(KJV) Jeremiah 421

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⥃A Warning against Going to Egypt

[1] Then all the2 captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah3 the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from4 the least even unto the greatest, came5 near, [2] And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee6, and pray7 for us unto the Lord thy God, [even] for all this remnant; (for we are left8 [but] a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:) [3] That the Lord thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.9 [4] Then Jeremiah10 the prophet said unto them, I have heard [you]; behold, I will pray11 unto the Lord your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, [that] whatsoever12 thing the Lord shall answer you, I will declare [it] unto you; I will keep13 nothing back from you. [5] Then they said to Jeremiah, The Lord be14 a true and faithful witness between us, if we15 do not even according to all things for the which the Lord thy God shall send thee to us. [6] Whether [it be] good16, or whether [it be] evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send thee; that it17 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 unto Jeremiah.1819 [8] Then called he Johanan20 the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which [were] with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, [9] And said unto21 them, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him; [10] If ye will still abide22 in this land, then23 will I build you, and not pull [you] down, and I will plant you, and not pluck [you] up: for I24 repent me of the evil that I have done unto you. [11] Be not afraid25 of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the Lord: for I26 [am] with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. [12] And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.27

[13] [¶]But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the Lord your God,28 [14] Saying, No; but we will go29 into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear30 the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of 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; If31 ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there; [16] Then it shall come to pass, [that] the sword32, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close33 after you there in Egypt; and there ye34 shall die. [17] So shall it be with all the men35 that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall36 die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none37 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 mine38 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 be39 an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see40 this place no more.

[19] [¶]The Lord hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go41 ye not into Egypt: know42 certainly that I have admonished you43 this day. [20] For ye44 dissembled in your hearts45, when ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, Pray46 for us unto the Lord our God; and according unto all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do [it]. [21] And [now] I have47 this day declared [it] to you; but48 ye have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, nor any [thing] for the which he hath sent me unto you. [22] Now therefore know49 certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the50 place whither ye desire to go [and] to sojourn51.

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  1. Jer 42:1, Johanan desires Jeremiah to enquire of God, promising obedience to his will; Jer 42:7, Jeremiah assures him of safety in Judea; Jer 42:13, and destruction in Egypt; Jer 42:19, He reproves their hypocrisy, in enquiring of the Lord that which they mean not to follow. ↩

  2. Jer 42:8, Jer 40:8, Jer 40:13, Jer 41:11, Jer 41:16, Jer 43:4-5 ↩

  3. 2Kgs 25:23; Ezek 8:11, Ezek 11:1, Jaazaniah ↩

  4. Jer 42:8, Jer 5:4-5, Jer 6:13, Jer 8:10, Jer 44:12; Acts 8:10 ↩

  5. Jer 42:20; Isa 29:13, Isa 48:1, Isa 58:1-2; Ezek 14:3-4, Ezek 20:1-3, Ezek 33:31; Matt 15:8 ↩

  6. Heb. fall before thee, Jer 36:7, Jer 37:20 *marg. ↩

  7. Jer 17:15-16, Jer 21:2, Jer 37:3; Exod 8:28, Exod 9:28; 1Sam 7:8, 1Sam 12:19, 1Sam 12:23; 1Kgs 13:6; Isa 1:15, Isa 37:4; Acts 8:24; Jas 5:16 ↩

  8. Lev 26:22; Deut 4:27, Deut 28:62; Isa 1:9; Lam 1:1; Ezek 5:3-4, Ezek 12:16; Zech 13:8-9; Matt 24:22 ↩

  9. Jer 6:16; Deut 5:26, Deut 5:29; 1Kgs 8:36; Ezra 8:21; Ps 25:4-5, Ps 27:11, Ps 86:11; Ps 143:8-10; Prov 3:6; Isa 2:3; Mic 4:2; Mark 12:13-14 ↩

  10. The princes seem to have wholly neglected Jeremiah, till on this occasion they wanted his sanction to their purpose of going to Egypt. In order to induce him to favour them, they applied to him with one consent, in the most respectful and plausible manner. They used language to prepossess him with a favourable opinion of them, and to move his compassion; and, in words expressing great humility, they intreated his prayers in their behalf, and that he would enquire of the Lord what he would have them to do. The prophet readily acquiesced; and doubted not but that he should receive an answer from God, which he would unreservedly declare to them; and they called the Lord to witness that they would implicitly follow his directions. ↩

  11. Exod 8:29; 1Sam 12:23; Rom 10:1 ↩

  12. Jer 23:28; 1Kgs 22:14-16; 2Chr 18:13-15; Ezek 2:7 ↩

  13. 1Sam 3:17-18; Ps 40:10; Acts 20:20, Acts 20:27 ↩

  14. Jer 5:2; Gen 31:50; Exod 20:7; Judg 11:10; 1Sam 12:5, 1Sam 20:42; Mic 1:2; Mal 2:14, Mal 3:5; Rom 1:9; Rev 1:5, Rev 3:14 ↩

  15. Exod 20:19; Deut 5:27-29 ↩

  16. Rom 7:7, Rom 7:13, Rom 8:7 ↩

  17. Jer 7:23; Deut 5:29, Deut 5:33, Deut 6:2-3; Ps 81:13-16, Ps 128:2; Isa 3:10 ↩

  18. At this time he was waiting for a revelation from God in answer to the enquiries of the people; who probably thus delayed to make known his will, in order to shew them that Jeremiah did not speak of his own mind, but when and as he was directed. The delay was also suited to give time for consideration, and to retard their rash project; and, as it would render them impatient, it tended to detect their hypocrisy, and to shew more clearly their determined rebellion against God. ↩

