Study Desk

The captain of the guard called for Jeremiah and said, "The Lord your God has brought this disaster on this land,

Jeremiah the prophet. They said, "Please pray to the Lord your God for us. As you can see, we are only a tiny remnant compared to what we were before.

Pray that the Lord your God will show us what to do and where to go."

"All right," Jeremiah replied. "I will pray to the Lord your God, as you have asked, and I will tell you everything he says. I will hide nothing from you."

Then they said to Jeremiah, "May the Lord your God be a faithful witness against us if we refuse to obey whatever he tells us to do!

Whether we like it or not, we will obey the Lord our God to whom we are sending you with our plea. For if we obey him, everything will turn out well for us."

He said to them, "You sent me to the Lord , the God of Israel, with your request, and this is his reply:

"But if you refuse to obey the Lord your God, and if you say, ‘We will not stay here;

then hear the Lord 's message to the remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and live there,

"This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as my anger and fury have been poured out on the people of Jerusalem, so they will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. You will be an object of damnation, horror, cursing, and mockery. And you will never see your homeland again.'

For you were not being honest when you sent me to pray to the Lord your God for you. You said, ‘Just tell us what the Lord our God says, and we will do it!'

And today I have told you exactly what he said, but you will not obey the Lord your God any better now than you have in the past.

When Jeremiah had finished giving this message from the Lord their God to all the people,

Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the other proud men said to Jeremiah, "You lie! The Lord our God hasn't forbidden us to go to Egypt!

Then say to the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will certainly bring my servant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, here to Egypt. I will set his throne over these stones that I have hidden. He will spread his royal canopy over them.

"This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says: You saw the calamity I brought on Jerusalem and all the towns of Judah. They now lie deserted and in ruins.

"And now the Lord God of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, asks you: Why are you destroying yourselves? For not one of you will survive—not a man, woman, or child among you who has come here from Judah, not even the babies in your arms.

"Therefore, this is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am determined to destroy every one of you!

This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘You and your wives have said, "We will keep our promises to burn incense and pour out liquid offerings to the Queen of Heaven," and you have proved by your actions that you meant it. So go ahead and carry out your promises and vows to her!'

"This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: