Then all the commanders of the forces, and ^aJohanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah (Azariah) the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people ^bfrom the least to the greatest approached 2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our ^apetition be presented before you, and ^bpray to the LORD your God for us, that is, for all this remnant of the people of Judah; for we were once many, but now only a ^cfew of us are left, as you see with your own eyes, so please pray 3 that the LORD your God may show us the ^away in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.” 4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Now hear me, I will ^apray to the LORD your God in accordance with your words; and I will declare to you whatever message the ^bLORD answers; I will ^ckeep nothing back from you.” 5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the ^aLORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we fail to act in accordance with all the things that the LORD your God sends you to tell us. 6 Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will ^alisten to and honor the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go ^bwell with us when we listen to the voice of the LORD our God.”

7 Now ^aafter ten days of prayer had passed the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. 8 Then he called for Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest, 9 and said to them, “Thus ^asays the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before Him: 10 ‘If you will indeed remain in this land, then I will ^abuild you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I will ^brelent and be satisfied concerning the disaster that I have inflicted on you as discipline, and I will replace judgment with compassion. Jer 31:4, 28 11 ^aDo not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear as if he were deity; do not be afraid of him,’ says the LORD, ‘for he is a mere man, but I am the living, omniscient God and ^bI am with you always to protect you and to deliver you from his hand. 12 And I will show you compassion, so that ^ahe will have compassion on you and restore you to your own land. 13 But if you are going to say, “We will ^anot stay in this land,” and in so doing do not listen to the voice of the LORD your God, 14 saying, “No, but we will ^ago to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or ^bhear the sound of the warrior’s trumpet or hunger for bread, and we will stay there,” 15 then in that case listen to the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “If you are really determined to go to ^aEgypt and to reside there temporarily, 16 then the ^asword, of which you are afraid, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine of which you are afraid will follow closely after you in Egypt, and you will die there. 17 So all the men who set their mind to go to Egypt to reside there temporarily will die by the ^asword, by famine and by virulent disease; ^bnone of them will remain or survive the disaster that I am going to bring on them.”’”

18 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “As My ^aanger and My wrath have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. You will become ^bdetested, an object of horror, a curse and a people scorned; and ^cyou will no longer see this place.” 19 The LORD has spoken to you, O remnant of Judah, “Do not ^ago into Egypt!” ^bKnow with certainty that I Jeremiah have warned you and ^ctestified to you this day 20 that you have ^adeceived yourselves; for you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, “Pray for us to the LORD our God; and whatever the LORD our God says, declare it to us and we will do it.” 21 And so I have ^atold you today, but you have ^bnot listened to the voice of the LORD your God, in anything that He has sent me to tell you. 22 Now therefore know for certain that you will ^adie by the sword, by famine, and by virulent disease in the ^bland of Egypt where you wish to reside temporarily.