Jeremiah 42:4-14

4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.

5 Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.

6 Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will hear the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that, obeying the voice of the LORD our God, it may be well with us.

7 And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.

8 Then he called Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the princes of the armies which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,

9 and said unto them, Thus hath the LORD, the God of Israel said, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him,

10 If ye will still abide in this land, then I will build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I repent of the evil that I have done unto you.

11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; do not be afraid of him, said the LORD: for I am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand.

12 And I will show mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you and cause you to dwell in your own land.

13 But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, not listening to the voice of the LORD your God,

14 saying, No, but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the shofar, nor have hunger of bread; and there we will dwell:

Jeremiah 42:4-14 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH CAHPTER 42

This chapter contains a request of the Jews to Jeremiah, to pray to the Lord for them to direct them, and the Lord's answer to it. The request is made by the captains and all the people, Jer 42:1-3; which Jeremiah undertook to present to the Lord, Jer 42:4; they promising to go according to the direction that should be given, Jer 42:5,6. After ten days an answer is returned, and the prophet calls the captains and people together to hear it, Jer 42:7,8; the purport of which was, that if they continued in the land of Judah, it would be well with them, and they would be safe, Jer 42:9-12; but if they went into Egypt, they should die by the sword, famine, and pestilence, and be a curse and reproach, and never see their own land more, Jer 42:13-18; they are charged with dissimulation and disobedience, Jer 42:19-21; and the chapter is concluded with an assurance of their perishing by the above judgments in the place they were desirous of dwelling in, Jer 42:22.