A Warning against Going to Egypt

1And all the leaders of the warriors, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Azariah, the son of Hoshaiah, and the rest of the common people, from the least even to the greatest, drew near. 2And they said to Jeremiah the prophet: “Let our supplication fall before your sight. And pray for us to the Lord your God, on behalf of this entire remnant. For few out of many have been left behind, just as your eyes behold us. 3And so, may the Lord your God announce to us the way that we must travel, and the word that we must accomplish.” 4Then Jeremiah, the prophet, said to them: “I have listened. Behold, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words. And whatever word he will respond to me, I will declare to you. And I will conceal nothing from you.” 5And they said to Jeremiah: “May the Lord be the witness between us of truth and fidelity, if we do not act according to whatever word the Lord your God will send by you to us. 6Whether it is for good or for harm, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you. So may it be well with us, when we heed the voice of the Lord our God.”

7Then, when ten days had been completed, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8And he called Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of warriors who were with him, and all the people, from the least even to the greatest. 9And he said to them: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you have sent me, so that I may present your petitions in his sight: 10If you dwell quietly in this land, I will build you up, and I will not tear you down. I will plant you, and I will not uproot you. For now I have been appeased by the harm that I have done to you. 11Do not be afraid before the face of the king of Babylon, whom you have dreaded with great fear. Do not dread him, says the Lord. For I am with you, so that I may accomplish your salvation, and so that I may rescue you from his hand. 12And I will give you mercies, and I will take pity on you, and I will cause you to live in your own land. 13But if you say: ‘We will not live in this land, nor will we heed the voice of the Lord our God,’ 14saying: ‘Never! Instead, we will travel to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war, and we will not hear the blast of the trumpet, and we will not endure famine. And there we shall live.’ 15Because of this, hear now the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces so as to advance into Egypt, and if you enter so that you may live there, 16the sword which you dread will overtake you there, in the land of Egypt, and the famine, about which you are anxious, will cling to you in Egypt, and there you shall die. 17And all the men, who have set their faces so that they may advance to Egypt in order to live there, will die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence. None of them will remain, nor will they escape from the face of the evil that I will bring over them.

18For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Just as my fury and my indignation has been enflamed over the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will my indignation be enflamed over you, when you will have entered into Egypt. And so you will be an oath, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a disgrace. And you will never see this place again. 19This is the word of the Lord concerning you, O remnant of Judah: Do not choose to enter into Egypt, for certainly you understand what I have sworn to you this day. 20For you have deceived your own souls. For you have sent me to the Lord our God, saying: ‘Pray on our behalf to the Lord our God. And in accord with anything whatsoever that the Lord our God will tell you, announce this to us, and we will do it.’ 21And I have announced it to you this day, and you have not heeded the voice of the Lord your God, concerning everything about which he has sent me to you. 22Therefore, know with certainty now, that you will die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence, in the place which you wish to enter so that you may live there.”