Jeremiah 42:7-22

7Now at the 1end of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8Then he called for Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, and for all the people from the small to the great, 9and said to them, “This is what the Lord 2says, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your plea before Him: 10‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will 3build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I 4will 5relent of the disaster that I have inflicted on you. 116Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,’ declares the Lord, ‘for 7I am with you to save you and rescue you from his hand. 12I will also show you compassion, so that 8he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own soil. 13But if you are going to say, “We will 9not stay in this land,” so as not to listen to the voice of the Lord your God, 14saying, “No, but we will 10go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war, or 11hear the sound of a trumpet, or hunger for bread, and we will stay there”; 15then 12in that case listen to the word of the Lord, you remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “If you really set your 13minds to enter 14Egypt and go in to reside there, 16then the 15sword, of which you are afraid, 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 people who set their 16minds to go to Egypt to reside there will die by the 17sword, by famine, or by plague; and they will 18have no refugees or survivors from the disaster that I am going to bring on them.”’”

18For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “As My 19anger and wrath have gushed out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will gush out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a 20curse, an object of horror, 21an imprecation, and a disgrace; and 22you will not see this place again.” 19The Lord has spoken to you, you remnant of Judah, “Do not 23go to Egypt!” You 24know for certain that I have 25admonished you today. 20For you have only 2627deceived 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 28told you today, but you have 29not 30obeyed the Lord your God in whatever He has sent me to tell you. 22And now you shall know for certain that you will 31die by the sword, by famine, or by plague in the 32place where you desire to go to reside.