1Then came all the leaders of the host, and Joanan, and Azarias the son of Maasaeas, and all the people great and small,

2to Jeremias the prophet, and said to him, Let now our supplication come before your face, and pray you to the Lord your God for this remnant; for we are left few out of many, as your eyes see.

3And let the Lord your God declare to us the way wherein we should walk, and the thing which we should do.

4And Jeremias said to them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray for you to the Lord our God, according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatever word the Lord God shall answer, I will declare it to you; I will not hide anything from you.

5And they said to Jeremias, Let the Lord be between us for a just and faithful witness, if we do not according to every word which the Lord shall send to us.

6And whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will listen to the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send you; that it may be well with us, because we shall listen to the voice of the Lord our God.

7And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the Lord came to Jeremias.

8And he called Joanan, and the leaders of the host, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,

9and he said to them, Thus says the Lord;

10If you⌃ will indeed dwell in this land, I will build you, and will not pull you down, but will plant you, and in no wise pluck you up: for I have ceased from the calamities which I brought upon you.

11Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you⌃ are afraid; be not afraid of him, says the Lord: for I am with you, to deliver you, and save you out of their hand.

12And I will grant you mercy, and pity you, and will restore you to your land.

13But if you⌃ say, We will not dwell in this land, that we may not listen to the voice of the Lord;

14for we will go into the land of Egypt, and we shall see no war, and shall not hear the sound of a trumpet, and we shall not hunger for bread; and there we will dwell:

15then hear the word of the Lord; thus says the Lord;

16If you⌃ set your face toward Egypt, and go in there to dwell; then it shall be, that the sword which you⌃ fear shall find you in the land of Egypt, and the famine to which you⌃ have regard, shall overtake you, coming after you in Egypt; and there you⌃ shall die.

17And all the men, and all the strangers who have set their face toward the land of Egypt to dwell there, shall be consumed by the sword, and by the famine: and there shall not one of them escape from the evils which I bring upon them.

18For thus says the Lord; As my wrath has dropped upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my wrath drop upon you, when you⌃ have entered into Egypt: and you⌃ shall be a desolation, and under the power of others, and a curse and a reproach: and you⌃ shall no more see this place.

19These are the words which the Lord has spoken concerning you the remnant of Juda; Enter you⌃ not into Egypt: and now know you⌃ for a certainty,

20that you⌃ have wrought wickedness in your hearts, when you⌃ sent me, saying, Pray you for us to the Lord; and according to all that the Lord shall speak to you we will do.

21And you⌃ have not listened to the voice of the Lord, with which he sent me to you.

22Now therefore you⌃ shall perish by sword and by famine, in the place which you⌃ desire to go into to dwell there.