Jeremiah 42:7-17

7 Forsooth when ten days were [ful]filled, the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy.
8 And he called Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the princes of warriors, that were with him (and all the leaders of the warriors, who were with him), and all the people from the least unto the most;
9 and he said to them, The Lord God of Israel saith these things, to whom ye sent me, that I should meekly set forth your prayers in his sight.
10 If ye rest, and dwell in this land, I shall build you, and I shall not destroy; I shall plant, and I shall not draw out; for now I am pleased on the evil which I did to you. (If ye rest, and live in this land, I shall build you, and I shall not destroy you; I shall plant you, and I shall not draw you out; for now I repent for the evil which I have done to you.)
11 Do not ye dread of the face of the king of Babylon, whom ye that be fearful, dread; do not ye dread him, saith the Lord, for I am with you, to make you safe, and to deliver [you] from his hand. (Do not ye fear the king of Babylon, whom ye who be fearful, do fear; do not ye fear him, saith the Lord, for I am with you, to make you safe, and to deliver you out of his hands.)
12 And I shall give mercies to you, and I shall have mercy on you, and I shall make you dwell in your land (and I shall help you to live in your own land).
13 Forsooth if ye say, We shall not dwell in this land, neither we shall hear the voice of our Lord God, (But if ye say, We shall not live in this land, nor shall we listen to the voice of the Lord our God,)
14 and say, Nay, but we shall go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see battle, and shall not hear the noise, either sound, of trump, and we shall not suffer hunger, and there we shall dwell; (and say, Nay! but we shall go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see battle, and shall not hear the sound of the trumpet, and we shall not suffer hunger, and we shall live there;)
15 for this thing, ye remnants of Judah, hear now the word of the Lord. The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, If ye set your face, for to enter into Egypt, and if ye enter, to dwell there (If ye set your face, to enter into Egypt, and if ye go, to live there),
16 the sword which ye dread shall take you there in the land of Egypt, and the hunger for which ye be anguished shall cleave to you in Egypt; and there ye shall die (and ye shall die there).
17 And all the men that setted their face, to enter into Egypt, and to dwell there, shall die by sword, and hunger, and pestilence; no man of them shall dwell still, neither shall escape from the face of [the] evil, which I shall bring on them. (And all those who set their face, to enter into Egypt, and to live there, shall die by the sword, and hunger, and pestilence; not one of them shall still remain, nor shall escape from the face of the evil, which I shall bring upon them.)

Jeremiah 42:7-17 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.