Jeremiah 36
1 This message from the Lord came to Jeremiah in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Get a scroll and write down everything I've told you condemning Israel, Judah, and all the other nations, from the time I first spoke to you during the reign of Josiah right up till now.
“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 Maybe when the people of Judah hear about all the disasters I plan to bring down on them, everyone will stop their evil ways. Then I will forgive their guilt and sin.
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 So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah to come, and while Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote down on a scroll everything that the Lord had told Jeremiah.
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 Then Jeremiah gave Baruch these instructions: “I'm a prisoner here so I can't go into the Lord's Temple.
Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am restricted. I can’t go into the LORD’s house.
6 So you have to go to the Lord's Temple on a day when people are fasting, and read to them the Lord's messages from the scroll I dictated to you. Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their towns.
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 Maybe they will come and ask the Lord for forgiveness, and all of them will stop their evil ways, for the Lord is threatening terrible anger against them.”
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 Baruch son of Neriah did exactly what Jeremiah the prophet had told him to do. He went and read the Lord's message from the scroll in the Temple.
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 This is how it happened. A fast to honor the Lord was declared involving all the people of Jerusalem and everyone who had come there from the towns of Judah. This was in the ninth month of the fifth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah.
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 Baruch read from the scroll what Jeremiah had dictated so that everyone could hear. He read it from the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe. This was in the upper Temple courtyard at the New Gate entrance.
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 When Micaiah son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, heard all the Lord's messages read from the scroll,
When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the LORD’s words,
12 he went down to the royal secretary's room in the king's palace, where all the officials had gathered. Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials were there.
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 Micaiah gave them a report of everything he'd heard Baruch read from the scroll to the people.
Then Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.
14 The officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi, to summon Baruch, telling him, “Bring the scroll that you read to the people, and come here.” So Baruch went to see them taking the scroll with him.
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 “Please sit down and read it to us,” they said. So Baruch read it to them.
They said to him, “Sit down now, and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing.
16 After they'd heard everything, they were frightened and looked at each other. They said to Baruch, “We've got to tell the king about all this.”
Now when they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one toward another, and said to Baruch, “We will surely tell the king of all these words.”
17 Then they asked Baruch, “Now tell us, how did you come to write all this? Did Jeremiah dictate it to you?”
They asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words at his mouth?”
18 “Yes, he dictated it,” Baruch replied. “I wrote down in ink on the scroll everything he told me.”
Then Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.”
19 The officials told Baruch, “You and Jeremiah are going to have to hide. Don't tell anyone where you are.”
Then the princes said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah go hide. Don’t let anyone know where you are.”
20 Then the officials went to see the king in the courtyard. They had kept the scroll safe in Elishama the secretary's room while they gave a full report to the king.
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 The king sent Jehudi to fetch the scroll. He went and got it from Elishama the secretary's room. Then Jehudi read it to the king and all the officials who were there standing next to him.
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 It was the ninth month and the king was sitting in front of a fire in his winter quarters.
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 Whenever Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, Jehoiakim would chop them off with a scribe's knife and toss them into the fire. Eventually the whole scroll was completely burned up.
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 Despite hearing all these messages, the king and his attendants weren't frightened and didn't tear their clothes in remorse.
The king and his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, and didn’t tear their garments.
25 Even when Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, he refused to listen to them.
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 In fact the king ordered Jerahmeel, one of the princes, as well as Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to go and arrest Baruch and Jeremiah. But the Lord hid them.
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 After the king burned the scroll Jeremiah had dictated to Baruch, a message from the Lord came to Jeremiah:
Then the LORD’s word came to Jeremiah, after the king had burned the scroll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
28 Get another scroll and write everything out that was on the first scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned.
“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 burned.
29 Regarding Jehoiakim king of Judah announce that this is what the Lord says: You have burned the scroll and asked, “Why did you write that the king of Babylon is going to come and destroy this country and kill all its people and animals?”
Concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘The LORD says: “You have burned 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 So this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He won't have anyone to succeed him as king, sitting on David's throne. His body will be thrown out to lie in the heat of the day and the cold of the night.
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 I'm going to punish him and his descendants and officials for their sins. I will bring down on them and on the people living in Jerusalem and Judah, all the disasters I warned them about but they refused to listen.
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 Jeremiah got another scroll and gave it to Baruch. Jeremiah dictated everything that was in the scroll that Jehoiakim had burned in the fire and Barcuh wrote it down. Even more messages of a similar kind were added.
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 burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.
