¹ Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, came near.

² And said to Jeremiah the prophet, We beseech thee, let our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us to the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thy eyes do behold us:)

³ That the LORD thy God may show us the way in which we may walk, and the thing that we may do.

⁴ Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray to the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it to you; I will keep nothing back from you.

⁵ Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for which The LORD thy God shall send thee to us.

⁶ Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.

⁷ And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah.

⁸ Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,

⁹ And said to them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;

¹⁰ If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent of the evil that I have done to you.

¹¹ Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD; for I am with you, to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

¹² And I will show mercies to you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.

¹³ But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,

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 hunger for bread; and there will we dwell:

¹⁵ And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;

¹⁶ Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.

¹⁷ So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.

¹⁸ For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As my anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem: so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.

¹⁹ The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.

²⁰ For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me to the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us to the LORD our God; and according to all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare to us, and we will do it.

²¹ And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for which he hath sent me to you.

²² Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.

¹ In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city. God appoints salvation for walls and bulwarks.

² Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter: the one which keeps faith.

³ You will keep whoever's mind is steadfast in perfect peace, because he trusts in you.

⁴ Trust in Yahweh forever; for in Yah, Yahweh, is an everlasting Rock.

⁵ For he has brought down those who dwell on high, the lofty city. He lays it low. He lays it low even to the ground. He brings it even to the dust.

⁶ The foot shall tread it down; Even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy."

⁷ The way of the just is uprightness. You who are upright make the path of the righteous level.

⁸ Yes, in the way of your judgments, Yahweh, have we waited for you. Your name and your renown are the desire of our soul.

⁹ With my soul have I desired you in the night. Yes, with my spirit within me will I seek you earnestly; for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

¹⁰ Let favor be shown to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness. In the land of uprightness he will deal wrongfully, and will not see Yahweh's majesty.

¹¹ Yahweh, your hand is lifted up, yet they don't see; but they will see your zeal for the people, and be disappointed. Yes, fire will consume your adversaries.

¹² Yahweh, you will ordain peace for us, for you have also worked all our works for us.

¹³ Yahweh our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us, but by you only will we make mention of your name.

¹⁴ The dead shall not live. The deceased shall not rise. Therefore have you visited and destroyed them, and caused all memory of them to perish.

¹⁵ You have increased the nation, O Yahweh. You have increased the nation! You are glorified! You have enlarged all the borders of the land.

¹⁶ Yahweh, in trouble they have visited you. They poured out a prayer when your chastening was on them.

¹⁷ Like as a woman with child, who draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain and cries out in her pangs; so we have been before you, Yahweh.

¹⁸ We have been with child. We have been in pain. We gave birth, it seems, only to wind. We have not worked any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

¹⁹ Your dead shall live. My dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth will cast forth the dead.

²⁰ Come, my people, enter into your rooms, and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourself for a little moment, until the indignation is past.

²¹ For, behold, Yahweh comes forth out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth also will disclose her blood, and will no longer cover her slain.