7. Ten days later, the Lord gave me an answer for
8. Johanan, the officers, and the other people. So I called them together
9. and told them that the Lord God of Israel had said:You asked Jeremiah to pray and find out what you should do.
10. I am sorry that I had to punish you, and so I now tell you to stay here in Judah, where I will plant you and build you up, instead of tearing you down and uprooting you.
11. Don't be afraid of the King of Babylonia. I will protect you from him,
12. and I will even force him to have mercy on you and give back your farms.
13. But you might keep on saying, “We won't stay here in Judah, and we won't obey the Lord our God.
14. We are going to Egypt, where there is plenty of food and no danger of war.”
15. People of Judah, you survived when the Babylonian army attacked. Now you are planning to move to Egypt, and if you do go, this is what will happen.
16-17. You are afraid of war, starvation, and disease here in Judah, but they will follow you to Egypt and kill you there. None of you will survive the disasters I will send.
18. I, the Lord, was angry with the people of Jerusalem and punished them. And if you go to Egypt, I will be angry and punish you the same way. You will never again see your homeland. People will be horrified at what I do to you, and they will use the name of your city as a curse word.