9 and said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel, to 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 overthrow [you], and I will plant you, and not pluck [you] up; for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you. 11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid: be not afraid of him, saith Jehovah; for I will be with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. 12 And I will grant mercies to you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land. 13 But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land; so as not to hearken unto the voice of Jehovah 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 trumpet, nor have hunger for bread; and there will we dwell; 15 —and now, therefore, hear the word of Jehovah, ye remnant of Judah: thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: If ye really set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there, 16 then it shall come to pass, that the sword which ye fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye are afraid, shall follow hard after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die. 17 And it shall be that all the men that have set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there 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 Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: As mine anger and my fury have 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 execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach, and ye shall see this place no more. 19 Jehovah hath said concerning you, the remnant of Judah, Go ye not into Egypt. Know certainly that I have admonished you this day. 20 For ye deceived yourselves in your own souls, when ye sent me unto Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us unto Jehovah our God; and according to all that Jehovah our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it. 21 And I have this day declared [it] to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah your God, nor anything for which he hath sent me unto you. 22 And now know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go to sojourn.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 42:9-22
Commentary on Jeremiah 42:7-22
(Read Jeremiah 42:7-22)
If we would know the mind of the Lord in doubtful cases, we must wait as well as pray. God is ever ready to return in mercy to those he has afflicted; and he never rejects any who rely on his promises. He has declared enough to silence even the causeless fears of his people, which discourge them in the way of duty. Whatever loss or suffering we may fear from obedience, is provided against in God's word; and he will protect and deliver all who trust in him and serve him. It is folly to quit our place, especially to quit a holy land, because we meet with trouble in it. And the evils we think to escape by sin, we certainly bring upon ourselves. We may apply this to the common troubles of life; and those who think to avoid them by changing their place, will find that the grievances common to men will meet them wherever they go. Sinners who dissemble with God in solemn professions especially should be rebuked with sharpness; for their actions speak more plainly than words. We know not what is good for ourselves; and what we are most fond of, and have our hearts most set upon, often proves hurtful, and sometimes fatal.