Jeremiah 42

Brendaonline.com

Jeremiah 42:1-22 (KJV) 

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 unto the greatest, came near,

Johanan, Jezaniah, captains of the army, and people least and great, came near,

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

they came to Jeremiah,  where Jeremiah was during the killing, chapter 41 did not say;  the people knew where Jeremiah was and went to him and asked him to pray for them.

3 That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.

When people are fearful, they remember the faithful and they know where they can be found many times.

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

Jeremiah told the people he would pray and whatever the Lord said good or bad he will let them know.

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 the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us. 

Let God be a witness between you and us said the people; and whatever the Lord answers we will obey Him.

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. 

We become like robots when we face troble.  We know what to say and we know the right things to do.  We sound sincere because we are afraid.

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

God waited 10 days to answer Jeremiah.  The people waited to see and hear what the Lord had to say.

8 Then called he Johanan 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, 

After God spoke to Jeremiah, Jeremiah called the people to tell them what God had spoken.

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

This is God's answer to your request.

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 me of the evil that I have done unto you. 

God said if you will do what I say I will take care of you and He will do no harm:  God said he was hurt having to do what He did to get your attention from doing evil.

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. 

You are afraid and I don't want you to be afraid of the Babylonians.  God comforted you by saying I am God and He was present to save and deliver you from the hand of the army of Babylon.

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

The Babylonians will see how kind I am to you and they too will be kind to you and I will make sure it happens if you obey Me.

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

But if you say, you will not obey,

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 have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:

If you made up your mind to do what you think will be best for you by going to Egypt where you think you will have protection:

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; 

Listen to what I will do if you decide to go to Egypt;

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, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die. 

If you go to Egypt, you will die of the things you were afraid of.

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. 

All of the people who go to Egypt will die from the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and no one will live if they leave this land and go to Egypt.

18 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine 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. 

I will do to you what I did to the people of Jerusalem; if you go to Egypt, you will not be welcomed.  They will hate your very presence and you will never return to this land again.

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.

God said I am telling you do not go to Egypt.

 20 For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD your God, saying, Pray 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]. 

Jeremiah said you changed your mind when you told me to go pray for you.  You said you will do all the things God tells you to do.

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 the which he hath sent me unto you. 

I have told you what the Lord said and you have not obeyed.  Jeremiah knew the people were not listening.  When you tell people what the Word of God says and they do not want to hear it, it is displayed by their behaviors and you will know they are not listening.

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.

If you desire to go anyway, you will die.  This is what Jeremiah told the people.