Jeremiah 41:16-18
41:16 Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him led off all the people who had been left alive at Mizpah. They had rescued them from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after he killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. They led off the men, women, children, soldiers, and court officials whom they had brought away from Gibeon.
41:17 They set out to go to Egypt to get away from the Babylonians, but stopped at Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem.
41:18 They were afraid of what the Babylonians might do because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the country.
Jeremiah 42:14-22
42:14 You must not say, ‘No, we will not stay. Instead we will go and live in the land of Egypt where we will not face war,
or hear the enemy’s trumpet calls,
or starve for lack of food.’
42:15 If you people who remain in Judah do that, then listen to what the
Lord says. The
Lord God of Israel who rules over all
says, ‘If you are so determined
to go to Egypt that you go and settle there,
42:16 the wars you fear will catch up with you there in the land of Egypt. The starvation you are worried about will follow you there to
Egypt. You will die there.
42:17 All the people who are determined to go and settle in Egypt will die from war, starvation, or disease. No one will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.’
42:18 For
the
Lord God of Israel who rules over all
says, ‘If you go to Egypt, I will pour out my wrath on you just as I poured out my anger and wrath on the citizens of Jerusalem.
You will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example of those who have been cursed and that people use in pronouncing a curse.
You will never see this place again.’
42:19 “The Lord has told you people who remain in Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Be very sure of this: I warn you here and now.
42:20 You are making a fatal mistake. For you sent me to the Lord your God and asked me, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us. Tell us what the Lord our God says and we will do it.’
42:21 This day I have told you what he said. But you do not want to obey the Lord by doing what he sent me to tell you.
42:22 So now be very sure of this: You will die from war, starvation, or disease in the place where you want to go and live.”
Jeremiah 43:4-7
43:4 So Johanan son of Kareah, all the army officers, and all the rest of the people did not obey the
Lord’s command to stay in the land.
43:5 Instead Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led off all the Judean remnant who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered.
43:6 They also led off all the men, women, children, and royal princesses
that Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, had left with Gedaliah,
the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan. This included the prophet Jeremiah and Baruch son of Neriah.
43:7 They went on to Egypt
because they refused to obey the
Lord, and came to Tahpanhes.