Jeremiah 42:13–22

¹³But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and you thus disobey the voice of the LORD your God, ¹⁴and if you say, ‘No, but we will go to the land of Egypt and live there, where we will not see war or hear the sound of the ram’s horn or hunger for bread,’ ¹⁵then hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah! This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and reside there, ¹⁶then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow on your heels into Egypt, and you will die there. ¹⁷So all who resolve to go to Egypt to reside there will die by sword and famine and plague. Not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring upon them.’

¹⁸For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as My anger and wrath were poured out on the residents of Jerusalem, so will My wrath be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and disgrace, and you will never see this place again.’

¹⁹The LORD has told you, O remnant of Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Know for sure that I have warned you today! ²⁰For you have deceived yourselves by sending me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray to the LORD our God on our behalf, and as for all that the LORD our God says, tell it to us and we will do it.’

²¹For I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God in all He has sent me to tell you. ²²Now therefore, know for sure that by sword and famine and plague you will die in the place where you desire to go to reside.”