| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 1Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and 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. |
| 2Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, "Please hear our petition and pray to the LORD your God for this entire remnant. For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left. | 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. |
| 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 tell us where we should go and what we should do." |
| 4"I have heard you," replied Jeremiah the prophet. "I will certainly pray to the LORD your God as you have requested; I will tell you everything the LORD says and will keep nothing back 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." |
| 5Then they said to Jeremiah, "May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything 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 favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the LORD our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will 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." |
| 7Ten days later the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. | 7Ten days later the LORD spoke to Jeremiah. |
| 8So he called together Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers 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, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says: | 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: |
| 10If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I have relented concerning the disaster I have inflicted 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. |
| 11Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the LORD, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands. | 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 show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.' | 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"However, if you say, 'We will not stay in this land,' and so 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, we will go and live in Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or be hungry for bread,' | 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, you remnant of Judah. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there, | 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, and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die. | 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. |
| 17Indeed, all who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague; not one of them will survive or escape 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.' |
| 18This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'As my anger and wrath have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem, so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be a curse and an object of horror, a curse and an object of reproach; 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.' |
| 19"Remnant of Judah, the LORD has told you, 'Do not go to Egypt.' Be sure of this: I warn 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. |
| 20that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the LORD your God and said, 'Pray to the LORD our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.' | 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.' |
| 21I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the LORD your God in all he 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. |
| 22So now, be sure of this: You will die by the sword, famine and plague in the place where you want to go to settle." | 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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