Jeremiah 42
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jeremiah Advises Survivors Not to Migrate
42 Then all the commanders of the forces, and Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached(A) 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.(B) 3 Let the Lord your God show us where we should go and what we should do.”(C) 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.”(D) 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.”(E)
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.(F) 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.(G) 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(H) 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,’(I) 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,(J) 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.(K)
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.(L) 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(M) 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.(N) 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.”(O)
Jeremiah 42
Common English Bible
Don’t go to Egypt!
42 Then all the army officers, including Johanan, Kareah’s son, and Jezaniah, Hoshaiah’s son, and the rest of the people, from the least to the greatest, approached 2 Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, “We have something to ask you: Please pray to the Lord your God for us, this small group, for as you can see we were once many but now are very few. 3 May the Lord your God show us where we should go and what we should do.”
4 The prophet Jeremiah replied, “Yes, I’ll pray to the Lord your God as you have asked. And I’ll tell you whatever the Lord says; I won’t hide anything from you.”
5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we fail to do everything that the Lord your God tells us through you. 6 Whether we like it or not, we will obey all that the Lord our God says. We will obey the Lord our God, to whom we’re sending you, so it may go well for us.”
7 Ten days later Jeremiah received the Lord’s word. 8 So he called Johanan, Kareah’s son, and all the army officers with him and the rest of the people, from the least to the greatest, 9 and he said to them: You have sent me to present your plea to the Lord, and this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 10 If you live in this land, I will build you up and not pull you down. I will plant you and not dig you up because I grieve over the disaster I have brought upon you. 11 You don’t have to be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. You don’t have to be afraid of him anymore, declares the Lord, for I will be with you to save you and rescue you from his hand. 12 I will be merciful to you, and he will be merciful and return you to your land.
13 But if you say, “We won’t live in this land,” you will disobey the Lord your God. 14 And if you insist, “No, we’re going to live in Egypt, where there’s no war, battle alarms, or hunger, and there we will stay,” 15 then listen to the Lord’s word, you remaining Judeans. The Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: If you are determined to go to Egypt and you then go and live there, 16 then the war you fear will seize you in the land of Egypt; and the famine you dread will hunt you down in Egypt, and there you will die. 17 Every one of you who is determined to go and live in Egypt will die by the sword, famine, and disease. No one will escape the disaster that I will bring upon them there.
18 The Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: Just as my fierce anger was poured out on the people of Jerusalem, so it will be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing, scorn, shock, and disgrace. And you will never see this place again. 19 You who survive from Judah, the Lord has told you: Don’t go to Egypt. Know without a doubt that I have warned you this day. 20 You are putting your lives at risk[a] by sending me to the Lord your God, saying, “Pray for us to the Lord our God; tell us everything the Lord our God says, and we’ll do it.” 21 Today I have told you, but you still haven’t obeyed all that the Lord your God has sent me to tell you. 22 So know without a doubt that you will die by war, famine, and disease in the place you yearn to go and live.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 42:20 Or to do evil
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible