Warning Against Going to Egypt
1 Then ch. 40:13;41:11all the commanders of the forces, and See ch. 40:8Johanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah the son of ch. 43:2Hoshaiah, and all the people [ch. 6:13]from the least to the greatest, came near 2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, "Let See ch. 36:7our plea for mercy come before you, and ver. 20;[1 Sam. 7:8;12:19] pray to the Lord your God for us, for all [ch. 40:15;Isa. 37:4] this remnant—[Lev. 26:22]because we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us— 3 that [ch. 37:17;Ezra 8:21]the Lord your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do." 4 Jeremiah the prophet said to them, "I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your request, and 1 Sam. 3:18;[Num. 22:18]whatever the Lord answers you I will tell you. 1 Sam. 3:18;[Num. 22:18]I will keep nothing back from you." 5 Then they said to Jeremiah, [Gen. 31:50] "May the Lord be a true and [Rev. 1:5;3:14] faithful witness against us Judg. 11:10if we do not act according to all the word ver. 21with which the Lord your God sends you to us. 6 Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, ch. 7:23that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God."
7 [Ezek. 3:16]At the end of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8 Then he summoned [See ver. 1above] Johanan the son of Kareah and [See ver. 1above] all the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people [See ver. 1above]from the least to the greatest, 9 and said to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ver. 2, 3to whom you sent me to present your plea for mercy before him: 10 If you will remain in this land, See ch. 24:6then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; ch. 18:8;Gen. 6:6;[Deut. 32:36]for I relent of the disaster that I did to you. 11 [ch. 22:25;41:18] Do not fear the king of Babylon, [ch. 22:25;41:18] of whom you are afraid. ch. 30:10,11;[Rom. 8:31]Do not fear him, declares the Lord, ch. 30:10,11;[Rom. 8:31]for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. 12 [Neh. 1:11]I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land. 13 ch. 43:4;[ch. 44:16,17]But if you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord your God 14 and saying, ‘No, [ch. 41:17] we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or ch. 4:19hear the sound of the trumpet or [ch. 37:21]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: ch. 44:12;[ver. 19; Deut. 17:16] If you set your faces to enter Egypt ch. 44:27;See ch. 44:1,12-14and go to live there, 16 then the sword Ezek. 11:8that 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, ver. 22;ch. 44:12and 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 Lam. 2:22no remnant or survivor from the disaster that I will bring upon them.
18 "For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: See ch. 7:20As 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. See ch. 18:16You 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, ch. 43:2;[ver. 14-16] ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ [Ezek. 2:5]Know for a certainty that I have warned you this day 20 that you have gone astray at the cost of your lives. ver. 2For you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ver. 2‘Pray for us to the Lord our God, and ver. 3whatever 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 ver. 5that he sent me to tell you. 22 ver. 16, 17Now 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."