| Chapter
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. |
