| Christian Standard Bible | NET Bible |
| 1Then all the commanders of the armies, along with Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, approached | 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. |
| 2the prophet Jeremiah and said, "May our petition come before you; pray to the LORD your God on our behalf, on behalf of this entire remnant (for few of us remain out of the many, as you can see with your own eyes), | 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. |
| 3that the LORD your God may tell us the way we should go and the thing we should do." | 3Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do." |
| 4So the prophet Jeremiah said to them, "I have heard. I will now pray to the LORD your God according to your words, and I will tell you every word that the LORD answers you; I won't withhold a word from you." | 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." |
| 5And they said to Jeremiah, "May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we don't act according to every word the LORD your God sends you to tell us. | 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. |
| 6Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey the LORD our God to whom we are sending you so that it may go well with us. We will certainly obey the LORD our God!" | 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." |
| 7At the end of ten days, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, | 7Ten days later the LORD spoke to Jeremiah. |
| 8and he summoned Johanan son of Kareah, all the commanders of the armies who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest. | 8So Jeremiah summoned Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him and all the people of every class. |
| 9He said to them, "This is what the LORD says, the God of Israel to whom you sent me to bring your petition before him: | 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: |
| 10'If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will rebuild and not demolish you, and I will plant and not uproot you, because I relent concerning the disaster that I have brought on you. | 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. |
| 11Don't be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you now fear; don't be afraid of him'--this is the LORD's declaration--'because I am with you to save you and rescue you from him. | 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! |
| 12I will grant you compassion, and he will have compassion on you and allow you to return to your own soil.' | 12I will have compassion on you so that he in turn will have mercy on you and allow you to return to your land.' |
| 13"But if you say, 'We will not stay in this land,' in order to disobey the LORD your God, | 13"You must not disobey the LORD your God by saying, 'We will not stay in this land.' |
| 14and if you say, 'No, instead we'll go to the land of Egypt where we will not see war or hear the sound of the ram's horn or hunger for food, and we'll live there,' | 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.' |
| 15then hear the word of the LORD, remnant of Judah! This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'If you are firmly resolved to go to Egypt and stay there for a while, | 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, |
| 16then the sword you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine you are worried about will follow on your heels there to Egypt, and you will die 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. |
| 17All who resolve to go to Egypt to stay there for a while will die by the sword, famine, and plague. They will have no survivor or fugitive from the disaster I will bring on them.' | 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.' |
| 18"For this is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'Just as my anger and fury were poured out on Jerusalem's residents, so will my fury pour out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an example for cursing, scorn, execration, and disgrace, and you will never see this place again.' | 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.' |
| 19The LORD has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah: 'Don't go to Egypt.' Know for certain that I have warned you today! | 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. |
| 20You have gone astray at the cost of your lives because you are the ones who sent me to the LORD your God, saying, 'Pray to the LORD our God on our behalf, and as for all that the LORD our God says, tell it to us, and we'll act accordingly.' | 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.' |
| 21For I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the LORD your God in everything he has sent me to tell you. | 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. |
| 22Now therefore, know for certain that by the sword, famine, and plague you will die in the place where you desired to go to stay for a while." | 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." |
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