42 While there, Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah [or Azariah; 43:2] son of Hoshaiah ·went to [approached] Jeremiah the prophet. All the army officers and all the people, from the least important to the greatest, went along, too. 2 They said to him, “Jeremiah, ·please listen to what we ask [L let our pleas for help/supplications fall before you]. Pray to the Lord your God for all ·the people left alive from the family of Judah [L this remnant]. At one time there were many of us, but ·you can see that [L as your eyes can see] there are few of us now. 3 So pray that the Lord your God will tell us ·where we should go [L the path on which we should go] and what we should do.”
4 Then Jeremiah the prophet answered, “I ·understand what you want me to do [L hear]. I will pray to the Lord your God ·as you have asked [L according to your works]. I will tell you ·everything he says [all his answers] and not ·hide [L keep back] anything from you.”
5 Then the people said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and ·loyal [faithful] witness against us if we don’t do everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us. 6 ·It does not matter if we like the message or not [L Whether good or bad…]. We will ·obey [listen to] the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you. We will ·obey [listen to] what he says so good things will happen to us.”
7 Ten days later the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. 8 Then Jeremiah called for Johanan son of Kareah, the army officers with him, and all the other people, from the least important to the greatest. 9 Jeremiah said to them, “You sent me to ·ask the Lord for what you wanted [L make your supplications/fall before him]. This is what the God of Israel says: 10 ‘If you will stay in this land [C Judah], I will build you up and not tear you down. I will plant you and not ·pull [tear] you up [1:10], because I am ·sad [sorry] about the ·disaster [evil; trouble] I ·brought on [L did to] you. 11 Now you fear the king of Babylon, but don’t be afraid of him. Don’t be afraid of him,’ says the Lord, ‘because I am with you. I will save you and ·rescue [protect] you from his ·power [L hand]. 12 I will be ·kind [compassionate; merciful] to you, and he will also treat you with ·mercy [kindness; compassion] and ·let you stay [restore you] in your land.’
13 “But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land [C Judah],’ you will ·disobey [not listen to the voice of] the Lord your God. 14 Or you might say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt. There we will not see war, or hear the trumpets of ·war [battle], or ·be hungry [famine].’ 15 If you say that, listen to the message of the Lord, ·you who are left alive from [remnant of] Judah. This is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], the God of Israel, says: ‘If you ·make up your mind [are determined] to go and live in Egypt, these things will happen: 16 ·You are afraid of war, but it will find you [L The sword you fear will overtake you there,] in the land of Egypt. And ·you are worried about hunger, but it will follow you into [L the famine you dread will cling after you there in] Egypt, and you will die there. 17 Everyone who ·goes to live in [L sets their face to go to] Egypt will die ·in war [L by sword] or from ·hunger [famine] or ·terrible disease [plague; pestilence]. ·No one who goes to Egypt will live; no one will escape [L There will be no remnant or survivor from] the ·terrible things [harm; L evil] I will bring to them.’
18 “This is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], the God of Israel, says: ‘I ·showed [poured out] my anger against the people of Jerusalem. In the same way I will ·show [pour out] my anger against you when you go to Egypt. Other nations will speak evil of you. People will be ·shocked [horrified] by what will happen to you. You will become a curse word, and people will ·insult [ridicule] you. And you will never see this place [C Judah] again.’
19 “·You who are left alive in [Remnant of] Judah, the Lord has told you, ‘Don’t go to Egypt.’ Be sure you ·understand [know] this; I warn you today 20 that you ·are making a mistake that will cause your deaths [made a fatal mistake; L have erred with your life]. You sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us. Tell us everything the Lord our God says, and we will do it.’ 21 So today I have ·told [proclaimed to] you, but you have not ·obeyed [listened to the voice of] the Lord your God in all that he sent me to tell you. 22 So now be sure you ·understand [know] this: You want to go to live in Egypt, but you will die there by ·war [L sword], ·hunger [famine], or ·terrible diseases [plague; pestilence].”