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

¹⁶ Then Kareah's son Johanan and all the army commanders who were with him brought back the rest of the people of Mizpah whom he had rescued from Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam. Johanan brought back men, women, children, soldiers, and commanders from Gibeon. ¹⁷ When they left Gibeon, they stayed near Bethlehem at Geruth Kimham on their way to Egypt.

¹⁸ They were afraid of the Babylonians because Ishmael had killed Gedaliah whom the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the land.

¹ All the army leaders, including Johanan son of Kareah and Azariah son of Hoshaiah, came with people of every class. ² They said to me: Please do what we ask you! Pray to Jehovah our God for us. Pray for all of us who have survived. Once there were many of us. Now there are only a few of us left, as you can see. ³ Pray that Jehovah our God will show us the way we should go and what we should do.

⁴ I answered: Very well, then. I will pray to Jehovah our God, just as you have asked. I will tell you what he says. I will not keep back anything from you.

⁵ Then they said to me: May Jehovah be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not obey all the commandments that Jehovah our God gives you for us. ⁶ Whether it pleases us or not, we will obey Jehovah our God, to whom we are asking you to pray. All will go well with us if we obey him.

⁷ Ten days later Jehovah spoke to me. ⁸ I called together Johanan, all the army leaders who were with him, and all the other people.

⁹ I said to them, Jehovah, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me with your request said: ¹⁰ If you are willing to go on living in this land I will build you up and not tear you down. I will plant you and not uproot you. The destruction I brought on you has caused me great sorrow. ¹¹ Stop being afraid of the king of Babylon. I am with you. I will rescue you from his power.' ¹² For the reason that I am merciful, I will make him have mercy on you and let you go back home. I Jehovah have spoken. ¹³ If you say: We will not stay in this land, and you disobey Jehovah your God. ¹⁴ Then you say: We will go to Egypt, where we will not have to see war, hear the sound of a ram's horn, or be hungry. We will stay there. ¹⁵ Listen to the word of Jehovah, you people who are left in Judah. This is what Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Suppose you are determined to go to Egypt, and you go and live there. ¹⁶ Then the war that you fear will overtake you, and the hunger you dread will follow you, and you will die there in Egypt. ¹⁷ All the people who are determined to go and live in Egypt will die either in war or of starvation or disease. Not one of them will survive, not one will escape the disaster that I am going to bring on them.'

¹⁸ Jehovah, the God of Israel, says: 'Just as my anger and fury were poured out on the people of Jerusalem, so my fury will be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will be a horrifying sight. People will make fun of you and use your name as a curse. You will never see this place again.' ¹⁹ Then I continued: Jehovah has told you people who are left in Judah not to go to Egypt. And so I warn you now. ²⁰ You are making a fatal mistake. You asked me to pray to Jehovah our God for you, and you promised that you would do everything that he commands. ²¹ Now I have told you, but you are disobeying everything that Jehovah our God sent me to tell you. ²² So then, remember this: you will die in war or of starvation or disease in the land where you want to go and live.

¹ As soon as Jeremiah, whom Jehovah their God had sent, had finished telling all the people all the words of Jehovah their God, that is, all these words, ² Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the arrogant (egotistical) men said to Jeremiah: You are telling a lie! Jehovah our God has not sent you to say: 'You are not to enter Egypt to reside there. ³ Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us to give us over into the hand of the Chaldeans. They will put us to death or exile us to Babylon.

⁴ So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces, and all the people, did not obey the voice of Jehovah and stay in the land of Judah. ⁵ But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the entire remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations to which they had been driven away, in order to reside in the land of Judah. ⁶ They took men, women, children, and the king's daughters. They took every person whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had left with Gedaliah, son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, including the prophet Jeremiah and Baruch, son of Neriah. ⁷ They did not listen to Jehovah. They went to Egypt. They went as far as Tahpanhes.

⁸ Then Jehovah spoke his word to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes. He said: ⁹ Take some large stones, and bury them under the brick pavement at the entrance to the Pharaoh's palace in Tahpanhes. Do this while the people of Judah watch you. ¹⁰ Say to them: 'This is what Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to send for my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will set his throne over these stones that I buried, and I will spread his royal canopy above them. ¹¹ He will defeat Egypt. He will bring death to those who are supposed to die. He will capture those who are supposed to be captured. He will kill in battle those who are supposed to be killed in battle. ¹² He will set fire to the temples of Egypt's gods. He will burn down the temples and take their gods captive. Nebuchadnezzar will put on Egypt as his coat as a shepherd puts on his coat. He will leave Egypt peacefully. ¹³ At Beth Shemesh he will break the monuments in Egypt and burn down the temples of Egypt's gods.'