Jeremiah 42
The full text of Jeremiah 42 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached
2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet: 'Please hear our petition and pray to the LORD your God for this entire remnant. For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left.
3 Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.'
4 'I have heard you,' replied Jeremiah the prophet. 'I will certainly pray to the LORD your God as you have requested; I will tell you everything the LORD says and will hide nothing from you.'
5 Then they said to Jeremiah, 'May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the LORD your God sends you to tell us.
6 Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the LORD our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the LORD our God.'
7 Ten days later the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah.
8 So he called together Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest.
9 He said to them: 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says:
10 If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I relent concerning the disaster I inflicted on you.
11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the LORD, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands.
12 I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.
13 But if you say, 'We will not stay in this land,' and so disobey the LORD your God,
14 and if you say, 'No, we will go and live in Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or be hungry for bread,'
15 then hear the word of the LORD, you remnant of Judah. This is what the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says: If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there,
16 then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die.
17 All who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague; not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.
18 For this is what the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says: As my anger and wrath were poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem, so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be a curse and an object of horror, a curse and an object of scorn; you will never see this place again.
19 The LORD has spoken to you, remnant of Judah. Do not go to Egypt. Know for certain that I have warned you today.
20 You made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the LORD your God and said, 'Pray to the LORD our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.'
21 I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the LORD your God in all he sent me to tell you.
22 So now, know for certain that you will die by the sword, famine and plague in the place where you want to go and settle.
Translation notes (5)
- Jeremiah 42:4a The Hebrew phrase kᵉkol-haddābār 'ăšer yaʿăneh, which literally means 'all the word that he will answer,' shows Jeremiah's commitment to full transparency, promising not to hide or soften anything.
- Jeremiah 42:7a The Hebrew phrase wayhî miqquṣ ʿăśeret yāmîm, meaning 'at the end of ten days,' indicates that the divine answer took time. This shows that God does not always answer immediately, as there were ten days of waiting.
- Jeremiah 42:10a The Hebrew word wᵉniḥamtî, meaning 'I relent,' is a positive use of the Hebrew root nāḥam, similar to its use in the potter parable in Jeremiah 18:8. This reflects a positive application of the four-verb program described in Jeremiah 1:10.
- Jeremiah 42:16a The Hebrew text highlights the irony that by fleeing from the sword and famine to Egypt, the people will find the very same dangers there. The exact threats they tried to escape will follow them to Egypt.
- Jeremiah 42:20a The Hebrew phrase tᵉʿîthem bᵉnapšōtêkem can be translated as 'you have been deceitful with your lives/souls' or 'you have led your own selves astray.' This implies that while they asked sincerely, their decision was already made.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own modern English translation, worked directly from the original Hebrew and honest to the earliest manuscripts. It was completed in 2026 — the most modern English Bible translation — and is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Every chapter, including all of Jeremiah, is free to read here on the web.
Continue: Jeremiah 43 → · All of Jeremiah · About the TBV · Read Jeremiah 42 in the KJV
Get the app: iOS · Android · Trinity Plus