Jeremiah 42:7-18

Amplified Bible

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.”