Jeremiah 41:11-42:6

New King James Version

¹¹ But when ^(A)Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces that were with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, ¹² they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah; and they found him by ^(B)the great pool that is in Gibeon. ¹³ So it was, when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, that they were glad. ¹⁴ Then all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. ¹⁵ But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the Ammonites.

¹⁶ Then Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, took from Mizpah all the ^(C)rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah after he had murdered Gedaliah the son of Ahikam—the mighty men of war and the women and the children and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. ¹⁷ And they departed and dwelt in the habitation of ^(D)Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, as they went on their way to ^(E)Egypt, ¹⁸ because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had murdered Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, ^(F)whom the king of Babylon had made governor in the land.

The Flight to Egypt Forbidden

42 Now all the captains of the forces, ^(G)Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, came near ² and said to Jeremiah the prophet, ^(H)“Please, let our petition be acceptable to you, and ^(I)pray for us to the Lord your God, for all this remnant (since we are left but ^(J)a few of many, as you can see), ³ that the Lord your God may show us ^(K)the way in which we should walk and the thing we should do.”

⁴ Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard. Indeed, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words, and it shall be, that ^(L)whatever the Lord answers you, I will declare it to you. I will ^(M)keep nothing back from you.”

⁵ So they said to Jeremiah, ^(N)“Let the Lord be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do according to everything which the Lord your God sends us by you. ⁶ Whether it is ^[a]pleasing or ^[b]displeasing, we will ^(O)obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we send you, ^(P)that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.”