Jeremiah 36
1 And it happened in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah: it happened that this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying:
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 the volume of a book, and you shall write in it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah, and against all the nations, from the day when I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.
(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 it may be that the house of Judah, upon hearing all the evils that I have decided to do to them, may return, each one from his wicked way, and 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 Therefore, Jeremiah called Baruch, the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote, from the mouth of Jeremiah, all the words of the Lord, which he had spoken to him, in the volume of a book.
Thus said the Lord God of Israel concerning the captivity which I caused to be carried away from Jerusalem;
5 And Jeremiah instructed Baruch, saying: “I am confined, and so I am unable to enter into the house of the Lord.
Build you houses, and inhabit [them]; and plant gardens, and eat the fruits thereof;
6 Therefore, you shall enter and read from the volume, in which you have written from my mouth the words of the Lord, in the hearing of the people in the house of the Lord on the day of the fast. Moreover, you shall also read them in the hearing of all those of Judah who are arriving from their cities.
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.
7 Perhaps it may happen that they pray in the sight of the Lord, and each one may return from his wicked way. For great is the fury and indignation that the Lord has declared against this people.”
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.
8 And Baruch, the son of Neriah, acted in accord with all that Jeremiah, the prophet, had instructed him, reading from the volume the words of the Lord, in the house of the Lord.
For thus says the Lord; Let not the false prophets that are among you persuade you, and let not your diviners persuade you, and listen not to your dreams which you dream.
9 And it happened that, in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, in the ninth month, they proclaimed a fast, in the sight of the Lord, to all the people in Jerusalem, and to the entire multitude which had flowed together, from the cities of Judah, into Jerusalem.
For they prophesy to you unrighteous [words] in my name; and I sent them not.
10 And Baruch read from the volume the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, at the treasury of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, the scribe, in the upper vestibule, at the entrance to the new gate of the house of the Lord, 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 And when Micaiah, the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all the words of the Lord from the book,
And I will devise for you a device of peace, and not evil, to bestow upon you these [good things].
12 he descended to the house of the king, to the treasury of the scribe. And behold, all the leaders were sitting there: Elishama, the scribe, and Delaiah, the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan, the son of Achbor, and Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah, the son of Hananiah, and all the leaders.
And do you pray to me, and I will listen to you: and do you earnestly seek me, and you shall find me;
13 And Micaiah announced to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the volume to the ears of the people.
for you shall seek me with your whole heart.
14 And so, all the leaders sent Jehudi, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the volume, from which you have read in the hearing of the people, and come.” Therefore, Baruch, the son of Neriah, took the volume in his hand, and he went to them.
And I will appear to you:
15 And they said to him, “Sit and read these things in our hearing.” And Baruch read in their hearing.
whereas you said, The Lord has appointed for us prophets in Babylon:
16 Therefore, when they had heard all the words, each one looked at his neighbor in astonishment, and they said to Baruch: “We ought to report all these words to the king.”
17 And they questioned him, saying, “Describe to us how you wrote all these words from his mouth.”
18 Then Baruch said to them: “He was speaking with his mouth, as if reading to me. And I wrote in a volume with ink.”
19 And the leaders said to Baruch: “Go away and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.”
20 And they entered to the king, in the court. Furthermore, they stored the volume in the treasury of Elishama, the scribe. And they announced all the words in the hearing of the king.
21 And the king sent Jehudi to take the volume. And bringing it from the treasury of Elishama, the scribe, he read it in the hearing of the king and of all the leaders who were standing around the king.
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.
22 Now the king was sitting in the winter house, in the ninth month. And there was a hearth placed before him, filled with burning coals.
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;
23 And when Jehudi had read three or four pages, he cut it with a small knife, and he threw it into the fire which was upon the hearth, until the entire volume was consumed by the fire which was upon the hearth.
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.
24 And the king and all his servants, who had heard all these words, were not afraid, and they did not rend their garments.
And to Samaeas the Aelamite you shall say,
25 Yet truly, Elnathan, and Delaiah, and Gemariah contradicted the king, so that he might not burn the book. But he did not listen to them.
I sent you not in my name: and to Sophonias the priest the son of Maasaeas say you,
26 And the king instructed Jerahmeel, the son of Amelech, and Seraiah, the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah, the son of Abdeel, so that they would apprehend Baruch, the scribe, and Jeremiah, the prophet. But the Lord concealed them.
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.
27 And after the king had burned the volume and the words that Baruch had written from the mouth of Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, the prophet, saying:
And now therefore have you reviled together Jeremias of Anathoth, who prophesied to you?
28 “Again, take another volume and write in it all the former words, which were in the first volume that Jehoiakim, the 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 you houses, and inhabit [them]; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
29 And you shall say to Jehoiakim, the king of Judah: Thus says the Lord: You have burned that volume, saying: ‘Why have you written in it, announcing that the king of Babylon will advance quickly, and will devastate this land, and will cause both man and beast to cease from it?’
And Sophonias read the book in the ears of Jeremias.
30 Because of this, thus says the Lord against Jehoiakim, the king of Judah: There will be, from him, no one who may sit upon the throne of David. And his dead body shall be cast out: to the heat by day, and to the frost by night.
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying,
31 And I will visit against him, and against his offspring, and against his servants for their iniquities. And I will lead over them, and over the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and over the men of Judah, all the evil that I have declared against them, for they have not listened.”
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,
32 Then Jeremiah took up another volume, and he gave it to Baruch, the son of Neriah, the scribe, who wrote in it, from the mouth of Jeremiah, all the words of the book that Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, had burned with fire. And moreover, there were many more words added than there had been before.
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].
