Jeremías 42
Palabra de Dios para Todos
42 Los oficiales del ejército, Johanán hijo de Carea y Azarías hijo de Osaías, se acercaron junto con todo el pueblo, grandes y chicos, 2 al profeta Jeremías y le dijeron:
—Escucha nuestra petición y ruega al SEÑOR tu Dios por los que quedamos. Como puedes ver, sólo quedamos unos cuantos en comparación de los muchos que éramos antes. 3 Ruega al SEÑOR tu Dios que nos diga qué camino debemos seguir y lo que debemos hacer.
4 El profeta Jeremías les dijo:
—Los he oído. Voy a orar al SEÑOR su Dios como me lo han pedido. Les diré todo lo que el SEÑOR me conteste sin ocultarles nada.
5 Ellos le dijeron a Jeremías:
—Que el SEÑOR tu Dios sea un testigo fiel y verdadero contra nosotros si no hacemos todo lo que el SEÑOR nos diga por medio de ti. 6 Gústenos o no, nosotros obedeceremos al SEÑOR, a quien ahora te enviamos a consultar. Así lo haremos para que nos vaya bien al obedecer al SEÑOR nuestro Dios.
7 Después de diez días, vino mensaje del SEÑOR a Jeremías, 8 quien convocó a Johanán hijo de Carea, a los oficiales del ejército que estaban con él, y a todo el pueblo, grandes y chicos, 9 y les dijo:
—Esto dice el SEÑOR Dios de Israel, a quien me enviaron para presentarle su petición: 10 “Si se quedan en esta tierra, yo los edificaré, no los destruiré. Los plantaré y no los arrancaré, pues lamento haberlos hecho sufrir. 11 No teman al rey de Babilonia, al que ahora le tienen tanto miedo. No le teman porque yo estoy con ustedes, yo los rescataré y los salvaré de sus manos. Lo dice el SEÑOR. 12 Yo tendré compasión de ustedes, de manera que el rey de Babilonia también les tendrá compasión y los dejará regresar al país de ustedes”.
13 »Pero si no se quedan en esta tierra, si desobedecen al SEÑOR su Dios, 14 y dicen: “Vayamos a Egipto, donde no veremos guerra y no oiremos el sonido de la trompeta de guerra ni nos moriremos de hambre”, 15 entonces ustedes, los que quedan de Judá aquí, escuchen el mensaje del SEÑOR. Esto dice el SEÑOR Todopoderoso, el Dios de Israel: “Si ustedes insisten en irse a Egipto a vivir como inmigrantes, 16 los alcanzará la guerra que tanto temen, los perseguirá el hambre que tanto les preocupa, y morirán allí. 17 Todos los que insisten en irse a vivir a Egipto, morirán por la guerra, el hambre o las enfermedades. No habrá sobrevivientes ni ninguno que se libre del sufrimiento que les enviaré”.
18 »Pueden estar seguros de esto porque el SEÑOR Todopoderoso, el Dios de Israel, afirma: “Así como descargué mi ira y enojo sobre los habitantes de Jerusalén, así mismo descargaré mi furor sobre ustedes si se van a Egipto. Serán un ejemplo de lo que es ser malditos, desolados y objetos de burla. Nunca más volverán a ver este lugar”. 19 El SEÑOR les dio instrucciones de no ir a Egipto, resto de Judá. Sepan bien que se lo advertí. 20 Ustedes mismos cometieron un error fatal cuando me enviaron al SEÑOR, Dios de ustedes, diciendo: “Ruega por nosotros al SEÑOR nuestro Dios, y dinos exactamente lo que diga el SEÑOR nuestro Dios, y nosotros lo haremos”. 21 Pero aunque hoy les he dicho lo que él me dijo, ustedes no quieren obedecer al SEÑOR su Dios en nada de lo que yo les he comunicado. 22 Por lo tanto, sepan bien que ustedes morirán, ya sea por la guerra, el hambre o las enfermedades, en el país al que se quieren ir a vivir».
Jeremiah 42
New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised
Jeremiah Advises Survivors Not to Migrate
42 Then all the commanders of the forces, and Johanan son of Kareah and Azariah[a] son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, approached 2 the prophet Jeremiah and said, ‘Be good enough to listen to our plea, and pray to the Lord your God for us—for all this remnant. For there are only a few of us left out of many, as your eyes can see. 3 Let the Lord your God show us where we should go and what we should do.’ 4 The prophet Jeremiah said to them, ‘Very well: I am going to pray to the Lord your God as you request, and whatever the Lord answers you I will tell you; I will keep nothing back from you.’ 5 They in their turn said to Jeremiah, ‘May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to everything that the Lord your God sends us through you. 6 Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, in order that it may go well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.’
7 At the end of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8 Then he summoned Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest, 9 and said to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your plea before him: 10 If you will only remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I am sorry for the disaster that I have brought upon you. 11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, as you have been; do not be afraid of him, says the Lord, for I am with you, to save you and to rescue you from his hand. 12 I will grant you mercy, and he will have mercy on you and restore you to your native soil. 13 But if you continue to say, “We will not stay in this land”, thus disobeying the voice of the Lord your God 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”, 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, 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.
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. 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 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. 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.’
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 42:1 Gk: Heb Jezaniah
Jeremiah 42
King James Version
42 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.
© 2005, 2015 Bible League International
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.