Jeremiah 41:16-Jeremiah 43:13 - Flight To Egypt

¹⁶ Then did Johanan son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces who were with him take all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah out of Mizpah, after he had smitten Gedaliah son of Ahikam, - mighty men, men of war, and women and children and eunuchs, whom he had recovered out of Gibeon; ¹⁷ and they departed, and dwelt in the khan of Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, - that they might go to enter Egypt;

¹⁸ because of the Chaldeans, for they were afraid of them, - because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had smitten Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had set in charge over the land.

¹ Then drew near all the captains of the forces, and Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, - and all the people from the least even unto the greatest; ² and said unto Jeremiah the prophet - Let our supplication we beseech thee fall prostrate before thee, and pray thou in our behalf unto Yahweh thy God, in behalf of all this remnant, - for we are left a few out of many, just as thine own eyes do behold us: ³ that Yahweh thy God may tell us the way wherein we should walk, - and the thing that we should do.

⁴ And Jeremiah the prophet, said unto them, I have heard; behold me! praying unto Yahweh your God according to your words, - and it shall come to pass that the whole thing that Yahweh shall answer you, I will tell you, I will keep back from you, nothing.

⁵ They, therefore said unto Jeremiah, Yahweh be against us, as a witness true and faithful, - if according to all the word which Yahweh thy God shall send thee unto us, so we do not perform: ⁶ whether for good or for ill, unto the voice of Yahweh our God for which we are sending thee unto him, will we hearken, - to the end it may be well with us, because we will hearken unto the voice of Yahweh our God.

⁷ And it came to pass at the end of ten days, that the word of Yahweh came unto Jeremiah. ⁸ Then called he for Johanan son of Kareah, and for all the princes of the forces who were with him - and for all the people from the least even unto the greatest;

⁹ and said unto them, Thus, saith Yahweh, God of Israel - unto whom ye sent me, to cause your supplication to fall prostrate before him: - ¹⁰ If ye will indeed abide, in this land, then will I build you up, and not pull you down, and plant you and not uproot you , - for I have compassion as touching the calamity which I have caused you. ¹¹ Do not fear the face of the king of Babylon, of whose face ye are afraid, - do not fear him, Urgeth Yahweh, for with you, am I, to save you, and to deliver you out of his hand: ¹² that I may grant you compassions and he may have compassion upon you, - and suffer you to return unto your own soil. ¹³ But, since ye are saying, - We will not dwell in this land, - nor hearken unto the voice of Yahweh your God: ¹⁴ saying, - No! for, into the land of Egypt, will we go, where we shall not see war, nor the sound of a horn, shall we hear, - nor for bread, shall we be famished, - there, then will we dwell ¹⁵ Now, therefore, for this cause, hear ye the word of Yahweh, O remnant of Judah, - Thus! saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, - If, ye do indeed set your faces to enter Egypt and do enter to sojourn there, ¹⁶ then shall it come to pass that the sword which ye are fearing shall, there, overtake you, in the land of Egypt, - and the famine which ye are dreading, shall, there, lay fast hold of you, in Egypt, and, there, shall ye die. ¹⁷ So shall it be with all the men who have set their faces to enter Egypt to sojourn there, they shah die by sword, by famine or by pestilence, - and they shall have neither survival nor escape, from the face of the calamity which I am about to bring in upon them.

¹⁸ For - Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, - Just as mine anger and mine indignation have been poured out upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall mine indignation be poured out upon you when ye enter into Egypt, - thus shall ye become a curse, and an astonishment and a contempt and a reproach, and ye shall no more see this place. ¹⁹ Yahweh hath spoken concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah, Do not enter into Egypt: Know certainly, that I have taken you to witness to-day. ²⁰ For ye have deceived yourselves at the cost of your lives, for, ye yourselves, sent me unto Yahweh your God, saying, - Pray thou in our behalf, unto Yahweh our God, - and according to all that Yahweh our God shall say, so, tell us and we will do it. ²¹ Therefore have I told you to-day, - and yet ye have not hearkened unto the voice of Yahweh your God, even in any thing for which he hath sent me unto you. ²² Now, therefore, know ye certainly, that by sword, by famine, or by pestilence, shall ye die, - in the place whither ye have desired to go, to sojourn.

¹ And it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of Yahweh their God, with which Yahweh their God had sent him unto them, - even all these words, ² then spake Azariah son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan son of Kareah, and all the proud men, - saying unto Jeremiah - Falsely, art thou speaking, Yahweh our God hath not sent thee to say, Ye shall not enter Egypt to sojourn there; ³ but Baruch son of Neriah, is goading thee on against us, - that he may deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, to put us to death, or take us away captive to Babylon.

⁴ So Johanan son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces and all the people, hearkened not, unto the voice of Yahweh, - by remaining in the land of Judah; ⁵ but Johanan son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces took all the remnant of Judah, who had returned, out of all the nations whither they had been driven to sojourn in the land of Judah: ⁶ both the men and the women and the children, and the daughters of the king, and every soul that Nebuzaradan chief of the royal executioners had left, with Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, - and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch son of Neriah; ⁷ and entered the land of Egypt, for they hearkened not unto the voice of Yahweh, - yea entered as far as Tahpanhes.

⁸ Then came the word of Yahweh unto Jeremiah, in Tahpanhes, saying: ⁹ Take in thy hand great stones and hide them in the mortar that is in the brickyard which is at the entrance of the house of Pharaoh in Tahpanhes, - before the eyes of the men of Judah. ¹⁰ Then shalt thou say unto them - Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel - Behold me! sending and fetching Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne over these stones which I have hid, - and he shall spread his canopy over them. ¹¹ And when he entereth, then will he smite the land of Egypt and deliver Him who is for death to death and Him who is for captivity to captivity, and Him who is for the sword to the sword. ¹² So will I kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away Captive, - and shall wrap the land of Egypt about him, just as a shepherd, wrappeth about, him his garment, and shall go forth from thence in peace; ¹³ And he shall break in pieces the pillars of Beth-shemesh, which is in the land of Egypt, - And the houses of the gods of Egypt, shall he burn with fire.