¹ Then drew near all the captains of the forces, and Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah,—and all the people from the least even unto the greatest;

² and said unto Jeremiah the prophet—Let our supplication we beseech thee fall prostrate before thee, and pray thou in our behalf unto Yahweh thy God, in behalf of all this remnant,—for we are left a few out of many, just as thine own eyes do behold us:

³ that Yahweh thy God may tell us the way wherein we should walk,—and the thing that we should do.

⁴ And Jeremiah the prophet, said unto them, I have heard; behold me! praying unto Yahweh your God according to your words,—and it shall come to pass that the whole thing that Yahweh shall answer you, I will tell you, I will keep back from you, nothing.

⁵ They, therefore said unto Jeremiah, Yahweh be against us, as a witness true and faithful,—if according to all the word which Yahweh thy God shall send thee unto us, so we do not perform:

⁶ whether for good or for ill, unto the voice of Yahweh our God for which we are sending thee unto him, will we hearken,—to the end it may be well with us, because we will hearken unto the voice of Yahweh our God.

⁷ And it came to pass at the end of ten days, that the word of Yahweh came unto Jeremiah.

⁸ Then called he for Johanan son of Kareah, and for all the princes of the forces who were with him—and for all the people from the least even unto the greatest;

⁹ and said unto them, Thus, saith Yahweh, God of Israel—unto whom ye sent me, to cause your supplication to fall prostrate before him:—

¹⁰ If ye will indeed abide, in this land, then will I build you up, and not pull [you] down, and plant you and not uproot [you],—for I have compassion as touching the calamity which I have caused you.

¹¹ Do not fear the face of the king of Babylon, of whose face ye are afraid,—do not fear him, Urgeth Yahweh, for with you, am I, to save you, and to deliver you out of his hand:

¹² that I may grant you compassions and he may have compassion upon you,—and suffer you to return unto your own soil.

¹³ But, since ye are saying,—We will not dwell in this land,—nor hearken unto the voice of Yahweh your God:

¹⁴ saying,—No! for, into the land of Egypt, will we go, where we shall not see war, nor the sound of a horn, shall we hear,—nor for bread, shall we be famished,—there, then will we dwell

¹⁵ Now, therefore, for this cause, hear ye the word of Yahweh, O remnant of Judah,—Thus! saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel,—If, ye do indeed set your faces to enter Egypt and do enter to sojourn there,

¹⁶ then shall it come to pass that the sword which ye are fearing shall, there, overtake you, in the land of Egypt,—and the famine which ye are dreading, shall, there, lay fast hold of you, in Egypt, and, there, shall ye die.

¹⁷ So shall it be with all the men who have set their faces to enter Egypt to sojourn there, they shall die by sword, by famine or by pestilence,—and they shall have neither survival nor escape, from the face of the calamity which I am about to bring in upon them.

¹⁸ For—Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel,—Just as mine anger and mine indignation have been poured out upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall mine indignation be poured out upon you when ye enter into Egypt,—thus shall ye become a curse, and an astonishment and a contempt and a reproach, and ye shall no more see this place.

¹⁹ Yahweh hath spoken concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah, Do not enter into Egypt: Know certainly, that I have taken you to witness to-day.

²⁰ For ye have deceived yourselves at the cost of your lives, for, ye yourselves, sent me unto Yahweh your God, saying,—Pray thou in our behalf, unto Yahweh our God,—and according to all that Yahweh our God shall say, so, tell us and we will do it.

²¹ Therefore have I told you to-day,—and yet ye have not hearkened unto the voice of Yahweh your God, even in any thing for which he hath sent me unto you.

²² Now, therefore, know ye certainly, that by sword, by famine, or by pestilence, shall ye die,—in the place whither ye have desired to go, to sojourn.