Jeremiah 42
Expanded Bible
42 While there, Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah [or Azariah; 43:2] son of Hoshaiah ·went to [approached] Jeremiah the prophet. All the army officers and all the people, from the least important to the greatest, went along, too. 2 They said to him, “Jeremiah, ·please listen to what we ask [L let our pleas for help/supplications fall before you]. Pray to the Lord your God for all ·the people left alive from the family of Judah [L this remnant]. At one time there were many of us, but ·you can see that [L as your eyes can see] there are few of us now. 3 So pray that the Lord your God will tell us ·where we should go [L the path on which we should go] and what we should do.”
4 Then Jeremiah the prophet answered, “I ·understand what you want me to do [L hear]. I will pray to the Lord your God ·as you have asked [L according to your works]. I will tell you ·everything he says [all his answers] and not ·hide [L keep back] anything from you.”
5 Then the people said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and ·loyal [faithful] witness against us if we don’t do everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us. 6 ·It does not matter if we like the message or not [L Whether good or bad…]. We will ·obey [listen to] the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you. We will ·obey [listen to] what he says so good things will happen to us.”
7 Ten days later the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. 8 Then Jeremiah called for Johanan son of Kareah, the army officers with him, and all the other people, from the least important to the greatest. 9 Jeremiah said to them, “You sent me to ·ask the Lord for what you wanted [L make your supplications/fall before him]. This is what the God of Israel says: 10 ‘If you will stay in this land [C Judah], I will build you up and not tear you down. I will plant you and not ·pull [tear] you up [1:10], because I am ·sad [sorry] about the ·disaster [evil; trouble] I ·brought on [L did to] you. 11 Now you fear the king of Babylon, but don’t be afraid of him. Don’t be afraid of him,’ says the Lord, ‘because I am with you. I will save you and ·rescue [protect] you from his ·power [L hand]. 12 I will be ·kind [compassionate; merciful] to you, and he will also treat you with ·mercy [kindness; compassion] and ·let you stay [restore you] in your land.’
13 “But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land [C Judah],’ you will ·disobey [not listen to the voice of] the Lord your God. 14 Or you might say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt. There we will not see war, or hear the trumpets of ·war [battle], or ·be hungry [famine].’ 15 If you say that, listen to the message of the Lord, ·you who are left alive from [remnant of] Judah. This is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], the God of Israel, says: ‘If you ·make up your mind [are determined] to go and live in Egypt, these things will happen: 16 ·You are afraid of war, but it will find you [L The sword you fear will overtake you there,] in the land of Egypt. And ·you are worried about hunger, but it will follow you into [L the famine you dread will cling after you there in] Egypt, and you will die there. 17 Everyone who ·goes to live in [L sets their face to go to] Egypt will die ·in war [L by sword] or from ·hunger [famine] or ·terrible disease [plague; pestilence]. ·No one who goes to Egypt will live; no one will escape [L There will be no remnant or survivor from] the ·terrible things [harm; L evil] I will bring to them.’
18 “This is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], the God of Israel, says: ‘I ·showed [poured out] my anger against the people of Jerusalem. In the same way I will ·show [pour out] my anger against you when you go to Egypt. Other nations will speak evil of you. People will be ·shocked [horrified] by what will happen to you. You will become a curse word, and people will ·insult [ridicule] you. And you will never see this place [C Judah] again.’
19 “·You who are left alive in [Remnant of] Judah, the Lord has told you, ‘Don’t go to Egypt.’ Be sure you ·understand [know] this; I warn you today 20 that you ·are making a mistake that will cause your deaths [made a fatal mistake; L have erred with your life]. You sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us. Tell us everything the Lord our God says, and we will do it.’ 21 So today I have ·told [proclaimed to] you, but you have not ·obeyed [listened to the voice of] the Lord your God in all that he sent me to tell you. 22 So now be sure you ·understand [know] this: You want to go to live in Egypt, but you will die there by ·war [L sword], ·hunger [famine], or ·terrible diseases [plague; pestilence].”
Jeremiah 42
Amplified Bible
Warning against Going to Egypt
42 Then all the commanders of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah (Azariah) the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached 2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our petition be presented before you, and pray to the Lord your God for us, that is, for all this remnant [of the people of Judah]; for we were once many, but now [only] a few of us are left, as you see with your own eyes, [so please pray] 3 that the Lord your God may show us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.” 4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Now hear me, I will pray to the Lord your God in accordance with your words; and I will declare to you whatever message the Lord answers; I will keep nothing back from you.” 5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we fail to act in accordance with all the things that the Lord your God sends you to tell us. 6 Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to and honor the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of the Lord our God.”
7 Now after ten days [of prayer] had passed 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 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 petition before Him: 10 ‘If you will indeed remain in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I will relent and be satisfied concerning the disaster that I have inflicted on you [as discipline, and I will replace judgment with compassion].(A) 11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear [as if he were deity]; do not be afraid of him,’ says the Lord, ‘for [he is a mere man, but I am the living, omniscient God and] I am with you [always] to protect you and to deliver you from his hand. 12 And I will show you compassion, so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own land. 13 But if you are going to say, “We will not stay in this land,” and [in so doing] do not listen to the voice of the Lord your God, 14 saying, “No, but we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the sound of the [warrior’s] trumpet or hunger for bread, and we will stay there,” 15 then in that case listen to the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “If you are really determined to go to Egypt and to reside there [temporarily], 16 then the sword, of which you are afraid, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine of which you are afraid will follow closely after you in Egypt, and you will die there. 17 So all the men who set their mind to go to Egypt to reside there [temporarily] will die by the sword, by famine and by virulent disease; none of them will remain or survive the disaster that I am going to bring on them.”’”
18 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “As My anger and My wrath have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. You will become detested, an object of horror, a curse and a people scorned; and you will no longer see this place.” 19 The Lord has spoken to you, O remnant of Judah, “Do not go into Egypt!” Know with certainty that I [Jeremiah] have warned you and testified to you this day 20 that you have deceived yourselves; for you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, “Pray for us to the Lord our God; and whatever the Lord our God says, declare it to us and we will do it.” 21 And so I have told you today, but you have not listened to the voice of the Lord your God, in anything that He has sent me to tell you. 22 Now therefore know for certain that you will die by the sword, by famine, and by virulent disease in the land [of Egypt] where you wish to reside [temporarily].
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