Jeremiah 42:1-12

Then Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, the military leaders, and all the people from the least to the greatest who were with him, approached me and said, “Please listen to our humble plea and pray to YAHWEH your God for us and for all this remnant. We were once many, but as you see, only a few of us remain. Pray that YAHWEH your God may show us where to go and what we must do.” “Very well then,” I replied. “I will take your request to YAHWEH your God and tell you whatever answer he gives me, and I will keep nothing back from you.” Then they in their turn said to me, “May YAHWEH be an honest and faithful witness against us if we do not obey what YAHWEH your God speaks to us through you. Whether we like it or not, we will obey YAHWEH our God to whom we have asked you to pray. We know that all will go well with us if we obey the voice of YAHWEH our God.” YAHWEH Ten days later, YAHWEH gave me his answer. So I called together Johanan, the military leaders, and all the people who were with him without distinction and said, “YAHWEH, God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says this: ‘If you will remain in this land, I will build you up and not pull you down; I will firmly plant you and not uproot you. For I am filled with sorrow because of the disaster I had to bring upon you. Stop being afraid of the king of Babylon. Your fears are for nothing, for I am with you to save you and rescue you from his clutches,’ declares YAHWEH. ‘I will show you mercy, so that he has mercy toward you and will restore you to your land.