1. While there, Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah went to Jeremiah the prophet. All the army officers went with Johanan and Jezaniah. All the people, from the least important to the greatest, all went along, too.
2. They said to him, “Jeremiah, please listen to what we ask. Pray to the Lord your God. Pray for all the people left alive from the family of Judah. At one time there were many of us. You can see that there are few of us now.
3. So pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go. And pray he will tell us what we should do.”
4. Then Jeremiah the prophet answered, “I understand what you want me to do. I will pray to the Lord your God as you have asked. I will tell you everything he says. I will not hide anything from you.”
5. Then the people said to Jeremiah, “We will do everything the Lord your God tells us. If we don’t, may the Lord be a true and loyal witness against us. We know he will send you to tell us what to do.
6. It does not matter if we like the message or not. We will obey the Lord our God. We are sending you to the Lord for a message from him. We will obey what he says. Then good things will happen to us.”
7. Ten days later the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah.
8. Then Jeremiah called for Johanan son of Kareah and the army officers who were with him. Jeremiah also called all the other people, from the least important to the greatest.
9. Then Jeremiah said to them, “You sent me to ask the Lord for what you wanted. This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:
10. ‘If you will stay in Judah, I will make you strong. I will not destroy you. I will plant you, and I will not pull you up. This is because I am sad about the disaster I brought on you.