Jeremias 42
1 THE WORD THAT CAME TO JEREMIAS from the Lord in the days of Joakim, king of Juda, saying,
Then all the commanders of the forces, along with Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, approached
2 Go to the house of the Archabin, and you shall bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of the courts, and give them wine to drink.
Jeremiah the prophet and said, “May our petition come before you; pray to the LORD your God on behalf of this entire remnant. For few of us remain of the many, as you can see with your own eyes.
3 So I brought forth Jechonias the son of Jeremin the son of Chabasin, and his brethren, and his sons, and all the family of the Archabin;
Pray that the LORD your God will tell us the way we should walk and the thing we should do.”
4 and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Joanan, the son of Ananias, the son of Godolias, a man of God, who dwells near the house of the princes that are over the house of Maasaeas the son of Selom, who kept the court.
“I have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the prophet. “I will surely pray to the LORD your God as you request, and I will tell you everything that the LORD answers; I will not withhold a word from you.”
5 And I set before them a jar of wine, and cups, and I said, Drink you wine.
Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act upon every word that the LORD your God sends you to tell us.
6 But they said, We will on no account drink wine, for our father Jonadab the son of Rechab commanded us, saying, You shall on no account drink wine, [neither] you, nor your sons for ever:
Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us, for we will obey the voice of the LORD our God!”
7 nor shall you at all build houses, nor sow any seed, nor shall you have a vineyard: for you shall dwell in tents all your days; that you may live many days upon the land, in which you sojourn.
After ten days the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah,
8 And we listened to the voice of Jonadab our father, so as to drink no wine all our days, we, and our wives, and our sons, and our daughters;
and he summoned Johanan son of Kareah, all the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest.
9 and so as to build no houses to dwell in: and we have had no vineyard, nor field, nor seed:
Jeremiah told them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition:
10 but we have lived in tents, and have listened, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I will relent of the disaster I have brought upon you.
11 And it came to pass, when Nabuchodonosor came up against the land, that we said we would come in; and we entered into Jerusalem, for fear of the host of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the host of the Assyrians: and we lived there.
Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear; do not be afraid of him, declares the LORD, for I am with you to save you and deliver you from him.
12 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
And I will show you compassion, and he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own land.’
13 Thus says the Lord, Go, and say to the men of Juda, and to them that dwell in Jerusalem, Will you not receive correction to listen to my words?
But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and you thus disobey the voice of the LORD your God,
14 The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the word which he commanded his children, that they should drink no wine; and they have not drunk [it]: but I spoke to you early, and you listened not.
and if you say, ‘No, but we will go to the land of Egypt and live there, where we will not see war or hear the sound of the ram’s horn or hunger for bread,’
15 And I sent to you my servants the prophets, saying, Turn you every one from his evil way, and amend your practices, and go not after other gods to serve them, and you shall dwell upon the land which I gave to you and to your fathers: but you inclined not your ears, and listened not.
then hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah! This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and reside there,
16 But the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command of their father; but this people has not listened to me.
then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow on your heels into Egypt, and you will die there.
17 Therefore thus says the Lord; Behold, I [will] bring upon Juda and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evils which I pronounced against them.
So all who resolve to go to Egypt to reside there will die by sword and famine and plague. Not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring upon them.’
18 Therefore thus says the Lord; Since the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have listened to the command of their father, to do as their father commanded them:
For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as My anger and wrath were poured out on the residents of Jerusalem, so will My wrath be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and disgrace, and you will never see this place again.’
19 there shall never be lacking a man of the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab to stand before my face while the earth remains.
The LORD has told you, O remnant of Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Know for sure that I have warned you today!
For you have deceived yourselves by sending me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray to the LORD our God on our behalf, and as for all that the LORD our God says, tell it to us and we will do it.’
For I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God in all He has sent me to tell you.
Now therefore, know for sure that by sword and famine and plague you will die in the place where you desire to go to reside.”
