Jeremiah 42:1-22 CEV

[1] Johanan, Jezaniah, the other army officers, and everyone else in the group, came to me [2] and said, "Please pray to the LORD your God for us. Judah used to have many people, but as you can see, only a few of us are left. [3] Ask the LORD to tell us where he wants us to go and what he wants us to do." [4] "All right," I answered, "I will pray to the LORD your God, and I will tell you everything he says." [5] They answered, "The LORD himself will be our witness that we promise to do whatever he says, [6] even if it isn't what we want to do. We will obey the LORD so that all will go well for us." [7] Ten days later, the LORD gave me an answer for [8] Johanan, the officers, and the other people. So I called them together [9] and told them that the LORD God of Israel had said: You asked Jeremiah to pray and find out what you should do. [10] I am sorry that I had to punish you, and so I now tell you to stay here in Judah, where I will plant you and build you up, instead of tearing you down and uprooting you. [11] Don't be afraid of the King of Babylonia. I will protect you from him, [12] and I will even force him to have mercy on you and give back your farms. [13] But you might keep on saying, "We won't stay here in Judah, and we won't obey the LORD our God. [14] We are going to Egypt, where there is plenty of food and no danger of war." [15] People of Judah, you survived when the Babylonian army attacked. Now you are planning to move to Egypt, and if you do go, this is what will happen. [16] You are afraid of war, starvation, and disease here in Judah, but they will follow you to Egypt and kill you there. None of you will survive the disasters I will send. [18] I, the LORD, was angry with the people of Jerusalem and punished them. And if you go to Egypt, I will be angry and punish you the same way. You will never again see your homeland. People will be horrified at what I do to you, and they will use the name of your city as a curse word. [19] I told the people: You escaped the disaster that struck Judah, but now the LORD warns you to stay away from Egypt. [20] You asked me to pray and find out what the LORD our God wants you to do, and you promised to obey him. But that was a terrible mistake, [21] because now that I have given you the LORD's answer, you refuse to obey him. [22] And so, you will die in Egypt from war, hunger, and disease.