1. Johanan, Jezaniah, the other army officers, and everyone else in the group, came to me
2. and said, “Please pray to the Lord your God for us. Judah used to have many people, but as you can see, only a few of us are left.
3. Ask the Lord to tell us where he wants us to go and what he wants us to do.”
4. “All right,” I answered, “I will pray to the Lord your God, and I will tell you everything he says.”
5. They answered, “The Lord himself will be our witness that we promise to do whatever he says,
6. even if it isn't what we want to do. We will obey the Lord so that all will go well for us.”
7. Ten days later, the Lord gave me an answer for
8. Johanan, the officers, and the other people. So I called them together
9. and told them that the Lord God of Israel had said:You asked Jeremiah to pray and find out what you should do.
10. I am sorry that I had to punish you, and so I now tell you to stay here in Judah, where I will plant you and build you up, instead of tearing you down and uprooting you.
11. Don't be afraid of the King of Babylonia. I will protect you from him,
12. and I will even force him to have mercy on you and give back your farms.
13. But you might keep on saying, “We won't stay here in Judah, and we won't obey the Lord our God.
14. We are going to Egypt, where there is plenty of food and no danger of war.”