²⁶ And all the people, small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose ^(A)and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

⁴ So Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains of the forces, and all the people would ^(A)not obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah. ⁵ But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces took ^(B)all the remnant of Judah who had returned to dwell in the land of Judah, from all nations where they had been driven— ⁶ men, women, children, ^(C)the king’s daughters, ^(D)and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. ^7 (E)So they went to the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And they went as far as ^(F)Tahpanhes.

¹⁶ Then Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, took from Mizpah all the ^(A)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 ^(B)Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, as they went on their way to ^(C)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, ^(D)whom the king of Babylon had made governor in the land.

¹⁴ saying, ‘No, but we will go to the land of ^(A)Egypt where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor be hungry for bread, and there we will dwell’— ¹⁵ Then hear now the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah! Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you ^(B)wholly^[a] set ^(C)your faces to enter Egypt, and go to dwell there, ¹⁶ then it shall be that the ^(D)sword which you feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; the famine of which you were afraid shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there you shall die. ¹⁷ So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to dwell there. They shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. And ^(E)none of them shall remain or escape from the disaster that I will bring upon them.’

¹⁸ “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘As My anger and My fury have been ^(F)poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will My fury be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And ^(G)you shall be an oath, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more.’

¹⁹ “The Lord has said concerning you, O remnant of Judah, ^(H)‘Do not go to Egypt!’ Know certainly that I have ^[b]admonished you this day. ²⁰ For you ^[c]were hypocrites in your hearts when you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the Lord our God, and according to all that the Lord your God says, so declare to us and we will do it.’ ²¹ And I have this day declared it to you, but you have ^(I)not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, or anything which He has sent you by me. ²² Now therefore, know certainly that you ^(J)shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to dwell.”