Jeremiah:42-45

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* Then all the captains of the forces , and Johanan the son of Kareah , and 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 beseech thee , our supplication be accepted before thee , and pray for us unto the LORD thy God , even for all this remnant ; (for we are left but a few of many , as thine eyes do behold us :) * That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk , and the thing that we may do . * Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them , I have heard you ; behold , I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words ; and it shall come to pass , that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you , I will declare it unto you ; I will keep nothing back from you . * Then they said to Jeremiah , The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us , if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us . * Whether it be good , or whether it be evil , we will obey the voice of the LORD our God , to whom we send thee ; that it may be well with us , when we obey the voice of the LORD our God . * And it came to pass after ten days , that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah . * Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah , and all the captains of the forces which were with him , and all the people from the least even to the greatest , * And said unto them , Thus saith the LORD , the God of Israel , unto whom ye sent me to 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 the LORD : for I am with you to save you , and to deliver you from his hand . * And I will shew mercies unto you , 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 , neither obey the voice of the LORD 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 : * And now therefore hear the word of the LORD , ye remnant of Judah ; Thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel ; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt , and go to sojourn there ; * Then it shall come to pass , that the sword , which ye feared , shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt , and the famine , whereof ye were afraid , shall follow close 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 the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel ; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem ; so shall my fury 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 . * The LORD hath said concerning you , O ye remnant of Judah ; Go ye not into Egypt : know certainly that I have admonished you this day . * For ye dissembled in your hearts , when ye sent me unto the LORD your God , saying , Pray for us unto the LORD our God ; and according unto all that the LORD our God shall say , so declare unto us , and we will do it . * And now I have this day declared it to you ; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God , nor any thing for the 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 and to sojourn . * And it came to pass , that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of the LORD their God , for which the LORD their God had sent him to them , even all these words , * Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah , and Johanan the son of Kareah , and all the proud men , saying unto Jeremiah , Thou speakest falsely : the LORD our God hath not sent thee to say , Go not into Egypt to sojourn there : * But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us , for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans , that they might put us to death , and carry us away captives into Babylon . * So Johanan the son of Kareah , and all the captains of the forces , and all the people , obeyed not the voice of the LORD , to dwell in the land of Judah . * But Johanan the son of Kareah , and all the captains of the forces , took all the remnant of Judah , that were returned from all nations , whither they had been driven , to dwell in the land of Judah ; * Even men , and women , and children , and the king 's daughters , and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan , and Jeremiah the prophet , and Baruch the son of Neriah . * So they came into the land of Egypt : for they obeyed not the voice of the LORD : thus came they even to Tahpanhes . * Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes , saying , * Take great stones in thine hand , and hide them in the clay in the brickkiln , which is at the entry of Pharaoh 's house in Tahpanhes , in the sight of the men of Judah ; * And say unto them , Thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel ; Behold , I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon , my servant , and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid ; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them . * And when he cometh , he shall smite the land of Egypt , and deliver such as are for death to death ; and such as are for captivity to captivity ; and such as are for the sword to the sword . * And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt ; and he shall burn them , and carry them away captives : and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt , as a shepherd putteth on his garment ; and he shall go forth from thence in peace . * He shall break also the images of Bethshemesh , that is in the land of Egypt ; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire . * The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt , which dwell at Migdol , and at Tahpanhes , and at Noph , and in the country of Pathros , saying , * Thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel ; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem , and upon all the cities of Judah ; and , behold , this day they are a desolation , and no man dwelleth therein , * Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger , in that they went to burn incense , and to serve other gods , whom they knew not , neither they , ye , nor your fathers . * Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets , rising early and sending them , saying , Oh , do not this abominable thing that I hate . * But they hearkened not , nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness , to burn no incense unto other gods . * Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth , and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem ; and they are wasted and desolate , as at this day . * Therefore now thus saith the LORD , the God of hosts , the God of Israel ; Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your souls , to cut off from you man and woman , child and suckling , out of Judah , to leave you none to remain ; * In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands , burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt , whither ye be gone to dwell , that ye might cut yourselves off , and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth ? * Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers , and the wickedness of the kings of Judah , and the wickedness of their wives , and your own wickedness , and the wickedness of your wives , which they have committed in the land of Judah , and in the streets of Jerusalem ? * They are not humbled even unto this day , neither have they feared , nor walked in my law , nor in my statutes , that I set before you and before your fathers . * Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel ; Behold , I will set my face against you for evil , and to cut off all Judah . * And I will take the remnant of Judah , that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there , and they shall all be consumed , and fall in the land of Egypt ; they shall even be consumed by the sword and by the famine : they shall die , from the least even unto the greatest , by the sword and by the famine : and they shall be an execration , and an astonishment , and a curse , and a reproach . * For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt , as I have punished Jerusalem , by the sword , by the famine , and by the pestilence : * So that none of the remnant of Judah , which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there , shall escape or remain , that they should return into the land of Judah , to the which they have a desire to return to dwell there : for none shall return but such as shall escape . * Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods , and all the women that stood by , a great multitude , even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt , in Pathros , answered Jeremiah , saying , * As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD , we will not hearken unto thee . * But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth , to burn incense unto the queen of heaven , and to pour out drink offerings unto her , as we have done , we , and our fathers , our kings , and our princes , in the cities of Judah , and in the streets of Jerusalem : for then had we plenty of victuals , and were well , and saw no evil . * But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven , and to pour out drink offerings unto her , we have wanted all things , and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine . * And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven , and poured out drink offerings unto her , did we make her cakes to worship her , and pour out drink offerings unto her , without our men ? * Then Jeremiah said unto all the people , to the men , and to the women , and to all the people which had given him that answer , saying , * The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah , and in the streets of Jerusalem , ye , and your fathers , your kings , and your princes , and the people of the land , did not the LORD remember them , and came it not into his mind ? * So that the LORD could no longer bear , because of the evil of your doings , and because of the abominations which ye have committed ; therefore is your land a desolation , and an astonishment , and a curse , without an inhabitant , as at this day . * Because ye have burned incense , and because ye have sinned against the LORD , and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD , nor walked in his law , nor in his statutes , nor in his testimonies ; therefore this evil is happened unto you , as at this day . * Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people , and to all the women , Hear the word of the LORD , all Judah that are in the land of Egypt : * Thus saith the LORD of hosts , the God of Israel , saying ; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths , and fulfilled with your hand , saying , We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed , to burn incense to the queen of heaven , and to pour out drink offerings unto her : ye will surely accomplish your vows , and surely perform your vows . * Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD , all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt ; Behold , I have sworn by my great name , saith the LORD , that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt , saying , The Lord GOD liveth . * Behold , I will watch over them for evil , and not for good : and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine , until there be an end of them . * Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah , and all the remnant of Judah , that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there , shall know whose words shall stand , mine , or theirs . * And this shall be a sign unto you , saith the LORD , that I will punish you in this place , that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil : * Thus saith the LORD ; Behold , I will give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies , and into the hand of them that seek his life ; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon , his enemy , and that sought his life . * The word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch the son of Neriah , when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah , in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah , saying , * Thus saith the LORD , the God of Israel , unto thee , O Baruch ; * Thou didst say , Woe is me now ! for the LORD hath added grief to my sorrow ; I fainted in my sighing , and I find no rest . * Thus shalt thou say unto him , The LORD saith thus ; Behold , that which I have built will I break down , and that which I have planted I will pluck up , even this whole land . * And seekest thou great things for thyself ? seek them not : for , behold , I will bring evil upon all flesh , saith the LORD : but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest . * The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles ;

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