Jeremiah 42
1 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of
Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even
unto the greatest, came near,
2 And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our
supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God,
even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do
behold us:)
3 That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk,
and the thing that we may do.
4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you;
behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall
come to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it
unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.
5 Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful
witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the
LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
6 Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice
of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we
obey the voice of the LORD our God.
7 And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD
came unto Jeremiah.
8 Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of
the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the
greatest,
9 And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto
whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;
10 If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and
not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me
of the evil that I have done unto you.
11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be
not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver
you from his hand.
12 And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon
you, and cause you to return to your own land.
13 But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the
voice of the LORD your God,
14 Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we
shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread;
and there will we dwell:
15 And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of
Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your
faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;
16 Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared,
shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were
afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.
17 So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into
Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the
pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will
bring upon them.
18 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine
anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so
shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye
shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye
shall see this place no more.
19 The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye
not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.
20 For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD
your God, saying, Pray for us unto the LORD our God; and according unto all that
the LORD our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.
21 And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not
obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent
me unto you.
22 Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by
the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to
sojourn.
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