1 Then all the captaines of the hoste, and Iohanan the sonne of Kareah, and Iezaniah the sonne of Hoshaaiah, and all the people from the least vnto the most came, 2 And saide vnto Ieremiah the Prophete, Heare our prayer, we beseeche thee, and pray for vs vnto the Lord thy God, euen for all this remnant (for we are left, but a fewe of many, as thine eyes doe beholde) 3 That the Lord thy God may shewe vs the way wherein wee may walke, and the thing that we may doe. 4 Then Ieremiah the Prophet said vnto them, I haue heard you: behold, I will pray vnto ye Lord your God according to your wordes, and whatsoeuer thing the Lord shall answere you, I will declare it vnto you: I will keepe nothing backe from you. 5 Then they said to Ieremiah, The Lord be a witnesse of trueth, and faith betweene vs, if we doe not, euen according to all things for ye which the Lord thy God shall send thee to vs. 6 Whether it be good or euill, we will obey the voyce of the Lord God, to whom we sende thee that it may be well with vs, when wee obey the voyce of the Lord our God. 7 And so after ten dayes came the word of the Lord vnto Ieremiah. 8 Then called he Iohanan the sonne of Kareah, and all the captaines of the hoste, which were with him, and all ye people from ye least to the most, 9 And saide vnto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, vnto whom ye sent me to present your prayers before him, 10 If ye will dwell in this land, then I wil build you, and not destroy you, and I will plant you, and not roote you out: for I repent me of the euill that I haue done vnto you. 11 Feare not for the King of Babel, of whom ye are afraide: be not afraid of him, saith the Lord: for I am with you, to saue you, and to deliuer you from his hand, 12 And I will graunt you mercie that he may haue compassion vpon you, and he shall cause you to dwell in your owne land. 13 But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither heare the voyce of the Lord your God, 14 Saying, Nay, but we will goe into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no warre, nor heare the sounde of the trumpet, nor haue hunger of bread, and there will we dwell, 15 (And nowe therefore heare the worde of the Lord, ye remnant of Iudah: thus sayeth the Lord of hostes the God of Israel, If ye set your faces to enter into Egypt, and goe to dwell there) 16 Then the sworde that ye feared, shall take you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, for the which ye care, shall there hang vpon you in Egypt, and there shall ye die. 17 And all the men that set their faces to enter into Egypt to dwell there, shall die by ye sword, by the famine and by the pestilence, and none of them shall remaine nor escape from the plague, that I will bring vpon them. 18 For thus saith the Lord of hostes the God of Israel, As mine anger and my wrath hath bene powred foorth vpon the inhabitants of Ierusalem: so shall my wrath be powred foorth vpon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt, and ye shall be a detestation, and an astonishment, and a curse and a reproche, and ye shall see this place no more. 19 O ye remnant of Iudah, the Lord hath said concerning you, Goe not into Egypt: knowe certeinely that I haue admonished you this day. 20 Surely ye dissembled in your hearts When ye sent me vnto the Lord your God, saying, Pray for vs vnto the Lord our God, and declare vnto vs euen according vnto al that the Lord our God shall say, and we will doe it. 21 Therefore I haue this day declared it you, but you haue not obeyed the voyce of the Lord your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me vnto you. 22 Nowe therefore, knowe certeinely that ye shall die by the sworde, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to goe and dwell.
The People Ask Jeremiah to Pray for Them
1 Then all the army leaders, including Johanan son of Kareah and Azariah son of Hoshaiah, came with people of every class 2 and said to me, “Please do what we ask you! Pray to the Lord our God for us. Pray for all of us who have survived. Once there were many of us; but now only a few of us are left, as you can see. 3 Pray that the Lord our God will show us the way we should go and what we should do.”
4 I answered, “Very well, then. I will pray to the Lord our God, just as you have asked, and whatever he says, I will tell you. I will not keep back anything from you.”
5 Then they said to me, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not obey all the commands that the Lord our God gives you for us. 6 Whether it pleases us or not, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are asking you to pray. All will go well with us if we obey him.”
The Lord's Answer to Jeremiah's Prayer
7 Ten days later the Lord spoke to me; 8 so I called together Johanan, all the army leaders who were with him, and all the other people. 9 I said to them, “The Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me with your request has said, 10 ‘If you are willing to go on living in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not pull you up. The destruction I brought on you has caused me great sorrow. 11 Stop being afraid of the king of Babylonia. I am with you, and I will rescue you from his power. 12 Because I am merciful, I will make him have mercy on you and let you go back home. I, the Lord, have spoken.’
13-15 “But you people who are left in Judah must not disobey the Lord your God and refuse to live in this land. You must not say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt, where we won't face war any more or hear the call to battle or go hungry.’ If you say this, then the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says, ‘If you are determined to go and live in Egypt, 16 then the war that you fear will overtake you, and the hunger you dread will follow you, and you will die there in Egypt. 17 All the people who are determined to go and live in Egypt will die either in war or of starvation or disease. Not one of them will survive, not one will escape the disaster that I am going to bring on them.’
18 “The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Just as my anger and fury were poured out on the people of Jerusalem, so my fury will be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will be a horrifying sight; people will make fun of you and use your name as a curse. You will never see this place again.’”
19 Then I continued, “The Lord has told you people who are left in Judah not to go to Egypt. And so I warn you now 20 that you are making a fatal mistake. You asked me to pray to the Lord our God for you, and you promised that you would do everything that he commands. 21 And now I have told you, but you are disobeying everything that the Lord our God sent me to tell you. 22 So then, remember this: you will die in war or of starvation or disease in the land where you want to go and live.”