Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and {In chapter 43:2, Azariah. See 2 Kings 25:23}Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near,
and said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we pray thee, our supplication {Hebrew: fall.}be presented before thee, and pray for us unto Jehovah thy God, even for all this remnant (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us),
that Jehovah thy God may show us the way wherein we should walk, and the thing that we should do.
Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto Jehovah your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass that whatsoever thing Jehovah shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.
Then they said to Jeremiah, Jehovah be a true and faithful witness {Or, against}amongst us, if we do not according to all the word wherewith Jehovah thy God shall send thee to us.
Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of Jehovah our God.
And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah.
Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,
and said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to {Or, lay}present your supplication before him:
If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.
Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith Jehovah: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
And I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land; so that ye obey not the voice of Jehovah your God,
saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:
now therefore hear ye the word of Jehovah, O remnant of Judah: Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, If ye indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;
then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, whereof ye are afraid, {Hebrew: shall cleave after you.}shall follow hard after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.
So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there: they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.
For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: As mine anger and my wrath hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my wrath be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt; and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.
Jehovah hath spoken concerning you, O remnant of Judah, Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have testified unto you this day.
For ye have dealt deceitfully {Or, in your souls}against your own souls; for ye sent me unto Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us unto Jehovah our God; and according unto all that Jehovah our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.
And I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah your God in anything for which he hath sent me unto you.
Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go to sojourn there.
Querverweise zu Jeremia 42,19 Jer 42,19
Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; forasmuch as Jehovah hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that Jehovah hath showed me:
And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are come upon them, that this song shall testify before them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they frame this day, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.
Woe to the rebellious children, saith Jehovah, that take counsel, but not of me; and that {Or, pour out a drink-offering}make a league, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin,
that set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to {Or, flee to the stronghold of Pharaoh}strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt!
Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
For their princes are at Zoan, and their ambassadors are come to Hanes.
They shall all be ashamed because of a people that cannot profit them, that are not a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
The {Or, oracle concerning}burden of the beasts of the South.Through the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the humps of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
For Egypt helpeth in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I {Or, cried concerning this, They are but arrograncy: be still}called her Rahab that sitteth still.
Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning; and thou hast delivered thy soul.
Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto Jehovah; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.
Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek Jehovah!
Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evil-doers, and against the help of them that work iniquity.
Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit: and when Jehovah shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall stumble, and he that is helped shall fall, and they all shall be consumed together.
Wherefore I testify unto you this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their back, and slew thy prophets that testified against them to turn them again unto thee, and they wrought great provocations.
But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? shall he break the covenant, and yet escape?
For I shrank not from declaring unto you the whole counsel of God.
and testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law. Yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thine ordinances, (which if a man do, he shall live in them,) and {Hebrew: they gave a stubborn shoulder.}withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.
Yet many years didst thou bear with them, and testifiedst against them by thy Spirit through thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
And with many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation.
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind,
that no man {Or, overreach}transgress, and wrong his brother in the matter: because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we {Or, told you plainly}forewarned you and testified.