Jeremiah 42:1-12

While there, Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah went to Jeremiah the prophet. All the army officers and all the people, from the least important to the greatest, went along, too. They said to him, “Jeremiah, please listen to what we ask. Pray to the LORD your God for all the people left alive from the family of Judah. At one time there were many of us, but you can see that there are few of us now. So pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.” Then Jeremiah the prophet answered, “I understand what you want me to do. I will pray to the LORD your God as you have asked. I will tell you everything he says and not hide anything from you.” Then the people said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and loyal witness against us if we don’t do everything the LORD your God sends you to tell us. It does not matter if we like the message or not. We will obey the LORD our God, to whom we are sending you. We will obey what he says so good things will happen to us.” Ten days later the LORD spoke his word to Jeremiah. Then Jeremiah called for Johanan son of Kareah, the army officers with him, and all the other people, from the least important to the greatest. Jeremiah said to them, “You sent me to ask the LORD for what you wanted. This is what the God of Israel says: ‘If you will stay in Judah, I will build you up and not tear you down. I will plant you and not pull you up, because I am sad about the disaster I brought on you. Now you fear the king of Babylon, but don’t be afraid of him. Don’t be afraid of him,’ says the LORD, ‘because I am with you. I will save you and rescue you from his power. I will be kind to you, and he will also treat you with mercy and let you stay in your land.’