2. approached Jeremiah the prophet and said, “Please grant our petition; pray for us to the Lord, your God, for all this remnant. As you see, only a few of us remain, but once we were many.
3. May the Lord, your God, show us the way we should take and what we should do.”
4. “Very well!” Jeremiah the prophet answered them: “I will pray to the Lord, your God, as you desire; whatever the Lord answers, I will tell you; I will withhold nothing from you.”
5. And they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not follow all the instructions the Lord, your God, sends us through you.
6. Whether we like it or not, we will obey the command of the Lord, our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us for obeying the command of the Lord, our God.”
7. Ten days passed before the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.
8. Then he called Johanan, son of Kareah, his army leaders, and all the people, from the least to the greatest,
9. and said to them: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to offer your petition:
10. If indeed you will remain in this land, I will build you up, and not tear you down; I will plant you, not uproot you; for I repent of the evil I have done you.
11. Do not fear the king of Babylon, as you do now. Do not fear him—oracle of the Lord—for I am with you to save you, to rescue you from his power.
12. I will take pity on you, so that he will have pity on you and let you return to your land.
13. But if you keep saying, “We will not stay in this land,” thus disobeying the voice of the Lord, your God,
14. and saying, “No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war, nor hear the trumpet alarm, nor hunger for bread. There we will live!”
15. then listen to the word of the Lord, remnant of Judah: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you are set on going to Egypt and settling down there once you arrive,
16. the sword you fear shall overtake you in the land of Egypt; the hunger you dread shall pursue you to Egypt and there you shall die.