Jeremiah 42
42
Warning to Stay in Judah
1Then all the military leaders, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah#42:1 Greek version reads Azariah; compare 43:2. son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, approached 2Jeremiah the prophet. They said, “Please pray to the Lord your God for us. As you can see, we are only a tiny remnant compared to what we were before. 3Pray that the Lord your God will show us what to do and where to go.”
4“All right,” Jeremiah replied. “I will pray to the Lord your God, as you have asked, and I will tell you everything he says. I will hide nothing from you.”
5Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord your God be a faithful witness against us if we refuse to obey whatever he tells us to do! 6Whether we like it or not, we will obey the Lord our God to whom we are sending you with our plea. For if we obey him, everything will turn out well for us.”
7Ten days later the Lord gave his reply to Jeremiah. 8So he called for Johanan son of Kareah and the other military leaders, and for all the people, from the least to the greatest. 9He said to them, “You sent me to the Lord, the God of Israel, with your request, and this is his reply: 10‘Stay here in this land. If you do, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you. For I am sorry about all the punishment I have had to bring upon you. 11Do not fear the king of Babylon anymore,’ says the Lord. ‘For I am with you and will save you and rescue you from his power. 12I will be merciful to you by making him kind, so he will let you stay here in your land.’
13“But if you refuse to obey the Lord your God, and if you say, ‘We will not stay here; 14instead, we will go to Egypt where we will be free from war, the call to arms, and hunger,’ 15then hear the Lord’s message to the remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and live there, 16the very war and famine you fear will catch up to you, and you will die there. 17That is the fate awaiting every one of you who insists on going to live in Egypt. Yes, you will die from war, famine, and disease. None of you will escape the disaster I will bring upon you there.’
18“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as my anger and fury have been poured out on the people of Jerusalem, so they will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. You will be an object of damnation, horror, cursing, and mockery. And you will never see your homeland again.’
19“Listen, you remnant of Judah. The Lord has told you: ‘Do not go to Egypt!’ Don’t forget this warning I have given you today. 20For you were not being honest when you sent me to pray to the Lord your God for you. You said, ‘Just tell us what the Lord our God says, and we will do it!’ 21And today I have told you exactly what he said, but you will not obey the Lord your God any better now than you have in the past. 22So you can be sure that you will die from war, famine, and disease in Egypt, where you insist on going.”
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Jeremiah 42: NLT
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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Jeremiah 42
42
Don’t go to Egypt!
1Then all the army officers, including Johanan, Kareah’s son, and Jezaniah, Hoshaiah’s son, and the rest of the people, from the least to the greatest, approached 2Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, “We have something to ask you: Please pray to the LORD your God for us, this small group, for as you can see we were once many but now are very few. 3May the LORD your God show us where we should go and what we should do.”
4The prophet Jeremiah replied, “Yes, I’ll pray to the LORD your God as you have asked. And I’ll tell you whatever the LORD says; I won’t hide anything from you.”
5Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we fail to do everything that the LORD your God tells us through you. 6Whether we like it or not, we will obey all that the LORD our God says. We will obey the LORD our God, to whom we’re sending you, so it may go well for us.”
7Ten days later Jeremiah received the LORD’s word. 8So he called Johanan, Kareah’s son, and all the army officers with him and the rest of the people, from the least to the greatest, 9and he said to them: You have sent me to present your plea to the LORD, and this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 10If you live in this land, I will build you up and not pull you down. I will plant you and not dig you up because I grieve over the disaster I have brought upon you. 11You don’t have to be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. You don’t have to be afraid of him anymore, declares the LORD, for I will be with you to save you and rescue you from his hand. 12I will be merciful to you, and he will be merciful and return you to your land.
13But if you say, “We won’t live in this land,” you will disobey the LORD your God. 14And if you insist, “No, we’re going to live in Egypt, where there’s no war, battle alarms, or hunger, and there we will stay,” 15then listen to the LORD’s word, you remaining Judeans. The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: If you are determined to go to Egypt and you then go and live there, 16then the war you fear will seize you in the land of Egypt; and the famine you dread will hunt you down in Egypt, and there you will die. 17Every one of you who is determined to go and live in Egypt will die by the sword, famine, and disease. No one will escape the disaster that I will bring upon them there.
18The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: Just as my fierce anger was poured out on the people of Jerusalem, so it will be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing, scorn, shock, and disgrace. And you will never see this place again. 19You who survive from Judah, the LORD has told you: Don’t go to Egypt. Know without a doubt that I have warned you this day. 20You are putting your lives at risk#42.20 Or to do evil by sending me to the LORD your God, saying, “Pray for us to the LORD our God; tell us everything the LORD our God says, and we’ll do it.” 21Today I have told you, but you still haven’t obeyed all that the LORD your God has sent me to tell you. 22So know without a doubt that you will die by war, famine, and disease in the place you yearn to go and live.
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