16 Then Johanan the son of Kareah and (A)all the leaders of the forces with him took from Mizpah all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam—soldiers, (B)women, children, and eunuchs, whom Johanan brought back from (C)Gibeon. 17 And they went and stayed at Geruth (D)Chimham near (E)Bethlehem, intending to go to Egypt 18 because of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, (F)whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

Warning Against Going to Egypt

42 Then (G)all the commanders of the forces, and (H)Johanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah the son of (I)Hoshaiah, and all the people (J)from the least to the greatest, came near and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Let (K)our plea for mercy come before you, and (L)pray to the Lord your God for us, for all (M)this remnant—(N)because we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us— that (O)the Lord your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do.” Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your request, and (P)whatever the Lord answers you I will tell you. (Q)I will keep nothing back from you.” Then they said to Jeremiah, (R)“May the Lord be a true and (S)faithful witness against us (T)if we do not act according to all the word (U)with which the Lord your God sends you to us. Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, (V)that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.”

(W)At the end of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. Then he summoned (X)Johanan the son of Kareah and (Y)all the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people (Z)from the least to the greatest, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, (AA)to whom you sent me to present your plea for mercy before him: 10 If you will remain in this land, (AB)then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; (AC)for I relent of the disaster that I did to you. 11 (AD)Do not fear the king of Babylon, (AE)of whom you are afraid. (AF)Do not fear him, declares the Lord, (AG)for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. 12 (AH)I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land. 13 (AI)But if you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord your God 14 and saying, ‘No, (AJ)we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or (AK)hear the sound of the trumpet or (AL)be hungry for bread, and we will dwell there,’ 15 then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: (AM)If you set your faces to enter Egypt (AN)and go to live there, 16 then the sword (AO)that you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt, (AP)and there you shall die. 17 All the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to live there shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. They shall have (AQ)no remnant or survivor from the disaster that I will bring upon them.

18 “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: (AR)As my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. (AS)You shall become an execration, a horror, a curse, and a taunt. You shall see this place no more. 19 The Lord has said to you, O remnant of Judah, (AT)‘Do not go to Egypt.’ (AU)Know for a certainty that I have warned you this day 20 that you have gone astray at the cost of your lives. (AV)For you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, (AW)‘Pray for us to the Lord our God, and (AX)whatever the Lord our God says, declare to us and we will do it.’ 21 And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God in anything (AY)that he sent me to tell you. 22 (AZ)Now therefore know for a certainty that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live.”

Jeremiah Taken to Egypt

43 When Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people all these words of the Lord their God, with which the Lord their God had sent him to them, Azariah the son of (BA)Hoshaiah and (BB)Johanan the son of Kareah and (BC)all the insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The Lord our God did not send you to say, (BD)‘Do not go to Egypt to live there,’ but (BE)Baruch the son of Neriah (BF)has set you against us, (BG)to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may kill us or take us into exile in Babylon.” So (BH)Johanan the son of Kareah and all (BI)the commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah. But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took (BJ)all the remnant of Judah who had returned to live in the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been driven— (BK)the men, the women, the children, (BL)the princesses, and every person whom (BM)Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with (BN)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan; also Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. And they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And they arrived at (BO)Tahpanhes.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in (BP)Tahpanhes: “Take in your hands large stones and hide them in the mortar in the pavement that is at the entrance to Pharaoh's palace in (BQ)Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah, 10 and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, (BR)my servant, (BS)and I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden, and he will spread his royal canopy over them. 11 He shall come (BT)and strike the land of Egypt, (BU)giving over to the pestilence those who are doomed to the pestilence, to captivity those who are doomed to captivity, and to the sword those who are doomed to the sword. 12 (BV)I shall kindle a fire (BW)in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them (BX)and carry them away captive. (BY)And he shall clean the land of Egypt (BZ)as a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin, and he shall go away from there in peace. 13 He shall break the (CA)obelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt, (CB)and the temples of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire.’”

Flight to Egypt

16 Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers(A) who were with him led away all the people of Mizpah who had survived,(B) whom Johanan had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had assassinated Gedaliah son of Ahikam—the soldiers, women, children and court officials he had recovered from Gibeon. 17 And they went on, stopping at Geruth Kimham(C) near Bethlehem(D) on their way to Egypt(E) 18 to escape the Babylonians.[a] They were afraid(F) of them because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah(G) son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.

