Jeremiah 42

¹Now all the captains of the forces, Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, came near

²and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please, let our petition be acceptable to you, and pray for us to the Lord

³that the Lord

⁴Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard. Indeed, I will pray to the Lord

⁵So they said to Jeremiah, “Let the Lord

⁶Whether it is pleasing or displeasing, we will obey the voice of the Lord

⁷And it happened after ten days that the word of the Lord

⁸Then he called Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,

⁹and said to them, “Thus says the Lord

¹⁰‘If you will still remain in this land, then I will build you and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up. For I relent concerning the disaster that I have brought upon you.

¹¹Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not be afraid of him,’ says the Lord

¹²And I will show you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and cause you to return to your own land.’

¹³“But if you say, ‘We will not dwell in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord

¹⁴saying, ‘No, but we will go to the land of Egypt where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor be hungry for bread, and there we will dwell’—

¹⁵Then hear now the word of the Lord

¹⁶then it shall be that the sword which you feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; the famine of which you were afraid shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there you shall die.

¹⁷So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to dwell there. They shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. And none of them shall remain or escape from the disaster that I will bring upon them.’

¹⁸“For thus says the Lord

¹⁹“The Lord

²⁰For you were hypocrites in your hearts when you sent me to the Lord

²¹And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord

²²Now therefore, know certainly that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to dwell.”