Jeremiah 42:9-22

9and said to them, “Thus 1says 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 2build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I 3will 4relent concerning the calamity that I have inflicted on you. 115Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,’ declares the Lord, ‘for 6I am with you to save you and deliver you from his hand. 12I will also show you compassion, so that 7he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own soil. 13But if you are going to say, “We will 8not stay in this land,” so as not to listen to the voice of the Lord your God, 14saying, “No, but we will 9go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or 10hear the sound of a trumpet or hunger for bread, and we will stay there”; 15then 11in that case listen to the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “If you really set your 12mind to enter 13Egypt and go in to reside there, 16then the 14sword, which you are afraid of, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are anxious, will follow closely after you there in Egypt, and you will die there. 17So all the men who set their 15mind to go to Egypt to reside there will die by the 16sword, by famine and by pestilence; and they will 17have no survivors or refugees from the calamity that I am going to bring on them.”’”

18For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “As My 18anger and wrath have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a 19curse, an object of horror, an imprecation and a reproach; and 20you will see this place no more.” 19The Lord has spoken to you, O remnant of Judah, “Do not 21go into Egypt!” You should clearly 22understand that today I have 23testified against you. 20For you have only 2425deceived yourselves; for it is you who sent me to the Lord your God, saying, “Pray for us to the Lord our God; and whatever the Lord our God says, tell us so, and we will do it.” 21So I have 26told you today, but you have 27not 28obeyed the Lord your God, even in whatever He has sent me to tell you. 22Therefore you should now clearly understand that you will 29die by the sword, by famine and by pestilence, in the 30place where you wish to go to reside.