Johanan flees to Egypt with Jeremiah
1All the officers and Johanan, son of Kareah, and Jezaniah, son of Hoshaiah, went to the prophet Jeremiah 2and they said to him: ‘We ask you to pray for us to the Lord your God. Pray for us who are still_alive. There were a lot of our people, but you can see that there are only a few of us now. 3Ask the Lord your God to tell us where we must go and what we must do.’
4The prophet Jeremiah said to them: ‘I hear what you ask. Yes, I will pray to the Lord your God and I will tell you what the Lord says to you. I will tell you everything that He says.’
5They answered Jeremiah and said: ‘The Lord your God is the Witness against us if we don't do everything that He tells you to say to us. If we don't do it, He can punish us. 6We are sending you to the Lord our God and we will do what He says. We know that all will be well with us if we do what the Lord our God says.’
7After 10 days the Lord talked to Jeremiah 8and Jeremiah called Johanan and all the officers who were with him, and all the people, the unimportant and the important people. 9Jeremiah told them: ‘You sent me to pray to the Lord, the God of Israel, to tell Him what you say. This is what the God of Israel says: 10“If you keep on living in this land, I will build you up. I will not destroy you. I will plant you, and I will not pull you out. I am sorry that I made you suffer so much. 11Don't be afraid of the king of Babylon. Don't fear him because I am with you to save you and to free you from him. 12I will be good to you and give you mercy. Then the king of Babylon will also feel sorry for you and let you stay in your land.”
13But if you say you don't want to live in this land, and if you don't want to do what the Lord your God tells you, then you will suffer. 14Maybe you will say: “No, we want to go and live in Egypt. There is no war there or trumpets that warn people of war. We will have enough food. We want to go and live there.” 15If that is what you say, then you must listen to what the Lord says to you who are left over from the people of Judah. The Lord who rules over all, the God of Israel, says: “If you decide to go to Egypt and live there as strangers, 16then war will follow you. You were afraid of war but it will find you in the land of Egypt. You were worried that you would become hungry, but if you go to Egypt, you will always be hungry. 17All the men who decide to go to Egypt, and live there as strangers, will die in war or from famine or disease. Not one of them will be able to flee and escape the trouble that I will bring over them.
18Yes, the Lord who rules over all, the God of Israel, says: I became angry with the people of Jerusalem and I punished them. That is how I will get angry with you and punish you if you go to Egypt. People will use your names when they want to curse other people or to make them afraid, or humiliate them or mock them. And you will never see this place again.”
19People of Judah, the Lord tells you who are still_alive not to go to Egypt. You must understand that I am warning you today. 20If you want to go, you are making a mistake and you will die. You sent me to pray to the Lord your God and you asked me: “Pray for us to the Lord our God. You must tell us everything that He says and we will do it.”
21But when I came to you today to tell you the message of God, you did not want to listen to Him. 22So you must know today that you will die in war and from famine and disease in the land where you want to go and live. This is sure.’
