Jeremiah 42
42
The People Seek Jeremiah’s Counsel
1Then all the commanders of the armies, along with Johanan son of Kareah,#Jr 40:13; 41:11 Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest,#Est 1:20; Jr 6:13; 8:10; 31:34; 42:8; 44:12 approached 2the prophet Jeremiah and said, “May our petition come before you;#Jr 36:7 pray to the Lord your God on our behalf,#1Sm 7:8; 12:19; Is 37:4; Jr 42:20 on behalf of this entire remnant (for few of us remain out of the many,#Lv 26:22 as you can see with your own eyes), 3that the Lord your God may tell us the way we should go and the thing we should do.”
4So the prophet Jeremiah said to them, “I have heard. I will now pray to the Lord your God according to your words, and I will tell you every word that the Lord answers you; I won’t withhold a word from you.”#1Sm 3:17–18
5And they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we don’t act according to every word the Lord your God sends you to tell us.#Gn 31:50; Jdg 11:10 6Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey the Lord our God to whom we are sending you so that it may go well with us.#Jr 7:23 We will certainly obey the Lord our God!”
Jeremiah’s Advice to Stay
7At the end of ten days, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, 8and he summoned Johanan son of Kareah, all the commanders of the armies who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest.
9He said to them, “This is what the Lord says, the God of Israel to whom you sent me to bring your petition before him: 10‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will rebuild and not demolish you,#Jr 24:6 and I will plant and not uproot you, because I relent concerning the disaster that I have brought on you.#Ex 32:12,14; 2Sm 24:16; Jr 18:8; 26:3,13; Jl 2:13; Jnh 3:10; 4:2 11Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon#Jr 41:18 whom you now fear; don’t be afraid of him’ — this is the Lord’s declaration — ‘because I am with you to save you#Rm 8:31 and rescue you from him. 12I will grant you compassion,#Neh 1:11; Jr 12:15; 30:18; 31:20; 33:26 and he#42:12 LXX reads I will have compassion on you and allow you to return to your own soil.’
13“But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’#Jr 44:16–17 in order to disobey the Lord your God, 14and if you say, ‘No, instead we’ll go to the land of Egypt#Jr 41:17 where we will not see war or hear the sound of the ram’s horn#Jr 4:19,21 or hunger for food, and we’ll live there,’ 15then hear the word of the Lord, remnant of Judah! This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel,#Is 21:10; Jr 7:3,21; 9:15; 16:9; 19:3,15; 27:4,21; 28:2,14; 29:4,8,21,25 says: ‘If you are firmly resolved to go to Egypt#Dt 17:16; Jr 44:12–14 and stay there for a while, 16then the sword#Ezk 11:8 you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine you are worried about will follow on your heels#42:16 Lit will cling after you there to Egypt, and you will die there. 17All who resolve to go to Egypt to stay there for a while will die by the sword, famine, and plague. They will have no survivor or fugitive from the disaster I will bring on them.’
18“For this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as my anger and fury were poured out on Jerusalem’s residents,#Jr 7:20 so will my fury pour out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an example for cursing, scorn,#Dt 28:37; 2Ch 29:8; 30:7; Jr 5:30; 18:16; 19:8; 25:9,18; 29:18; 44:12,22; 49:17; 50:13; Mc 6:16; Zph 2:15 execration, and disgrace, and you will never see this place again.’ 19The Lord has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah: ‘Don’t go to Egypt.’ Know for certain that I have warned you today!#Ezk 2:5 20You have gone astray at the cost of your lives#42:20 Or You have led your own selves astray because you are the ones who sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray to the Lord our God on our behalf, and as for all that the Lord our God says, tell it to us, and we’ll act accordingly.’ 21For I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the Lord your God in everything he has sent me to tell you. 22Now therefore, know for certain that by the sword, famine, and plague you will die in the place where you desired to go to stay for a while.”
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Jeremiah 42: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Jeremiah 42
42
1Then 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, 2and said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we pray thee, our supplication be presented before thee, and pray for us unto Jehovah thy God, even for all this remnant (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us), 3that Jehovah thy God may show us the way wherein we should walk, and the thing that we should do. 4Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto Jehovah your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass that whatsoever thing Jehovah shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you. 5Then they said to Jeremiah, Jehovah be a true and faithful witness amongst us, if we do not according to all the word wherewith Jehovah thy God shall send thee to us. 6Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of Jehovah our God.
7And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah. 8Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, 9and said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him: 10If 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. 11Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith Jehovah: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. 12And I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land. 13But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land; so that ye obey not the voice of Jehovah your God, 14saying, 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: 15now therefore hear ye the word of Jehovah, O remnant of Judah: Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, If ye indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there; 16then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, whereof ye are afraid, shall follow hard after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die. 17So 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.
18For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: As mine anger and my wrath hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my wrath 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. 19Jehovah hath spoken concerning you, O remnant of Judah, Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have testified unto you this day. 20For ye have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for ye sent me unto Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us unto Jehovah our God; and according unto all that Jehovah our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it. 21And I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah your God in anything for which he hath sent me unto you. 22Now 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 to sojourn there.
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