  19. Ps 27:14; Isa 28:16; Hab 2:3 ↩

  20. Jer 42:1, Jer 40:8, Jer 40:13, Jer 41:11-16, Jer 43:2-5 ↩

  21. Jer 42:2; 2Kgs 19:4, 2Kgs 19:6, 2Kgs 19:20-37, 2Kgs 22:15-20 ↩

  22. Gen 26:2-3; Ps 37:3 ↩

  23. Jer 24:6, Jer 31:28, Jer 33:7; Ps 69:35, Ps 102:16; Ezek 36:36; Acts 15:16 ↩

  24. Jer 18:7-10, Jer 26:19; Exod 32:14; Deut 32:36; Judg 2:18; 2Sam 24:16; Ps 106:45; Hos 11:8; Joel 2:13; Amos 7:3, Amos 7:6; Jonah 3:10, Jonah 4:2 ↩

  25. Jer 27:12, Jer 27:17, Jer 41:18; 2Kgs 25:26; Matt 10:28 ↩

  26. Jer 1:19, Jer 15:20; Deut 20:4; Josh 1:5, Josh 1:9; 2Chr 32:7-8; Ps 46:7, Ps 46:11; Isa 8:8-10; Isa 41:10, Isa 43:2, Isa 43:5; Matt 28:20; Acts 18:10; Rom 8:31; 2Tim 4:17 ↩

  27. Neh 1:11; Ps 106:45-46; Prov 16:7 ↩

  28. Jer 42:10, Jer 44:16; Exod 5:2 ↩

  29. Jer 41:17, Jer 43:7; Deut 29:19; Isa 30:16, Isa 31:1 ↩

  30. Jer 4:19, Jer 4:21; Exod 16:3, Exod 17:3; Num 11:5, Num 16:13 ↩

  31. If ye are determined to go into Egypt, the evils which ye dreaded by staying in your own land shall overtake and destroy you there; "and there shall ye die." God turned the policy of the wicked to their own destruction; for while they thought themselves safe in Egypt, there Nebuchadnezzar destroyed both them and the Egyptians. Jer 42:17, Jer 44:12-14; Gen 31:21; Deut 17:16; Dan 11:17; Luke 9:51 ↩

  32. Jer 42:13, Jer 44:13, Jer 44:27; Deut 28:15, Deut 28:22, Deut 28:45; Prov 13:21; Ezek 11:8; Amos 9:1-4; Zech 1:6; John 11:48 ↩

  33. Heb. cleave ↩

  34. Jer 44:11-12, Jer 44:27 ↩

  35. Heb. all the men be ↩

  36. Jer 42:22, Jer 24:10, Jer 44:14 ↩

  37. Jer 44:28 ↩

  38. The people had witnessed the tremendous effects of the wrath of God, in the siege and destruction of Jerusalem; and had they not been past feeling, this denunciation must have made their ears tingle, and appalled their very souls. Jer 6:11, Jer 7:20, Jer 39:1-9, Jer 52:4-11; 2Kgs 25:4-7; 2Chr 34:25, 2Chr 36:16-19; Lam 2:4, Lam 4:11; Ezek 22:22; Dan 9:11, Dan 9:27; Nah 1:6; Rev 14:10, Rev 16:2-21 ↩

  39. Jer 18:16, Jer 24:9, Jer 25:9, Jer 26:6, Jer 29:18, Jer 29:22, Jer 44:12; Deut 29:21-22; 1Kgs 9:7-9; Isa 65:15; Zech 8:13 ↩

  40. Jer 22:10-12, Jer 22:27 ↩

  41. God knew, that such was their miserable propensity to idolatry, that they would adopt the idolatrous worship of Egypt. Add to which, their going thither for protection was in effect refusing to submit to the king of Babylon, to whom God had decreed the rule of Judah and the neighbouring kingdoms. Deut 17:16; Isa 30:1-7, Isa 31:1-3; Ezek 17:15 ↩

  42. Jer 38:21; Ezek 3:21; Acts 20:26-27 ↩

  43. Heb. testified against you, Deut 31:21; 2Chr 24:19; Neh 9:26, Neh 9:29-30; Acts 2:40; Eph 4:17; 1Thess 4:6 ↩

  44. God made known to the prophet their dissimulation; which he shunned not to declare to them. Jer 3:10, Jer 17:10; Ps 18:44, Ps 65:3; Ezek 14:3-4, Ezek 33:31; Matt 22:15-18, Matt 22:35; Gal 6:7 ↩

  45. Heb. have used deceit against your souls, Num 16:38; Jas 1:22 ↩

  46. Jer 42:2 ↩

  47. Deut 11:26-27; Ezek 2:7, Ezek 3:17; Acts 20:20, Acts 20:26-27 ↩

  48. Jer 7:24-27; Deut 29:19; Zech 7:11-12 ↩

  49. Jer 42:17, Jer 43:11; Ezek 5:3-4, Ezek 6:11 ↩

  50. Hos 9:6 ↩

  51. or, to go to sojourn ↩