Jeremiah 42:1-11

Complete Jewish Bible

42 Then all the military commanders, Yochanan the son of Kareach, Y’zanyah the son of Hosha‘yah and all the people, from the least to the greatest, approached ² and said to Yirmeyahu the prophet, “I beg you, approve our request: pray for us to Adonai your God for all of this remnant. For, while once we were numerous, only a few of us are left, as you can see. ³ Pray that Adonai your God will tell us what direction to take and what to do.”

⁴ Yirmeyahu the prophet said to them: “I hear you. All right, I will pray to Adonai your God, as you have asked. And whatever Adonai answers you, I will tell you; I will withhold nothing from you.” ⁵ They said to Yirmeyahu, “May Adonai be a true and faithful witness against us if we fail to do any part of what Adonai your God gives you to tell us. ⁶ Whether it be good or bad, we will listen to what Adonai our God says. We are dispatching you to him so that things will go well with us, as we heed what Adonai our God says.”

⁷ Ten days later the word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu. ⁸ So he called Yochanan the son of Kareach, all the military commanders with him and all the people, from the least to the greatest, ⁹ and said to them, “You sent me to present your request to Adonai the God of Isra’el. This is what he says: ¹⁰ ‘If you will stay in this land, then I will build you up, not pull you down; I will plant you and not uproot you; for I am relenting from the calamity I inflicted on you. ¹¹ Don’t be afraid of the king of Bavel — of whom you are afraid. Don’t be afraid of him,’ says Adonai, ‘for I am with you to save you and to rescue you from his power.