| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah and all the people of every class, went to the prophet Jeremiah. | 1Then all the military leaders, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, approached |
| 2They said to him, "Please grant our request and pray to the LORD your God for all those of us who are still left alive here. For, as you yourself can see, there are only a few of us left out of the many there were before. | 2Jeremiah the prophet. They said, “Please pray to the LORD your God for us. As you can see, we are only a tiny remnant compared to what we were before. |
| 3Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do." | 3Pray that the LORD your God will show us what to do and where to go.” |
| 4The prophet Jeremiah answered them, "Agreed! I will indeed pray to the LORD your God as you have asked. I will tell you everything the LORD replies in response to you. I will not keep anything back from you." | 4“All right,” Jeremiah replied. “I will pray to the LORD your God, as you have asked, and I will tell you everything he says. I will hide nothing from you.” |
| 5They answered Jeremiah, "May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not do just as the LORD sends you to tell us to do. | 5Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD your God be a faithful witness against us if we refuse to obey whatever he tells us to do! |
| 6We will obey what the LORD our God to whom we are sending you tells us to do. It does not matter whether we like what he tells us or not. We will obey what he tells us to do so that things will go well for us." | 6Whether we like it or not, we will obey the LORD our God to whom we are sending you with our plea. For if we obey him, everything will turn out well for us.” |
| 7Ten days later the LORD spoke to Jeremiah. | 7Ten days later the LORD gave his reply to Jeremiah. |
| 8So Jeremiah summoned Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him and all the people of every class. | 8So he called for Johanan son of Kareah and the other military leaders, and for all the people, from the least to the greatest. |
| 9Then Jeremiah said to them, "You sent me to the LORD God of Israel to make your request known to him. Here is what he says to you: | 9He said to them, “You sent me to the LORD, the God of Israel, with your request, and this is his reply: |
| 10If you will just stay in this land, I will build you up. I will not tear you down. I will firmly plant you. I will not uproot you. For I am filled with sorrow because of the disaster that I have brought on you. | 10‘Stay here in this land. If you do, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you. For I am sorry about all the punishment I have had to bring upon you. |
| 11Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him because I will be with you to save you and to rescue you from his power. I, the LORD, affirm it! | 11Do not fear the king of Babylon anymore,’ says the LORD. ‘For I am with you and will save you and rescue you from his power. |
| 12I will have compassion on you so that he in turn will have mercy on you and allow you to return to your land.' | 12I will be merciful to you by making him kind, so he will let you stay here in your land.’ |
| 13"You must not disobey the LORD your God by saying, 'We will not stay in this land.' | 13“But if you refuse to obey the LORD your God, and if you say, ‘We will not stay here; |
| 14You must not say, 'No, we will not stay. Instead we will go and live in the land of Egypt where we will not face war, or hear the enemy's trumpet calls, or starve for lack of food.' | 14instead, we will go to Egypt where we will be free from war, the call to arms, and hunger,’ |
| 15If you people who remain in Judah do that, then listen to what the LORD says. The LORD God of Israel who rules over all says, 'If you are so determined to go to Egypt that you go and settle there, | 15then hear the LORD’s message to the remnant of Judah. This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and live there, |
| 16the wars you fear will catch up with you there in the land of Egypt. The starvation you are worried about will follow you there to Egypt. You will die there. | 16the very war and famine you fear will catch up to you, and you will die there. |
| 17All the people who are determined to go and settle in Egypt will die from war, starvation, or disease. No one will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.' | 17That is the fate awaiting every one of you who insists on going to live in Egypt. Yes, you will die from war, famine, and disease. None of you will escape the disaster I will bring upon you there.’ |
| 18For the LORD God of Israel who rules over all says, 'If you go to Egypt, I will pour out my wrath on you just as I poured out my anger and wrath on the citizens of Jerusalem. You will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example of those who have been cursed and that people use in pronouncing a curse. You will never see this place again.' | 18“This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as my anger and fury have been poured out on the people of Jerusalem, so they will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. You will be an object of damnation, horror, cursing, and mockery. And you will never see your homeland again.’ |
| 19"The LORD has told you people who remain in Judah, 'Do not go to Egypt.' Be very sure of this: I warn you here and now. | 19“Listen, you remnant of Judah. The LORD has told you: ‘Do not go to Egypt!’ Don’t forget this warning I have given you today. |
| 20You are making a fatal mistake. For you sent me to the LORD your God and asked me, 'Pray to the LORD our God for us. Tell us what the LORD our God says and we will do it.' | 20For you were not being honest when you sent me to pray to the LORD your God for you. You said, ‘Just tell us what the LORD our God says, and we will do it!’ |
| 21This day I have told you what he said. But you do not want to obey the LORD by doing what he sent me to tell you. | 21And today I have told you exactly what he said, but you will not obey the LORD your God any better now than you have in the past. |
| 22So now be very sure of this: You will die from war, starvation, or disease in the place where you want to go and live." | 22So you can be sure that you will die from war, famine, and disease in Egypt, where you insist on going.” |
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