Jeremiah 42:1-12

1Then all the commanders of the armies, along with Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, approached

2the prophet Jeremiah and said, “May our petition come before you; pray to the Lord your God on our behalf, on behalf of this entire remnant (for few of us remain out of the many, as you can see with your own eyes),

3that the Lord your God may tell us the way we should go and the thing we should do.”

4So the prophet Jeremiah said to them, “I have heard. I will now pray to the Lord your God according to your words, and I will tell you every word that the Lord answers you; I won’t withhold a word from you.”

5And they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we don’t act according to every word the Lord your God sends you to tell us.

6Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey the Lord our God to whom we are sending you so that it may go well with us. We will certainly obey the Lord our God!”

7At the end of ten days, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah,

8and he summoned Johanan son of Kareah, all the commanders of the armies who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest.

9He said to them, “This is what the Lord says, the God of Israel to whom you sent me to bring your petition before him:

10‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will rebuild and not demolish you, and I will plant and not uproot you, because I relent concerning the disaster that I have brought on you.

11Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you now fear; don’t be afraid of him’ — this is the Lord’s declaration — ‘because I am with you to save you and rescue you from him.

12I will grant you compassion, and he will have compassion on you and allow you to return to your own soil.’