Jeremiah 36
1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
And these are the words of the book which Jeremias sent from Jerusalem to the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, and to the false prophets, even an epistle to Babylon for the captivity, and to all the people;
2 “Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you during the reign of Josiah until today.
(after the departure of Jechonias the king and the queen, and the eunuchs, and every freeman, and bondman, and artificer, out of Jerusalem; )
3 Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about all the calamity I plan to bring upon them, each of them will turn from his wicked way. Then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.”
by the hand of Eleasan son of Saphan, and Gamarias son of Chelcias, (whom Sedekias king of Juda sent to the king of Babylon to Babylon) saying,
4 So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and at the dictation of Jeremiah, Baruch wrote on a scroll all the words that the LORD had spoken to Jeremiah.
Thus said the Lord God of Israel concerning the captivity which I caused to be carried away from Jerusalem;
5 Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, “I am restricted; I cannot enter the house of the LORD;
Build ye houses, and inhabit [them]; and plant gardens, and eat the fruits thereof;
6 so you are to go to the house of the LORD on a day of fasting, and in the hearing of the people you are to read the words of the LORD from the scroll you have written at my dictation. Read them in the hearing of all the people of Judah who are coming from their cities.
and take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, and be multiplied, and be not diminished.
7 Perhaps they will bring their petition before the LORD, and each one will turn from his wicked way; for great are the anger and fury that the LORD has pronounced against this people.”
And seek the peace of the land into which I have carried you captive, and ye shall pray to the Lord for the people: for in its peace ye shall [have] peace.
8 So Baruch son of Neriah did everything that Jeremiah the prophet had commanded him. In the house of the LORD he read the words of the LORD from the scroll.
For thus saith the Lord; Let not the false prophets that are among you persuade you, and let not your diviners persuade you, and hearken not to your dreams which ye dream.
9 Now in the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, a fast before the LORD was proclaimed to all the people of Jerusalem and all who had come there from the cities of Judah.
For they prophesy to you unrighteous [words] in my name; and I sent them not.
10 From the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, which was in the upper courtyard at the opening of the New Gate of the house of the LORD, Baruch read from the scroll the words of Jeremiah in the hearing of all the people.
For thus said the Lord; When seventy years shall be on the point of being accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you, and will confirm my words to you, to bring back your people to this place.
11 When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll,
And I will devise for you a device of peace, and not evil, to bestow upon you these [good things].
12 he went down to the scribe’s chamber in the king’s palace, where all the officials were sitting: Elishama the scribe, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials.
And do ye pray to me, and I will hearken to you: and do ye earnestly seek me, and ye shall find me;
13 And Micaiah reported to them all the words he had heard Baruch read from the scroll in the hearing of the people.
for ye shall seek me with your whole heart.
14 Then all the officials sent word to Baruch through Jehudi son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, saying, “Bring the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come here.” So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll and went to them.
And I will appear to you:
15 “Please sit down,” they said, “and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing.
whereas ye said, The Lord has appointed for us prophets in Babylon:
16 When they had heard all these words, they turned to one another in fear and said to Baruch, “Surely we must report all these words to the king.”
17 “Tell us now,” they asked Baruch, “how did you write all these words? Was it at Jeremiah’s dictation?”
18 “It was at his dictation,” Baruch replied. “He recited all these words to me and I wrote them in ink on the scroll.”
19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must hide yourselves and tell no one where you are.”
20 So the officials went to the king in the courtyard. And having stored the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, they reported everything to the king.
21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and all the officials who were standing beside him.
Thus saith the Lord concerning Achiab, and concerning Sedekias; Behold, I [will] deliver them into the hands of the king of Babylon; and he shall smite them in your sight.
22 Since it was the ninth month, the king was sitting in his winter quarters with a fire burning before him.
And they shall make of them a curse in all the captivity of Juda in Babylon, saying, The Lord do to thee as he did to Sedekias, and as he did to Achiab, whom the king of Babylon fried in the fire;
23 And as soon as Jehudi had read three or four columns, Jehoiakim would cut them off with a scribe’s knife and throw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll had been consumed by the fire.
because of the iniquity which they wrought in Israel, and [because] they committed adultery with the wives of their fellow-citizens; and spoke a word in my name, which I did not command them [to speak], and I am witness, saith the Lord.
24 Yet in hearing all these words, the king and his servants did not become frightened or tear their garments.
And to Samaeas the Aelamite thou shalt say,
25 Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.
I sent thee not in my name: and to Sophonias the priest the son of Maasaeas say thou,
26 Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, as well as Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden them.
The Lord has made thee priest in the place of Jodae the priest, to be ruler in the house of the Lord over every prophet, and to every madman, and thou shalt put them in prison, and into the dungeon.
27 After the king had burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
And now wherefore have ye reviled together Jeremias of Anathoth, who prophesied to you?
28 “Take another scroll and rewrite on it the very words that were on the original scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah has burned.
Did he not send for this purpose? for in the course of this month he sent to you to Babylon, saying, It is far off: build ye houses, and inhabit [them]; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
29 You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah that this is what the LORD says: You have burned the scroll and said, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon would surely come and destroy this land and deprive it of man and beast?’
And Sophonias read the book in the ears of Jeremias.
30 Therefore this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on David’s throne, and his body will be thrown out and exposed to heat by day and frost by night.
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying,
31 I will punish him and his descendants and servants for their iniquity. I will bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the calamity about which I warned them but they did not listen.”
Send to the captivity, saying, Thus saith the Lord concerning Samaeas the Aelamite, Since Samaeas has prophesied to you, and I sent him not, and he has made you to trust in iniquity,
32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and at Jeremiah’s dictation he wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.
therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will visit Samaeas, and his family: and there shall not be a man of them in the midst of you to see the good which I will do to you: they shall not see [it].
