The Flight to Egypt Forbidden

42 Now all the captains of the forces, ^(A)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, ^(B)“Please, let our petition be acceptable to you, and ^(C)pray for us to the Lord your God, for all this remnant (since we are left but ^(D)a few of many, as you can see), ³ that the Lord your God may show us ^(E)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 ^(F)whatever the Lord answers you, I will declare it to you. I will ^(G)keep nothing back from you.”

⁵ So they said to Jeremiah, ^(H)“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 ^(I)obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we send you, ^(J)that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.”

⁷ And it happened after ten days that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. ⁸ Then he called Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, ⁹ and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before Him: ¹⁰ ‘If you will still remain in this land, then ^(K)I will build you and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up. For I ^(L)relent concerning the disaster that I have brought upon you. ¹¹ Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not be afraid of him,’ says the Lord, ^(M)‘for I am with you, to save you and deliver you from his hand. ¹² And ^(N)I will show you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and cause you to return to your own land.’

¹³ “But if ^(O)you say, ‘We will not dwell in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord your God, ¹⁴ saying, ‘No, but we will go to the land of ^(P)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 ^(Q)wholly^[c] set ^(R)your faces to enter Egypt, and go to dwell there, ¹⁶ then it shall be that the ^(S)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 ^(T)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 ^(U)poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will My fury be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And ^(V)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, ^(W)‘Do not go to Egypt!’ Know certainly that I have ^[d]admonished you this day. ²⁰ For you ^[e]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 ^(X)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 ^(Y)shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to dwell.”

Be Anxious for Nothing; Think These Thoughts

4 Therefore, my beloved and ^(A)longed-for brethren, ^(B)my joy and crown, so ^(C)stand fast in the Lord, beloved.

Be United, Joyful, and in Prayer

² I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche ^(D)to be of the same mind in the Lord. ^3 [a]And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who ^(E)labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in ^(F)the Book of Life.

^4 (G)Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

⁵ Let your ^[b]gentleness be known to all men. ^(H)The Lord is at hand.

^6 (I)Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with ^(J)thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and ^(K)the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Meditate on These Things

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are ^(L)true, whatever things are ^(M)noble, whatever things are ^(N)just, ^(O)whatever things are pure, whatever things are ^(P)lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. ⁹ The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and ^(Q)the God of peace will be with you.

Philippian Generosity

¹⁰ But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last ^(R)your^[c] care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. ¹¹ Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, ^(S)to be content: ^12 (T)I know how to ^[d]be abased, and I know how to ^[e]abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. ¹³ I can do all things ^(U)through ^[f]Christ who strengthens me.

¹⁴ Nevertheless you have done well that ^(V)you shared in my distress. ¹⁵ Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, ^(W)no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. ¹⁶ For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. ¹⁷ Not that I seek the gift, but I seek ^(X)the fruit that abounds to your account. ¹⁸ Indeed I ^[g]have all and abound. I am full, having received from ^(Y)Epaphroditus the things sent from you, ^(Z)a sweet-smelling aroma, ^(AA)an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. ¹⁹ And my God ^(AB)shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. ^20 (AC)Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Greeting and Blessing

²¹ Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren ^(AD)who are with me greet you. ²² All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar’s household.

²³ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with ^[h]you all. Amen.

Jeremiah Taken to Egypt

43 Now it happened, when Jeremiah had stopped speaking to all the people all the ^(A)words of the Lord their God, for which the Lord their God had sent him to them, all these words, ^2 (B)that Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to dwell there.’ ³ But ^(C)Baruch the son of Neriah has ^[a]set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death or carry us away captive to Babylon.” ⁴ So Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains of the forces, and all the people would ^(D)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 ^(E)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, ^(F)the king’s daughters, ^(G)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 (H)So they went to the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And they went as far as ^(I)Tahpanhes.

⁸ Then the ^(J)word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, ⁹ “Take large stones in your hand, and hide them in the sight of the men of Judah, in the ^[b]clay in the brick courtyard which is at the entrance to Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes; ¹⁰ and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^(K)My servant, and will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden. And he will spread his royal pavilion over them. ^11 (L)When he comes, he shall strike the land of Egypt and deliver to death ^(M)those appointed for death, and to captivity those appointed for captivity, and to the sword those appointed for the sword. ^12 [c]I will kindle a fire in the houses of ^(N)the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive. And he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment, and he shall go out from there in peace. ¹³ He shall also break the sacred pillars of ^[d]Beth Shemesh that are in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians he shall burn with fire.” ’ ”

The Fruitful Grain of Wheat

²⁰ Now there ^(A)were certain Greeks among those ^(B)who came up to worship at the feast. ²¹ Then they came to Philip, ^(C)who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

²² Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

²³ But Jesus answered them, saying, ^(D)“The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. ²⁴ Most assuredly, I say to you, ^(E)unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much ^[a]grain. ^25 (F)He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ If anyone serves Me, let him ^(G)follow Me; and ^(H)where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

Jesus Predicts His Death on the Cross

^27 (I)“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? ^(J)But for this purpose I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify Your name.”

^(K)Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”

²⁹ Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.”

³⁰ Jesus answered and said, ^(L)“This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. ³¹ Now is the judgment of this world; now ^(M)the ruler of this world will be cast out. ³² And I, ^(N)if I am ^[b]lifted up from the earth, will draw ^(O)all peoples to Myself.” ^33 (P)This He said, signifying by what death He would die.

³⁴ The people answered Him, ^(Q)“We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

³⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer ^(R)the light is with you. ^(S)Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; ^(T)he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶ While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become ^(U)sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and ^(V)was hidden from them.

Who Has Believed Our Report?

³⁷ But although He had done so many ^(W)signs before them, they did not believe in Him, ³⁸ that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke:

³⁹ Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:

^41 (AA)These things Isaiah said ^[c]when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.

Walk in the Light

⁴² Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but ^(AB)because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; ^43 (AC)for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried out and said, ^(AD)“He who believes in Me, ^(AE)believes not in Me ^(AF)but in Him who sent Me. ⁴⁵ And ^(AG)he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. ^46 (AH)I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. ⁴⁷ And if anyone hears My words and does not ^[d]believe, ^(AI)I do not judge him; for ^(AJ)I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. ^48 (AK)He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—^(AL)the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. ⁴⁹ For ^(AM)I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, ^(AN)what I should say and what I should speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I ^(AO)speak.”