Jeremias 36
1 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;
In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 (after the departure of Jechonias the king and the queen, and the eunuchs, and every freeman, and bondman, and artificer, out of Jerusalem; )
“Take a scroll of a book, and write in it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah even to this day.
3 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,
It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I intend to do to them, that they may each return from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”
4 Thus said the Lord God of Israel concerning the captivity which I caused to be carried away from Jerusalem;
Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the LORD’s words, which he had spoken to him, on a scroll of a book.
5 Build you houses, and inhabit [them]; and plant gardens, and eat the fruits thereof;
Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am restricted. I can’t go into the LORD’s house.
6 and take you 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.
Therefore you go, and read from the scroll which you have written from my mouth, the LORD’s words, in the ears of the people in the LORD’s house on the fast day. Also you shall read them in the ears of all Judah who come out of their cities.
7 And seek the peace of the land into which I have carried you captive, and you shall pray to the Lord for the people: for in its peace you shall [have] peace.
It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and will each return from his evil way; for the LORD has pronounced great anger and wrath against this people.”
8 For thus says the Lord; Let not the false prophets that are amongst you persuade you, and let not your diviners persuade you, and listen not to your dreams which you dream.
Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the LORD’s words in the LORD’s house.
9 For they prophesy to you unrighteous [words] in my name; and I sent them not.
Now in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem, proclaimed a fast before the LORD.
10 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.
Then Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the book in the LORD’s house, in the room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the new gate of the LORD’s house, in the ears of all the people.
11 And I will devise for you a device of peace, and not evil, to bestow upon you these [good things].
When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the LORD’s words,
12 And do you pray to me, and I will listen to you: and do you earnestly seek me, and you shall find me;
he went down into the king’s house, into the scribe’s room; and behold, all the princes were sitting there, Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes.
13 for you shall seek me with your whole heart.
Then Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.
14 And I will appear to you:
Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll in which you have read in the ears of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand, and came to them.
15 whereas you said, The Lord has appointed for us prophets in Babylon:
They said to him, “Sit down now, and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing.
Now when they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one towards another, and said to Baruch, “We will surely tell the king of all these words.”
They asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words at his mouth?”
Then Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.”
Then the princes said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah go hide. Don’t let anyone know where you are.”
They went in to the king into the court, but they had laid up the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe. Then they told all the words in the hearing of the king.
21 Thus says the Lord concerning Achiab, and concerning Sedekias; Behold, I [will] deliver them into the hands of the king of Babylon; and he shall strike them in your sight.
So the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the room of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king, and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king.
22 And they shall make of them a curse in all the captivity of Juda in Babylon, saying, The Lord do to you as he did to Sedekias, and as he did to Achiab, whom the king of Babylon fried in the fire;
Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, and there was a fire in the brazier burning before him.
23 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, says the Lord.
When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier.
24 And to Samaeas the Aelamite you shall say,
The king and his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, and didn’t tear their garments.
25 I sent you not in my name: and to Sophonias the priest the son of Maasaeas say you,
Moreover Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the scroll; but he would not listen to them.
26 The Lord has made you 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 you shall put them in prison, and into the dungeon.
The king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but the LORD hid them.
27 And now therefore have you reviled together Jeremias of Anathoth, who prophesied to you?
Then the LORD’s word came to Jeremiah, after the king had burnt the scroll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
28 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 you houses, and inhabit [them]; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
“Take again another scroll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burnt.
29 And Sophonias read the book in the ears of Jeremias.
Concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘The LORD says: “You have burnt this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written therein, saying, “The king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cause to cease from there man and animal”?’”
30 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying,
Therefore the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: “He will have no one to sit on David’s throne. His dead body will be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.
31 Send to the captivity, saying, Thus says 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,
I will punish him, his offspring, and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but they didn’t listen.”’”
32 therefore thus says 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].
Then Jeremiah took another scroll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burnt in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.
