Jeremiah 42

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 unto the greatest, came near,

1Then the leaders of the soldiers came to Jeremiah. Johanan son of Kareah came. Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah came. All the people came too, from the least important to the greatest.

2And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:)

2They said to Jeremiah, a prophet who told people what God said, "Please listen to what we ask. Please pray to the LORD your God for us. Pray for all of us who are left. Only a few of us are left out of many. You can see that yourself."

3That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.

3"Ask the LORD your God to show us which way to go. Ask him to show us what to do."

4Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.

4Jeremiah the prophet said, "I have heard you. I will pray to the LORD your God, just as you asked. Whatever the LORD answers, I will tell you. I will not hold back one word."

5Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.

5Then they said to Jeremiah, "Let the LORD be a true and honest witness. May he judge us if we do not do all he tells you to say."

6Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.

6"Whether the answer is nice or hard, we will obey the LORD our God. He is the one we are sending you to. Then things will go well with us, because we obeyed him."

NoteThe old wording says "whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Here it means whether the answer is easy to hear or hard to hear.

7And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.

7Ten days later, a message from the LORD came to Jeremiah.

8Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,

8So Jeremiah called Johanan son of Kareah. He called all the soldiers' leaders who were with him. He called all the people too, from the least important to the greatest.

9And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;

9He said to them, "You sent me to bring your request to God. Here is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says."

10If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.

10"If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down. I will plant you here and not pull you up. I am sorry about the trouble I brought on you."

NoteThe old wording says "I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you." It means God is sorry about the trouble he sent, and he will not keep sending it.

11Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

11"Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon. You are afraid of him now. Do not be afraid of him, says the LORD. I am with you. I will save you and keep you out of his hands."

12And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.

12"I will be kind to you. Then he will be kind to you too. He will let you go back to your own land."

13But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,

13"But you might say, 'We will not stay in this land.' Then you would not be obeying the LORD your God."

14Saying, 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:

14"You might say, 'No. We will go to Egypt instead. There we will not see war. We will not hear the war horn. We will not be hungry. We will live there.'"

15And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;

15"If you say that, then listen to the LORD's word, you few people of Judah who are left. The LORD who leads heaven's armies, the God of Israel, says this. 'Suppose you make up your minds to go and live in Egypt.'"

Note"The LORD of hosts" is an old way of saying the LORD who commands the armies of heaven.

16Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.

16"'Then the sword you are afraid of will catch you there in Egypt. The hunger you fear will follow right behind you. And you will die there.'"

17So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn 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 upon them.

17"'That will happen to everyone who chooses to go live in Egypt. They will die by the sword, by hunger, and by sickness. Not one of them will get away from the trouble I bring.'"

18For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.

18"The LORD who leads heaven's armies, the God of Israel, says this. 'My anger poured out on the people of Jerusalem. My anger will pour out on you too if you go to Egypt. People will use your name when they curse. They will be shocked at you and make fun of you. You will never see this place again.'"

19The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.

19Jeremiah said, "The LORD has spoken to you who are left of Judah. He said, 'Do not go to Egypt.' Be very sure of this. I have warned you today."

20For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us unto the LORD our God; and according unto all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.

20"You were not honest with yourselves when you sent me to the LORD your God. You said, 'Pray to the LORD for us. Tell us everything he says, and we will do it.'"

21And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you.

21"Today I have told you what he says. But you have not obeyed the LORD your God. You have not done what he sent me to tell you."

22Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.

22"So be very sure of this. You will die by the sword, by hunger, and by sickness. It will happen in the place where you want to go and live."