The Message Bible MSG
New Living Translation NLT
1 All the army officers, led by Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, accompanied by all the people, small and great,
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Then all the guerrilla leaders, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, approached
2 came to Jeremiah the prophet and said, "We have a request. Please listen. Pray to your God for us, what's left of us. You can see for yourself how few we are!
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Jeremiah the prophet. They said, “Please pray to the LORD your God for us. As you can see, we are only a tiny remnant compared to what we were before.
3 Pray that your God will tell us the way we should go and what we should do."
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Pray that the LORD your God will show us what to do and where to go.”
4 Jeremiah the prophet said, "I hear your request. And I will pray to your God as you have asked. Whatever God says, I'll pass on to you. I'll tell you everything, holding nothing back."
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“All right,” Jeremiah replied. “I will pray to the LORD your God, as you have asked, and I will tell you everything he says. I will hide nothing from you.”
5 They said to Jeremiah, "Let God be our witness, a true and faithful witness against us, if we don't do everything that your God directs you to tell us.
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Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD your God be a faithful witness against us if we refuse to obey whatever he tells us to do!
6 Whether we like it or not, we'll do it. We'll obey whatever our God tells us. Yes, count on us. We'll do it."
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Whether we like it or not, we will obey the LORD our God to whom we are sending you with our plea. For if we obey him, everything will turn out well for us.”
7 Ten days later God's Message came to Jeremiah.
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Ten days later the LORD gave his reply to Jeremiah.
8 He called together Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers with him, including all the people, regardless of how much clout they had.
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So he called for Johanan son of Kareah and the other guerrilla leaders, and for all the people, from the least to the greatest.
9 He then spoke: "This is the Message from God, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your prayer.
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He said to them, “You sent me to the LORD, the God of Israel, with your request, and this is his reply:
10 He says, 'If you are ready to stick it out in this land, I will build you up and not drag you down, I will plant you and not pull you up like a weed. I feel deep compassion on account of the doom I have visited on you.
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‘Stay here in this land. If you do, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you. For I am sorry about all the punishment I have had to bring upon you.
11 You don't have to fear the king of Babylon. Your fears are for nothing. I'm on your side, ready to save and deliver you from anything he might do.
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Do not fear the king of Babylon anymore,’ says the LORD . ‘For I am with you and will save you and rescue you from his power.
12 I'll pour mercy on you. What's more, he will show you mercy! He'll let you come back to your very own land.'
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I will be merciful to you by making him kind, so he will let you stay here in your land.’
13 "But do not say, 'We're not staying around this place,' refusing to obey the command of your God
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“But if you refuse to obey the LORD your God, and if you say, ‘We will not stay here;
14 and saying instead, 'No! We're off to Egypt, where things are peaceful - no wars, no attacking armies, plenty of food. We're going to live there.' If
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instead, we will go to Egypt where we will be free from war, the call to arms, and hunger,’
15 what's left of Judah is headed down that road, then listen to God's Message. This is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies says: 'If you have determined to go to Egypt and make that your home,
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then hear the LORD ’s message to the remnant of Judah. This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and live there,
16 then the very wars you fear will catch up with you in Egypt and the starvation you dread will track you down in Egypt. You'll die there!
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the very war and famine you fear will catch up to you, and you will die there.
17 Every last one of you who is determined to go to Egypt and make it your home will either be killed, starve, or get sick and die. No survivors, not one! No one will escape the doom that I'll bring upon you.'
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That is the fate awaiting every one of you who insists on going to live in Egypt. Yes, you will die from war, famine, and disease. None of you will escape the disaster I will bring upon you there.’
18 "This is the Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel: 'In the same way that I swept the citizens of Jerusalem away with my anger and wrath, I'll do the same thing all over again in Egypt. You'll end up being cursed, reviled, ridiculed, and mocked. And you'll never see your homeland again.
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“This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as my anger and fury have been poured out on the people of Jerusalem, so they will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. You will be an object of damnation, horror, cursing, and mockery. And you will never see your homeland again.’
19 '"God has plainly told you, you leftovers from Judah, 'Don't go to Egypt.' Could anything be plainer? I warn you this day
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“Listen, you remnant of Judah. The LORD has told you: ‘Do not go to Egypt!’ Don’t forget this warning I have given you today.
20 that you are living out a fantasy. You're making a fatal mistake. "Didn't you just now send me to your God, saying, 'Pray for us to our God. Tell us everything that God says and we'll do it all'?
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For you were not being honest when you sent me to pray to the LORD your God for you. You said, ‘Just tell us what the LORD our God says, and we will do it!’
21 "Well, now I've told you, told you everything he said, and you haven't obeyed a word of it, not a single word of what your God sent me to tell you.
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And today I have told you exactly what he said, but you will not obey the LORD your God any better now than you have in the past.
22 So now let me tell you what will happen next: You'll be killed, you'll starve to death, you'll get sick and die in the wonderful country where you've determined to go and live."
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So you can be sure that you will die from war, famine, and disease in Egypt, where you insist on going.”
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.