(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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The Lord’s Answer through Jeremiah

At the end of ten days a message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. So he called Kareah’s son Jonathan, all the military leaders who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest. He told them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says, to whom you sent me to take your request:

10 ‘If you will just remain in this land, I’ll build you up and not pull you down. I’ll plant you and not uproot you, for I’m sorry about the disaster I’ve brought on you. 11 Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon as you have been.[a] Don’t fear him,’ declares the Lord, ‘because I am with you to save you and deliver you from his control. 12 I’ll show you compassion, so he will have compassion on you and return you to your land. 13 But if you disobey the Lord your God by saying, “We won’t stay in this land,” 14 and you also say, “No, but we will go to the land of Egypt where we won’t see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or hunger for bread, and there we will stay,” 15 then hear this message from the Lord, remnant of Judah: ‘This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: “If you are really determined[b] to go into Egypt, and you go there to settle, 16 the sword that you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt. The famine that you dread will pursue you into Egypt, and there you will die. 17 All the people who are determined to go into Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, by famine, and by the plague. No one will survive the disaster that I’ll bring on them.” 18 For this is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘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 enter Egypt. You will be a curse and an object of horror, ridicule, and scorn, and you will never again see this place.’

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 42:11 Lit. whom you fear
  2. Jeremiah 42:15 Lit. really set your faces