Jeremias (Jeremiah) 42
42
1Then all the captains of the warriors and Johanan the son of Caree and Jezonias the son of Osaias and the rest of the people from the least to the greatest came near.
2And they said to Jeremias the prophet: Let our supplication fall before thee, and pray thou for us to the Lord thy God for all this remnant: for we are left but a few of many, as thy eyes do behold us.
3And let the Lord thy God shew us the way by which we may walk and the thing that we must do.
4And Jeremias the prophet said to them: I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words: and whatsoever thing he shall answer me, I will declare it to you, and I will hide nothing from you.
5And they said to Jeremias: The Lord be witness between us of truth and faithfulness, if we do not according to every thing for which the Lord thy God shall send thee to us.
6Whether it be good or evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom me send thee: that it may be well with us when we shall hearken to the voice of the Lord our God.
7Now after ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremias.
8And he called Johanan the son of Caree and all the captains of the fighting men that were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest.
9And he said to them: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me, to present your supplications before him:
10If you will be quiet and remain in this land, I will build you up and not pull you down: I will plant you and not pluck you up: for now I am appeased for the evil that I have done to you.
11Fear not because of the king of Babylon, of whom you are greatly afraid. Fear him not, saith the Lord: for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand.
12And I will shew mercies to you and will take pity on you and will cause you to dwell in your own land.
13But if you say: We will not dwell in this land, neither will we hearken to the voice of the Lord our 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 suffer hunger; and there we will dwell.
15For this now hear the word of the Lord, ye remnant of Juda: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to go into Egypt and enter in to dwell there:
16The sword which you fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt: and the famine whereof you are afraid shall cleave to you in Egypt: and there you shall die.
17And all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to dwell there shall die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence: none of them shall remain nor escape from the face of the evil that I will bring upon them.
18For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: As my anger and my indignation hath been kindled against the inhabitants of Jerusalem: so shall my indignation be kindled against you, when you shall enter into Egypt. And you shall be an execration and an astonishment and a curse and a reproach: and you shall see this place no more.
19This is the word of the Lord concerning you, O ye remnant of Juda: Go ye not into Egypt. Know certainly that I have adjured you this day.
20For you have deceived your own souls: for you sent me to the Lord our God, saying: Pray for us to the Lord our God, and according to all that the Lord our God shall say to thee, so declare unto us, and we will do it.
21And now I have declared it to you this day: and you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God with regard to all the things for which he hath sent me to you.
22Now therefore know certainly that you shall die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, in the place to which you desire to go to dwell there.
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Jeremias (Jeremiah) 42: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Jeremiah 42
42
The People Ask Jeremiah to Pray for them
1Then all the army leaders, including Johanan son of Kareah and Azariah#42.1 One ancient translation (see also 43.2) Azariah; Hebrew Jezaniah. son of Hoshaiah, came with people of every class 2and said to me, “Please do what we ask you! Pray to the LORD our God for us. Pray for all of us who have survived. Once there were many of us; but now only a few of us are left, as you can see. 3Pray that the LORD our God will show us the way we should go and what we should do.”
4I answered, “Very well, then. I will pray to the LORD our God, just as you have asked, and whatever he says, I will tell you. I will not keep back anything from you.”
5Then they said to me, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not obey all the commands that the LORD our God gives you for us. 6Whether it pleases us or not, we will obey the LORD our God, to whom we are asking you to pray. All will go well with us if we obey him.”
The LORD's Answer to Jeremiah's Prayer
7Ten days later the LORD spoke to me; 8so I called together Johanan, all the army leaders who were with him, and all the other people. 9I said to them, “The LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me with your request has said, 10‘If you are willing to go on living in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not pull you up. The destruction I brought on you has caused me great sorrow. 11Stop being afraid of the king of Babylonia. I am with you, and I will rescue you from his power. 12Because I am merciful, I will make him have mercy on you and let you go back home. I, the LORD, have spoken.’
13-15“But you people who are left in Judah must not disobey the LORD your God and refuse to live in this land. You must not say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt, where we won't face war any more or hear the call to battle or go hungry.’ If you say this, then the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says, ‘If you are determined to go and live in Egypt, 16then the war that you fear will overtake you, and the hunger you dread will follow you, and you will die there in Egypt. 17All the people who are determined to go and live in Egypt will die either in war or of starvation or disease. Not one of them will survive, not one will escape the disaster that I am going to bring on them.’
18“The LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘Just as my anger and fury were poured out on the people of Jerusalem, so my fury will be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will be a horrifying sight; people will treat you with scorn and use your name as a curse. You will never see this place again.’ ”
19Then I continued, “The LORD has told you people who are left in Judah not to go to Egypt. And so I warn you now 20that you are making a fatal mistake. You asked me to pray to the LORD our God for you, and you promised that you would do everything that he commands. 21And now I have told you, but you are disobeying everything that the LORD our God sent me to tell you. 22So then, remember this: you will die in war or of starvation or disease in the land where you want to go and live.”
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.