42 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and ^[a]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 pray thee, our supplication ^[b]be presented before thee, and pray for us unto Jehovah thy God, even for all this remnant (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us), ³ that Jehovah thy God may show us the way wherein we should walk, and the thing that we should do. ⁴ Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto Jehovah your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass that whatsoever thing Jehovah shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you. ⁵ Then they said to Jeremiah, Jehovah be a true and faithful witness ^[c]amongst us, if we do not according to all the word wherewith Jehovah thy God shall send thee to us. ⁶ Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of Jehovah our God.

⁷ And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah. ⁸ Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, ⁹ and said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to ^[d]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 Jehovah: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. ¹² And I will grant you mercy, 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; so that ye obey not the voice of Jehovah 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 now therefore hear ye the word of Jehovah, O remnant of Judah: Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, If ye indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there; ¹⁶ then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, whereof ye are afraid, ^[e]shall follow hard 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 Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: As mine anger and my wrath hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my wrath 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 Jehovah hath spoken concerning you, O remnant of Judah, Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have testified unto you this day. ²⁰ For ye have dealt deceitfully ^[f]against your own souls; for ye sent me unto Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us unto Jehovah our God; and according unto all that Jehovah our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it. ²¹ And I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah your God in anything for 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 to sojourn there.