Jeremiah 42:1-12

1Then all the 1commanders of the forces, 2Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people 3both small and great approached 2and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our 4petition 5come before you, and 6pray for us to the Lord your God, that is for all this remnant; because we are left but a 7few out of many, as your own eyes now see us, 3that the Lord your God may tell us the 8way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.” 4Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I am going to 9pray to the Lord your God in accordance with your words; and I will tell you the whole 10message which the 11Lord will answer you. I will 12not keep back a word from you.” 5Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the 13Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole 14message with which the Lord your God will send you to us. 6Whether it is 15pleasant or 16unpleasant, we will 17listen to the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go 18well with us when we listen to the voice of the Lord our God.”

7Now at the 19end of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8Then he called for Johanan the son of Kareah and all the 20commanders of the forces that were with him, and for all the people both small and great, 9and said to them, “Thus 21says the Lord the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before Him: 10‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will 22build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I 23will 24relent concerning the calamity that I have inflicted on you. 1125Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,’ declares the Lord, ‘for 26I am with you to save you and deliver you from his hand. 12I will also show you compassion, so that 27he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own soil.