Jeremiah 42
42
1Johanan, Jezaniah,#42.1 Jezaniah: Hebrew “Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah”; one ancient translation “Azariah son of Hoshaiah” (see also 43.2 and the note there). the other army officers, and everyone else in the group, came to me 2and said, “Please pray to the LORD your God for us. Judah used to have many people, but as you can see, only a few of us are left. 3Ask the LORD to tell us where he wants us to go and what he wants us to do.”
4“All right,” I answered, “I will pray to the LORD your God, and I will tell you everything he says.”
5They answered, “The LORD himself will be our witness that we promise to do whatever he says, 6even if it isn't what we want to do. We will obey the LORD so that all will go well for us.”
7Ten days later, the LORD gave me an answer for 8Johanan, the officers, and the other people. So I called them together 9and told them that the LORD God of Israel had said:
You asked Jeremiah to pray and find out what you should do. 10I am sorry that I had to punish you, and so I now tell you to stay here in Judah, where I will plant you and build you up, instead of tearing you down and uprooting you. 11Don't be afraid of the King of Babylonia. I will protect you from him, 12and I will even force him to have mercy on you and give back your farms.
13But you might keep on saying, “We won't stay here in Judah, and we won't obey the LORD our God. 14We are going to Egypt, where there is plenty of food and no danger of war.”
15People of Judah, you survived when the Babylonian army attacked. Now you are planning to move to Egypt, and if you do go, this is what will happen. 16-17You are afraid of war, starvation, and disease here in Judah, but they will follow you to Egypt and kill you there. None of you will survive the disasters I will send.
18I, the LORD, was angry with the people of Jerusalem and punished them. And if you go to Egypt, I will be angry and punish you the same way. You will never again see your homeland. People will be horrified at what I do to you, and they will use the name of your city as a curse word.
Jeremiah gives a warning
19I told the people:
You escaped the disaster that struck Judah, but now the LORD warns you to stay away from Egypt. 20You asked me to pray and find out what the LORD our God wants you to do, and you promised to obey him. But that was a terrible mistake, 21because now that I have given you the LORD's answer, you refuse to obey him. 22And so, you will die in Egypt from war, hunger, and disease.
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 42: CEVUK
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Jeremiah 42
42
1 And all the leaders of the warriors, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Azariah, the son of Hoshaiah, and the rest of the common people, from the least even to the greatest, drew near.
2 And they said to Jeremiah the prophet: "Let our supplication fall before your sight. And pray for us to the Lord your God, on behalf of this entire remnant. For few out of many have been left behind, just as your eyes behold us.
3 And so, may the Lord your God announce to us the way that we must travel, and the word that we must accomplish."
4 Then Jeremiah, the prophet, said to them: "I have listened. Behold, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words. And whatever word he will respond to me, I will declare to you. And I will conceal nothing from you."
5 And they said to Jeremiah: "May the Lord be the witness between us of truth and fidelity, if we do not act according to whatever word the Lord your God will send by you to us.
6 Whether it is for good or for harm, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you. So may it be well with us, when we heed the voice of the Lord our God."
7 Then, when ten days had been completed, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.
8 And he called Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of warriors who were with him, and all the people, from the least even to the greatest.
9 And he said to them: "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you have sent me, so that I may present your petitions in his sight:
10 If you dwell quietly in this land, I will build you up, and I will not tear you down. I will plant you, and I will not uproot you. For now I have been appeased by the harm that I have done to you.
11 Do not be afraid before the face of the king of Babylon, whom you have dreaded with great fear. Do not dread him, says the Lord. For I am with you, so that I may accomplish your salvation, and so that I may rescue you from his hand.
12 And I will give you mercies, and I will take pity on you, and I will cause you to live in your own land.
13 But if you say: 'We will not live in this land, nor will we heed the voice of the Lord our God,'
14 saying: 'Never! Instead, we will travel to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war, and we will not hear the blast of the trumpet, and we will not endure famine. And there we shall live.'
15 Because of this, hear now the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces so as to advance into Egypt, and if you enter so that you may live there,
16 the sword which you dread will overtake you there, in the land of Egypt, and the famine, about which you are anxious, will cling to you in Egypt, and there you shall die.
17 And all the men, who have set their faces so that they may advance to Egypt in order to live there, will die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence. None of them will remain, nor will they escape from the face of the evil that I will bring over them.
18 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Just as my fury and my indignation has been enflamed over the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will my indignation be enflamed over you, when you will have entered into Egypt. And so you will be an oath, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a disgrace. And you will never see this place again.
19 This is the word of the Lord concerning you, O remnant of Judah: Do not choose to enter into Egypt, for certainly you understand what I have sworn to you this day.
20 For you have deceived your own souls. For you have sent me to the Lord our God, saying: 'Pray on our behalf to the Lord our God. And in accord with anything whatsoever that the Lord our God will tell you, announce this to us, and we will do it.'
21 And I have announced it to you this day, and you have not heeded the voice of the Lord your God, concerning everything about which he has sent me to you.
22 Therefore, know with certainty now, that you will die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence, in the place which you wish to enter so that you may live there."
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in