²⁶ Then all the people, high and low,^[a] and the captains of the forces set out and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.^(A)

⁴ So Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the Lord to stay in the land of Judah.^{(A) 5} But Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took all the remnant of Judah who had returned to settle in the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been driven— ⁶ the men, the women, the children, the princesses, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, also the prophet Jeremiah and Baruch son of Neriah.^{(B) 7} And they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And they arrived at Tahpanhes.

¹⁶ Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him took all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah from Mizpah after he had slain Gedaliah son of Ahikam—soldiers, women, children, and eunuchs, whom Johanan^[a] brought back from Gibeon.^{[b](A) 17} And they set out and stopped at Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem, intending to go to Egypt^{(B) 18} because of the Chaldeans, for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.^(C)

¹⁴ and saying, ‘No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread, and there we will stay,’^{(A) 15} then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you are determined to enter Egypt and go to settle there,^{(B) 16} then the sword that you fear shall overtake you there, in the land of Egypt, and the famine that you dread shall follow close after you into Egypt, and there you shall die. ¹⁷ All the people who have determined to go to Egypt to settle there shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; they shall have no remnant or survivor from the disaster that I am bringing upon them.^(C)

¹⁸ “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Just as my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You shall become an object of execration and horror, of cursing and ridicule. You shall see this place no more.^{(D) 19} The Lord has said to you, ‘O remnant of Judah, Do not go to Egypt.’ Be well aware that I have warned you today^{(E) 20} that you have made a fatal mistake. For you yourselves sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the Lord our God, and whatever the Lord our God says, tell us, and we will do it.’ ²¹ So I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God in anything that he sent me to tell you.^{(F) 22} Be well aware, then, that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go and settle.”^(G)