Study Desk

Ten days later the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah.

So 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.

He said to them, "This is what the LORD , the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says:

'If 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 am grieved over the disaster I have inflicted on you.

Do 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.

I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.'

"However, if you say, 'We will not stay in this land,' and so disobey the LORD your God,

and 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,'

then hear the word of the LORD , O 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,

then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die.

Indeed, 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.'

This 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 an object of cursing and horror, of condemnation and reproach; you will never see this place again.'