Jeremiah 42:7-18

Evangelical Heritage Version

The Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your request, says this: ¹⁰ If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down. I will plant you and not uproot you, for I am grieving over the disaster I brought upon you. ¹¹ Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord, for I am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand. ¹² I will be merciful to you so that he will be merciful to you and will send you back to your own land.

¹³ But if you say, “We will not remain in this land,” and if you disobey the voice of the Lord your God, ¹⁴ and if you say, “No, we will go into the land of Egypt, where we will see no war, hear no battle signal from the ram’s horn, and experience no hunger for bread, and we will live there,” ¹⁵ then hear the word of the Lord, you survivors from Judah. This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says. If you are determined to go and live in Egypt, ¹⁶ then the sword you fear will overtake you in Egypt, the famine you dread will follow you there in Egypt, and you will die there. ¹⁷ This is what will happen to everyone who is determined to go into Egypt. All of them will die by the sword, famine, and plague. None of them will survive or escape from the disaster I am going to bring on them. ¹⁸ This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says. As my anger and my wrath have been poured out on those who live in Jerusalem, so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be an object of horror and derision, an object of cursing and ridicule. You will never see this place again.