Bible Chapter Summary
Jeremiah 42 Summary
Jeremiah's Counsel: Remain in Judah
The captains and remnant of Judah asked Jeremiah to pray for them, promising to obey the Lord's voice. After ten days, the Lord told Jeremiah that if they remained in Judah, He would rebuild them, but if they went into Egypt they would face the sword, famine, and pestilence. Jeremiah declared that the Lord offered them safety and mercy if they stayed, but death if they went to Egypt seeking to escape the Chaldeans. He warned them that those who set their faces to enter Egypt would surely die.
Key themes
Key verses
Jeremiah 42:7-9
“And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah. 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, And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;”
Jeremiah 42:10-12
“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. 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. And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.”
Jeremiah 42:15-17
“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; 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. 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.”
Jeremiah 42:19-22
“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. 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. 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. 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.”
Read Jeremiah 42 in full
Study the complete chapter with interlinear Hebrew & Greek, verse-by-verse, in the Gospel Daily reader.
Open the full chapter