Yirmeyah 42

1. Then all the army officers, and Yochanan Ben Kareach, and Yezanyah Ben Hoshayah, and kol HaAm from the katon even unto the gadol, came near,

2. And said unto Yirmeyah HaNavi, Let, now, techinnatenu (our supplication) be accepted before thee, and pray on our behalf unto Hashem Eloheicha, even on behalf of all this she’erit (remnant); (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes canst see;)

3. That Hashem Eloheicha may show us the derech wherein we should walk, and the thing that we should do.

4. Then Yirmeyah HaNavi said unto them, I have heard you; hineni, I will pray unto Hashem Eloheichem according to your devarim; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing Hashem shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.

5. Then they said to Yirmeyah, Hashem be an ed emes v’ne’eman (true and faithful witness) against us, if we do not act even according to all things for the which Hashem Eloheicha shall send thee to us.

6. Whether it be tov, or whether it be rah, we will obey the voice of Hashem Eloheinu, to Whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of Hashem Eloheinu.

7. And it came to pass after aseret yamim (ten days), that the Devar Hashem came unto Yirmeyah.

8. Then he called Yochanan Ben Kareach, and all the army officers which were with him, and kol HaAm from the katon even to the gadol,

9. And said unto them, Thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel, unto Whom ye sent me to present your techinnah before Him;

10. If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you up, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not uproot you; for I relent Me of the ra’ah that I have brought upon you.

11. Be not afraid of Melech Bavel, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith Hashem; for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his yad.

12. And I will show rachamim unto you, that he will have compassion upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.

13. But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, disobeying the voice of Hashem Eloheichem,

14. Saying, No; but we will go into Eretz Mitzrayim, where we shall see no milchamah, nor hear the sound of the shofar, nor have hunger for lechem; and there will we dwell;

15. And now therefore hear the Devar Hashem, ye She’erit Yehudah (Remnant of Judah). Thus saith Hashem Tzva’os Elohei Yisroel: If ye wholly set your faces to go to Mitzrayim, and go to sojourn there,

16. Then it shall come to pass, that the cherev, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in Eretz Mitzrayim, and the ra’av (famine), whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Mitzrayim; and there ye shall die.

17. So shall it be with all the anashim that set their faces to go into Mitzrayim to sojourn there; they shall die by the cherev, by the ra’av (famine), and by the dever; and none of them shall remain or escape from the ra’ah (disaster) that I will bring upon them.

18. For thus saith Hashem Tzva’os Elohei Yisroel: As Mine anger and My wrath hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, so shall My wrath be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Mitzrayim; and ye shall be an oath, and a horror, and a kelalah (curse), and a cherpah; and ye shall see this makom no more.

19. Hashem hath said concerning you, O ye she’erit Yehudah; Go ye not into Mitzrayim; know certainly that I have warned you, this day.

20. For ye acted deceitfully, erring in your nafshot, when ye sent me unto Hashem Eloheichem, saying, Pray on our behalf unto Hashem Eloheinu; and according unto all that Hashem Eloheinu shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.

21. And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of Hashem Eloheichem, nor anything for the which He hath sent me unto you.

22. Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the cherev, by the ra’av (famine), and by the dever, in the makom where ye desire to go and to sojourn.