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Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
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Commentary & Explanation
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Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
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CHAPTER 42
Jeremiah promises Johanan and the remnant of Judah peace and safety if
they remain in Judah, but a sword and famine and pestilence if they go to
Egypt.
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1 THEN all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near,
2 And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:)
3 That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.
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4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have
heard you; behold, I will apray unto the LORD your
God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that
whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto
you; I will keep nothing back from you.
5 Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and
afaithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
6 Whether it be good, or whether it be
evil, we will obeya the
avoice of the LORD our God, to whom
we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD
our God.
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6a we will obey The people
covenanted and promised Jeremiah that they would 'obey' what the Lord would
say unto them. This is a conditional promise in it self. And it does please
the Lord to receive such oaths of obedience from his people and he will
bless them accordingly as well be seen in Jeremiah's reply from the Lord in
verse 10 and so forth.
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7 ¶ And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.
8 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,
9 And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;
10 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 aI repent me of the evil that I have
done unto youa.
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10a I repent me of the evil that I have
done unto you This is not that the Lord does 'evil' or that he
is changable in his nature and disposition. The Lord's laws are all righteous
and his actions according to those Laws are of the course of blessing or
punishment, which punishment does seem unto man to be an evil against them
at times but it is not of the Lord but of their own making in not obeying
the Laws of God. Here the Lord supposedly states that he does repent, but the
fuller story would be that the Lord is only acting according to the
certainly unchangable eternal laws of God. And he here is able to 'change'
his course of blessing or punishment depending upon the people's sworn
covenant to obey the Lord (see verse 6). And the Lord tells them of the
conditional nature of his blessing, if they will stay in the land of Jerusalem
he will bless them but if they go into Egypt, being that 'alliance' which the
Lord had been warning them against even in the days of Zedekiah, then by that
disobedience will the 'punishment' of the Lord come upon them and 'NOT' just
because the Lord 'repented' of treating them 'well' and decided to treat them
'evil' again, but that through their own obedience or disobedience they would
bring such and/or such upon themselves (see D&C 130:20-21).
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11 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.
12 And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
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13 ¶ But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,
14 Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt,
where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the
atrumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we
dwell:
15 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 afaces to enter into Egypt, and go to
sojourn there;
16 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.
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17 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.
18 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants
of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter
into Egypt: and ye shall be an aexecration, and an
astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no
more.
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19 ¶ The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye
remnant of Judah; Go ye not into aEgypt: know certainly
that I have admonished you this day.
20 For ye adissembled 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.
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21 And now I have this day declared it
to you; but ye have not aobeyed the voice of the LORD your
God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you.
22 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.
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