Jeremias advarer folket imod at flygte til Egypten
1Johanan, Jezanja, de øvrige officerer og et stort antal civile ledere kom nu hen til mig og sagde: 2„Gå i forbøn for os hos Herren din Gud, for som du ser, er der ikke mange tilbage af os mere. 3Bed Herren, din Gud, om at vise os, hvad vi skal gøre, og hvor vi skal tage hen.”
4Jeg gav dem følgende svar: „Godt, jeg vil bede til Herren for jer, og alt, hvad han siger til mig, vil jeg fortælle jer i alle detaljer.”
5„Vi lover højtideligt ind for Herrens ansigt, at vi vil adlyde alt, hvad han beder dig om at sige til os,” sagde de. 6„Uanset om vi bryder os om det eller ej, vil vi adlyde Herren, din Gud, som vi nu rådspørger gennem dig. For hvis vi gør, hvad han siger, vil det gå os godt.”
7Ti dage senere svarede Herren på min bøn, 8og jeg kaldte så Johanan, officererne og de øvrige ledere sammen.
9Derpå sagde jeg til dem: „I bad mig spørge Herren, Israels Gud, til råds, og her er hans svar:
10Bliv boende her i landet. Hvis I gør det, vil jeg velsigne jer og give jer fremgang. Det gør mig ondt at se de lidelser, I har været igennem, selv om jeg var nødt til at straffe jer. 11I behøver ikke frygte den babyloniske konge, for jeg vil beskytte jer, så han ikke kan gøre jer noget ondt. 12Jeg vil være barmhjertig imod jer og sørge for, at han også er barmhjertig. I kan trygt blive boende i landet.
13-14Men hvis I nægter at blive boende i landet, som Herren, jeres Gud, har sagt, og hvis I absolut vil til Egypten, fordi I tror jer sikre for krig og hungersnød dernede, 15så hør, hvad Herren siger til den rest af judæere, som er tilbage: Hvis I rejser til Egypten, 16vil al den krig og hungersnød I frygter her, følge jer, så I mister livet dernede. 17Det er den skæbne, der venter hver eneste af jer: Hvis I slår jer ned i Egypten, vil I dø som ofre for krig, hungersnød og sygdom. Det bliver min straf for jeres ulydighed.
18Herren, den Almægtige, Israels Gud, siger: På samme måde som jeg i min vrede straffede Jerusalems indbyggere, vil jeg straffe jer, så snart I ankommer til Egypten. I vil blive afskyet og hadet, forbandet og hånet, og I kommer aldrig hjem til jeres land igen.”
19Derefter sagde jeg til dem: „I er en rest af Judas folk, og Herren har advaret jer imod at tage til Egypten. Hvis I vælger ikke at lytte til Herren, 20kommer I til at bøde med jeres liv. Det var jer selv, der bad mig søge Herren om råd, og I lovede at adlyde ham, lige meget hvad det var, han sagde. 21I dag har jeg så givet jer Herrens svar, men I er åbenbart alligevel ikke villige til at gøre, som han siger. 22Derfor skal I vide, at hvis I gør alvor af at rejse til det land, som I ønsker at flygte til, vil I blive ramt af krig, hungersnød og sygdom.”
1Then all the army officers approached Jeremiah. They included Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah, the son of Hoshaiah. All the people from the least important of them to the most important also came. 2All of them said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please listen to our appeal. Pray to the Lord your God. Pray for all of us who are left here. Once there were many of us. But as you can see, only a few of us are left now. 3So pray to the Lord your God. Pray that he’ll tell us where we should go. Pray that he’ll tell us what we should do.”
4“I’ve heard you,” Jeremiah the prophet replied. “I’ll certainly pray to the Lord your God. I’ll do what you have asked me to do. In fact, I’ll tell you everything the Lord says. I won’t keep anything back from you.”
5Then they said to Jeremiah, “We’ll do everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us to do. If we don’t, may he be a true and faithful witness against us. 6It doesn’t matter whether what you say is in our favor or not. We’re asking you to pray to the Lord our God. And we’ll obey him. Things will go well with us. That’s because we will obey the Lord our God.”
7Ten days later a message came to Jeremiah from the Lord. 8So Jeremiah sent for Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the other army officers with him. Jeremiah also gathered together all the people from the least important of them to the most important. 9He said to all of them, “The Lord is the God of Israel. You asked me to present your appeal to him. He told me, 10‘Stay in this land. Then I will build you up. I will not tear you down. I will plant you. I will not pull you up by the roots. I have decided to stop bringing trouble on you. 11Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon. You are afraid of him now. Do not be,’ announces the Lord. ‘I am with you. I will keep you safe. I will save you from his power. 12I will show you my loving concern. Then he will have concern for you. And he will let you return to your land.’
13“But suppose you say, ‘We won’t stay in this land.’ If you do, you will be disobeying the Lord your God. 14And suppose you say, ‘No! We’ll go and live in Egypt. There we won’t have to face war anymore. We won’t hear the trumpets of war. And we won’t get hungry.’ 15Then listen to what the Lord says to you who are left in Judah. He is the Lord who rules over all. He is the God of Israel. He says, ‘Have you already made up your minds to go to Egypt? Are you going to make your homes there? 16Then the war you fear will catch up with you there. The hunger you are afraid of will follow you into Egypt. And you will die there. 17In fact, that will happen to all those who go and make their homes in Egypt. All of them will die of war, hunger and plague. Not one of them will live. None of them will escape the trouble I will bring on them.’ 18He is the Lord who rules over all. He is the God of Israel. He says, ‘My great anger has been poured out on those who used to live in Jerusalem. In the same way, it will be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. People will use your name in a curse. They will be shocked at you. They will say bad things about you. And they will say you are shameful. You will never see this place again.’
19“The Lord has spoken to you who are left in Judah. He has said, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Here is something you can be sure of. I am warning you about it today. 20You made a big mistake when you asked me to pray to the Lord your God. You said, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us. Tell us everything he says. We’ll do it.’ 21I have told you today what the Lord your God wants you to do. But you still haven’t obeyed him. You haven’t done anything he sent me to tell you to do. 22So here is something else you can be sure of. You will die of war, hunger and plague. You want to go and make your homes in Egypt. But you will die there.”