42 Then all the army officers, including Johanan(H) son of Kareah and Jezaniah[b] son of Hoshaiah,(I) and all the people from the least to the greatest(J) approached Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, “Please hear our petition and pray(K) to the Lord your God for this entire remnant.(L) For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few(M) are left. Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.”(N)

“I have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the prophet. “I will certainly pray(O) to the Lord your God as you have requested; I will tell(P) you everything the Lord says and will keep nothing back from you.”(Q)

Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true(R) and faithful(S) witness(T) against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us. Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well(U) with us, for we will obey(V) the Lord our God.”

Ten days later the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. So he called together Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers(W) who were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest.(X) He said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition,(Y) says:(Z) 10 ‘If you stay in this land,(AA) I will build(AB) you up and not tear you down; I will plant(AC) you and not uproot you,(AD) for I have relented concerning the disaster I have inflicted on you.(AE) 11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon,(AF) whom you now fear.(AG) Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord, for I am with you and will save(AH) you and deliver you from his hands.(AI) 12 I will show you compassion(AJ) so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’(AK)

13 “However, if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and so disobey(AL) the Lord your God, 14 and if you say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt,(AM) where we will not see war or hear the trumpet(AN) or be hungry for bread,’(AO) 15 then hear the word of the Lord,(AP) you remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there, 16 then the sword(AQ) you fear(AR) will overtake you there, and the famine(AS) you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die.(AT) 17 Indeed, all who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague;(AU) not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.’ 18 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and wrath(AV) have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem,(AW) so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be a curse[c](AX) and an object of horror,(AY) a curse[d] and an object of reproach;(AZ) you will never see this place again.’(BA)

19 “Remnant(BB) of Judah, the Lord has told you, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’(BC) Be sure of this: I warn you today 20 that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the Lord your God and said, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.’(BD) 21 I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the Lord your God in all he sent me to tell you.(BE) 22 So now, be sure of this: You will die by the sword, famine(BF) and plague(BG) in the place where you want to go to settle.”(BH)

43 When Jeremiah had finished telling the people all the words of the Lord their God—everything the Lord had sent him to tell them(BI) Azariah son of Hoshaiah(BJ) and Johanan(BK) son of Kareah and all the arrogant(BL) men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying!(BM) The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to settle there.’(BN) But Baruch(BO) son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians,[e] so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon.”(BP)

So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and all the people(BQ) disobeyed the Lord’s command(BR) to stay in the land of Judah.(BS) Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led away all the remnant of Judah who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered.(BT) They also led away all those whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan—the men, the women,(BU) the children and the king’s daughters. And they took Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch(BV) son of Neriah along with them. So they entered Egypt(BW) in disobedience to the Lord and went as far as Tahpanhes.(BX)

In Tahpanhes(BY) the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “While the Jews are watching, take some large stones(BZ) with you and bury them in clay in the brick(CA) pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace(CB) in Tahpanhes. 10 Then say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will send for my servant(CC) Nebuchadnezzar(CD) king of Babylon, and I will set his throne(CE) over these stones I have buried here; he will spread his royal canopy(CF) above them. 11 He will come and attack Egypt,(CG) bringing death(CH) to those destined(CI) for death, captivity to those destined for captivity,(CJ) and the sword to those destined for the sword.(CK) 12 He will set fire(CL) to the temples(CM) of the gods(CN) of Egypt; he will burn their temples and take their gods captive.(CO) As a shepherd picks(CP) his garment clean of lice, so he will pick Egypt clean and depart. 13 There in the temple of the sun[f](CQ) in Egypt he will demolish the sacred pillars(CR) and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.’”

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 41:18 Or Chaldeans
  2. Jeremiah 42:1 Hebrew; Septuagint (see also 43:2) Azariah
  3. Jeremiah 42:18 That is, your name will be used in cursing (see 29:22); or, others will see that you are cursed.
  4. Jeremiah 42:18 That is, your name will be used in cursing (see 29:22); or, others will see that you are cursed.
  5. Jeremiah 43:3 Or Chaldeans
  6. Jeremiah 43:13 Or in Heliopolis