⁷ Now at the ^(A)end of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. ⁸ Then he called for Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, and for all the people from the small to the great, ⁹ and said to them, “This is what the Lord ^(B)says, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your plea before Him: ¹⁰ ‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will ^(C)build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I ^[a]will ^(D)relent of the disaster that I have inflicted on you. ^11 (E)Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,’ declares the Lord, ‘for ^(F)I am with you to save you and rescue you from his hand. ¹² I will also show you compassion, so that ^(G)he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own soil. ¹³ But if you are going to say, “We will ^(H)not stay in this land,” so as not to listen to the voice of the Lord your God, ¹⁴ saying, “No, but we will ^(I)go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war, or ^(J)hear the sound of a trumpet, or hunger for bread, and we will stay there”; ¹⁵ then ^[b]in that case listen to the word of the Lord, you remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “If you really set your ^[c]minds to enter ^(K)Egypt and go in to reside there, ¹⁶ then the ^(L)sword, of which you are afraid, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are anxious, will follow closely after you there in Egypt, and you will die there. ¹⁷ So all the people who set their ^[d]minds to go to Egypt to reside there will die by the ^(M)sword, by famine, or by plague; and they will ^(N)have no refugees or survivors from the disaster that I am going to bring on them.”’”

¹⁸ For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “As My ^(O)anger and wrath have gushed out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will gush out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a ^(P)curse, an object of horror, ^[e]an imprecation, and a disgrace; and ^(Q)you will not see this place again.”