Jeremiah 42

1 Then all the captains of the warriors, and Johanan the son of Caree, and Jezonias the son of Osaias, and the rest of the people from the least to the greatest came near:

THE WORD THAT CAME TO JEREMIAS from the Lord in the days of Joakim, king of Juda, saying,

2 And they said to Jeremias the prophet: Let our supplication fall before thee: and pray thou for us to the Lord thy God for all this remnant, for we are left but a few of many, as thy eyes do behold us.

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.

3 And let the Lord thy God shew us the way by which we may walk, and the thing that we must do.

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;

4 And Jeremias the prophet said to them: I have heard you: behold I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words: and whatsoever thing he shall answer me, I will declare it to you: and I will hide nothing from you.

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.

5 And they said to Jeremias: The Lord be witness between us of truth and faithfulness, if we do not according to every thing for which the Lord thy God shall send thee to us.

And I set before them a jar of wine, and cups, and I said, Drink you wine.

6 Whether it be good or evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom me send thee: that it may be well with us when we shall hearken to the voice of the Lord our God.

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:

7 Now after ten days, the word of the Lord came to Jeremias.

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.

8 And he called Johanan the son of Caree, and all the captains of the fighting men that were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest.

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;

9 And he said to them: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, to whom you sent me, to present your supplications before him:

and so as to build no houses to dwell in: and we have had no vineyard, nor field, nor seed:

10 If you will be quiet and remain in this land, I will build you up, and not pull you down: I will plane you, and not pluck you up: for now I am appeased for the evil that I have done to you.

but we have lived in tents, and have listened, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

11 Fear not because of the king of Babylon, of whom you are greatly afraid: fear him not, saith the Lord: for I am with you, to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

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.

12 And I will shew mercies to you, and will take pity on you, and will cause you to dwell in your own land.

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

13 But if you say: We will not dwell in this land, neither will we hearken to the voice of the Lord our God,

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?

14 Saying: No, but we will go into the land of Egypt: where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor suffer hunger: and there we will dwell.

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.

15 For this now hear the word of the Lord, ye remnant of Juda: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to go into Egypt, and enter in to dwell there:

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.

16 The sword which you fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt: and the famine, whereof you are afraid, shall cleave to you in Egypt, and there you shall die.

But the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command of their father; but this people has not listened to me.

17 And all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt, to dwell there, shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence: none of them shall remain, nor escape from the face of the evil that I will bring upon them.

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.

18 For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: As my anger and my indignation hath been kindled against the inhabitants of Jerusalem: so shall my indignation be kindled against you, when you shall enter into Egypt, and you shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach: and you shall see this place no more.

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:

19 This is the word of the Lord concerning you, O ye remnant of Juda: Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have adjured you this day.

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.

20 For you have deceived your own souls: for you sent me to the Lord our God, saying: Pray for us to the Lord our God, and according to all that the Lord our God shall say to thee, so declare unto us, and we will do it.

21 And now I have declared it to you this day, and; you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, with regard to all the things for which he hath sent me to you.

22 Now therefore know certainly that you shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence in the place to which you desire to go to dwell there.