Jeremiah 42:5-13

5 Then they said to me, "May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not obey all the commands that the Lord our God gives you for us.
6 Whether it pleases us or not, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are asking you to pray. All will go well with us if we obey him."
7 Ten days later the Lord spoke to me;
8 so I called together Johanan, all the army leaders who were with him, and all the other people.
9 I said to them, "The Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me with your request has said,
10 "If you are willing to go on living in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not pull you up. The destruction I brought on you has caused me great sorrow.
11 Stop being afraid of the king of Babylonia. I am with you, and I will rescue you from his power.
12 Because I am merciful, I will make him have mercy on you and let you go back home. I, the Lord, have spoken.'
13 "But you people who are left in Judah must not disobey the Lord your God and refuse to live in this land. You must not say, "No, we will go and live in Egypt, where we won't face war any more or hear the call to battle or go hungry.' If you say this, then the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says, "If you are determined to go and live in Egypt,
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.