Jeremiah 42:5-6

5 Then they said to Jeremiah, "May the ¹LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole message with which the LORD your God will send you to us.

6 "Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will ²listen to the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go ³well with us when we listen to the voice of the LORD our God."

Jeremiah 42:5-6 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.

Cross References

• 1. Genesis 31:50; Judges 11:10; Jeremiah 43:2; Micah 1:2; Malachi 2:14; Malachi 3:5
• 2. Exodus 24:7; Deuteronomy 5:27; Joshua 24:24
• 3. Deuteronomy 5:29, 33; Deuteronomy 6:3; Jeremiah 7:23

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "word"
• [b]. Lit "good"
• [c]. Lit "evil"