Jeremiah 42:15

15 Then hear now the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah! Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'If you wholly set your faces to enter Egypt, and go to dwell there,

Jeremiah 42:15 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 42:15

And now therefore hear the word of the Lord, ye remnant of
Judah
A small remnant indeed, a few that were left in the land; who ought therefore to have admired the distinguishing goodness of Providence in preserving them in it; where they should have continued and made use of their privilege, to the glory of God and their mutual good: thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel;
the Lord of armies above and below, the Lord God omnipotent, and so able to protect them in their land; and who had a peculiar favour to Israel, and stood in a particular relation to them, and therefore would do it, of which they had no reason to doubt; but, disobliging him, what judgments might they not expect? if you wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt:
are resolved upon it, and are actually engaged in it; turning their faces from Judea towards Egypt, and obstinately pursuing it, nor can be reclaimed from it: the phrase expresses their resolution, impudence, and obstinacy: and go to sojourn there:
to be sojourners and strangers there, as their fathers had been before; the remembrance of which was enough to set them against going into Egypt any more.

Jeremiah 42:15 In-Context

13 "But if you say, 'We will not dwell in this land,' disobeying the voice of the Lord your God,
14 saying, 'No, but we will go to the land of Egypt where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor be hungry for bread, and there we will dwell'--
15 Then hear now the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah! Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'If you wholly set your faces to enter Egypt, and go to dwell there,
16 then it shall be that the sword which you feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; the famine of which you were afraid shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there you shall die.
17 So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to dwell there. They shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. And none of them shall remain or escape from the disaster that I will bring upon them.'
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.