(A)At the end of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. Then he summoned (B)Johanan the son of Kareah and (C)all the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people (D)from the least to the greatest, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, (E)to whom you sent me to present your plea for mercy before him: 10 If you will remain in this land, (F)then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; (G)for I relent of the disaster that I did to you. 11 (H)Do not fear the king of Babylon, (I)of whom you are afraid. (J)Do not fear him, declares the Lord, (K)for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. 12 (L)I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land. 13 (M)But if you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord your God 14 and saying, ‘No, (N)we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or (O)hear the sound of the trumpet or (P)be hungry for bread, and we will dwell there,’ 15 then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: (Q)If you set your faces to enter Egypt (R)and go to live there, 16 then the sword (S)that you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt, (T)and there you shall die. 17 All the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to live there shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. They shall have (U)no remnant or survivor from the disaster that I will bring upon them.

18 “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: (V)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. (W)You shall become an execration, a horror, a curse, and a taunt. You shall see this place no more.

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Ten days later Jeremiah received the Lord’s word. 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, 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.

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