1 T hen all the captains of the armies, Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people both small and great, came near

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

2 a nd said to Jeremiah the man of God, “Hear what we ask of you. Pray to the Lord your God for us, for all these people who are left. As you see, only a few of us are left out of many.

and said to Jeremiah the prophet, Please let our supplication be presented before you, and pray for us to Yahweh your God, even for all this remnant; for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes do see us:

3 P ray that the Lord your God may show us the way we should go and what we should do.”

that Yahweh your God may show us the way in which we should walk, and the thing that we should do.

4 T hen Jeremiah the man of God said to them, “I have heard you. I will pray to the Lord your God as you ask. And I will tell you the whole answer that the Lord gives. I will not keep anything from you.”

Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray to Yahweh your God according to your words; and it shall happen that whatever thing Yahweh shall answer you, I will declare it to you; I will keep nothing back from you.

5 T hen they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be true and faithful to speak against us if we do not do all that the Lord your God tells you we must do.

Then they said to Jeremiah, Yahweh be a true and faithful witness among us, if we don’t do according to all the word with which Yahweh your God shall send you to us.

6 I f it is good or bad, we will listen to the voice of the Lord our God to Whom we are sending you. It will go well with us if we listen to the voice of the Lord our God.”

Whether it is good, or whether it is bad, we will obey the voice of Yahweh our God, to whom we send you; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of Yahweh our God.

7 A t the end of ten days the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.

After ten days, Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah.

8 T hen he called for Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the armies that were with him, and for all the people both small and great.

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

9 A nd he said to them, “This is what the Lord the God of Israel says, to Whom you sent me to bring Him what you asked for:

and said to them, Yahweh, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before him, says:

10 ‘ If you will stay in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down. I will plant you and not pull you up by the roots. For I will change My mind about the trouble that I have given you.

If you will still live 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 grieve over the distress that I have brought on you.

11 D o not be afraid of the king of Babylon, who now fills you with fear. Do not be afraid of him,’ says the Lord. ‘For I am with you to save you and take you from his hands.

Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; don’t be afraid of him, says Yahweh: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

12 I will show you loving-pity, so that he will have pity on you and let you stay in your own land.

I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you, and cause you to return to your own land.

13 B ut if you say, “We will not stay in this land,” and will not listen to the voice of the Lord your God,

But if you say, We will not dwell in this land; so that you don’t obey Yahweh your God’s voice,

14 a nd if you say, “No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the sound of a horn or be hungry for bread, and we will stay there,”

saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:

15 t hen listen to the Word of the Lord, O you who are left of Judah. This is what the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says: “If you set your mind to go into Egypt, and go to live there,

now therefore hear Yahweh’s word, O remnant of Judah: Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, If you indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to live there;

16 t hen the sword which you are afraid of will come to you there in the land of Egypt. The hunger you are worried about will follow after you there in Egypt. And there you will die.

then it shall happen, that the sword, which you fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are afraid, shall follow close behind you there in Egypt; and there you shall die.

17 S o all the men who set their mind to go and live in Egypt will die by the sword and hunger and disease. They will have no one left alive and no one who will get away from the trouble that I will bring to them.’”

So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to live there: they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring on them.

18 “ For the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, ‘As My anger has been poured out on the people of Jerusalem, so My anger will be poured out on you when you go into Egypt. You will become a curse, and object of hate. People will say bad things against you. You will be put to shame. And you will never see this place again.’

For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: As my anger and my wrath has been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my wrath be poured out on you, when you shall enter into Egypt; and you shall be an object of horror, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more.

19 O people who are left of Judah, the Lord has said to you, ‘Do not go into Egypt!’ Know for sure that I have told you of the danger today.

Yahweh has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah, Don’t you go into Egypt: know certainly that I have testified to you today.

20 Y ou have fooled yourselves. You sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us. Whatever the Lord our God says, tell us and we will do it.’

For you have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for you sent me to Yahweh your God, saying, Pray for us to Yahweh our God; and according to all that Yahweh our God shall say, so declare to us, and we will do it:

21 S o I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the Lord your God in anything that He told me to tell you.

and I have declared it to you today; but you have not obeyed Yahweh your God’s voice in anything for which he has sent me to you.

22 S o now be sure and know that you will die by the sword and hunger and disease, in the place where you want to go to live.”

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