⁷ Ten days later the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. ⁸ So he called together Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers^(A) who were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest.^{(B) 9} He said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition,^(C) says:^{(D) 10} ‘If you stay in this land,^(E) I will build^(F) you up and not tear you down; I will plant^(G) you and not uproot you,^(H) for I have relented concerning the disaster I have inflicted on you.^{(I) 11} Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon,^(J) whom you now fear.^(K) Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord, for I am with you and will save^(L) you and deliver you from his hands.^{(M) 12} I will show you compassion^(N) so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’^(O)

¹³ “However, if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and so disobey^(P) the Lord your God, ¹⁴ and if you say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt,^(Q) where we will not see war or hear the trumpet^(R) or be hungry for bread,’^{(S) 15} then hear the word of the Lord,^(T) you remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there, ¹⁶ then the sword^(U) you fear^(V) will overtake you there, and the famine^(W) you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die.^{(X) 17} Indeed, all who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague;^(Y) not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.’ ¹⁸ This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and wrath^(Z) have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem,^(AA) so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be a curse^[a](AB) and an object of horror,^(AC) a curse^[b] and an object of reproach;^(AD) you will never see this place again.’^(AE)