saying, ‘No, ^adwe will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or ^aehear the sound of the trumpet or ^afbe hungry for bread, and we will dwell there,’ 15 then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^agIf you set your faces to enter Egypt ^ahand go to live there, 16 then the sword ^aithat you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt, ^ajand there you shall die. 17 All the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to live there shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. They shall have ^akno remnant or survivor from the disaster that I will bring upon them.

18 “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^alAs my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. ^amYou shall become an execration, a horror, a curse, and a taunt. You shall see this place no more. 19 The Lord has said to you, O remnant of Judah, ^an‘Do not go to Egypt.’ ^aoKnow for a certainty that I have warned you this day 20 that you have gone astray at the cost of your lives. ^apFor you sent me to the Lord your God, saying ^aq‘Pray for us to the Lord our God, and ^arwhatever the Lord our God says declare to us and we will do it.’ 21 And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God in anything ^asthat he sent me to tell you. 22 ^atNow therefore know for a certainty that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live.”