Jeremiah 36
1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of Joakim the son of Josias king of Juda, that this word came to Jeremias by 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 thee a roll of a book, and thou shalt write in it all the words that I have spoken to thee against Israel and Juda, and against all the nations from the day that I spoke to thee, from the days of Josias 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 If so be, when the house of Juda shall hear all the evils that I purpose to do unto them, that they may return every man from his wicked way: and 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 Jeremias called Baruch the son of Nerias: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremias all the words of the Lord, which he spoke to him, upon the roll of a book.
Thus said the Lord God of Israel concerning the captivity which I caused to be carried away from Jerusalem;
5 And Jeremias commanded Baruch, saying: I am shut up, and cannot go into the house of the Lord.
Build ye houses, and inhabit [them]; and plant gardens, and eat the fruits thereof;
6 Go thou in therefore, and read out of the volume, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the Lord, in the hearing of all the people in the house of the Lord on the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the hearing of all Juda that come out of 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 If so be they may present their supplication before the Lord, and may return every one from his wicked way: for great is the wrath and indignation which the Lord hath 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 And Baruch the son of Nerias did according to all that Jeremias the prophet had commanded him, reading out of the volume the words of the Lord in the house of the Lord.
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 And it came to pass in the fifth year of Joakim the son of Josias king of Juda, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people that were come together out of the cities of Juda to Jerusalem.
For they prophesy to you unrighteous [words] in my name; and I sent them not.
10 And Baruch read out of the volume the words of Jeremias in the house of the Lord, in the treasury of Gamarias the son of Saphan the scribe, in the upper court, in the entry of 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 Micheas the son of Gamarias the son of Saphan had heard out of the book all the words of the Lord,
And I will devise for you a device of peace, and not evil, to bestow upon you these [good things].
12 He went down into the king’s house to the secretary’s chamber: and behold all the princes sat there, Elisama the scribe, and Dalaias the son of Semeias, and Elnathan the son of Achobor, and Gamarias the son of Saphan, and Sedecias the son of Hananias, and all the princes.
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 Micheas told them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read out of the volume in the hearing of the people.
for ye shall seek me with your whole heart.
14 Therefore all the princes sent Judi the son of Nathanias, the son of Selemias, the son of Chusi, to Baruch, saying: Take in thy hand the volume in which thou hast read in the hearing of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Nerias took the volume in his hand, and came to them.
And I will appear to you:
15 And they said to him: Sit down and read these things in our hearing. And Baruch read in their hearing.
whereas ye said, The Lord has appointed for us prophets in Babylon:
16 And when they had heard all the words, they looked upon one another with astonishment, and they said to Baruch: We must tell the king all these words.
17 And they asked him, saying: Tell us how didst thou write all these words from his mouth.
18 And Baruch said to them: With his mouth he pronounced all these words as if he were reading to me: and I wrote in a volume with ink.
19 And the princes said to Baruch: Go, and hide thee, both thou and Jeremias, and let no man know where you are.
20 And they went in to the king into the court: but they laid up the volume in the chamber of Elisama the scribe: and they told all the words in the hearing of the king.
21 And the king sent Judi that he should take the volume: who bringing it out of the chamber of Elisama the scribe, read it in the hearing of the king, and of all the princes that stood about the king.
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 Now the king sat in the winter house, In the ninth month: and there was a hearth before him full of burning coals.
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 when Judi had read three or four pages, he cut it with the penknife, and he cast it into the Are, that was upon the hearth, till all the volume was consumed with the fire that was on 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, saith the Lord.
24 And the king and all his servants that heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments.
And to Samaeas the Aelamite thou shalt say,
25 But yet Elnathan, and Dalaias, and Gamarias spoke to the king, not to burn. the book: and he heard them not.
I sent thee not in my name: and to Sophonias the priest the son of Maasaeas say thou,
26 And the king commanded Jeremiel the son of Amelech, and Saraias the son of Ezriel, and Selemias the son of Abdeel, to take up Baruch the scribe, and Jeremias the prophet: but the Lord hid 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 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias the prophet, after that the king had burnt the volume, and the words that Baruch had written from the mouth of Jeremias, saying:
And now wherefore have ye reviled together Jeremias of Anathoth, who prophesied to you?
28 Take thee again another volume: and write in it all the former words that were in the first volume which Joakim the king of Juda hath burnt.
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 And thou shalt say to Joakim the king of Juda: Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast burnt that volume, saying: Why hast thou written therein, and said: The king of Babylon shall come speedily, and shall lay waste this land: and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?
And Sophonias read the book in the ears of Jeremias.
30 Therefore thus saith the Lord against Joakim the king of Juda: He shall have none to 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 punish him, and his seed and his servants, for their iniquities, and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Juda all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but they have not heard.
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 And Jeremias took another volume, and gave it to Baruch the son of Nerias the scribe: who wrote in it from the mouth of Jeremias all the words of the book which Joakim the king of Juda had burnt with fire: and there were added besides many more words than had been before.
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].
