Jeremiah 36
1 And it comes to pass, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word has been to Jeremiah from YHWH, saying,
When Jehoiakim had been the king of Judah for almost four years, Yahweh gave this message to me:
2 “Take a roll of a scroll to yourself, and you have written on it all the words that I have spoken to you concerning Israel, and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day;
“Get a scroll, and write on it the messages that I have given to you regarding Israel, Judah, and the other nations. Write all of the messages, starting from the time that I gave you the first message, when Josiah was the king, up until now.
3 perhaps the house of Israel so hears all the evil that I am thinking of doing to them, so that they each turn back from his evil way, and I have been propitious to their iniquity, and to their sin.”
When the people of Judah hear [again] about all the disasters that I plan to cause them to experience, perhaps each one of them will repent. If they do that, I will be able to forgive them for the wrong/evil things that they have done.”
4 And Jeremiah calls Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch writes from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of YHWH, that He has spoken to him, on a roll of a scroll.
[So] I summoned Baruch, the son of Neraiah. Then, as I dictated to him all the messages that Yahweh had spoken to me, he wrote them on a scroll.
5 And Jeremiah commands Baruch, saying, “I am restrained, I am not able to enter the house of YHWH;
Then I said to him, “I am not allowed to [leave here and] go to the temple.
6 but you have entered—and you have read in the scroll that you have written from my mouth, the words of YHWH, in the ears of the people, in the house of YHWH, in the day of the fast, and you also read them in the ears of all Judah who are coming in from their cities;
So, you go [to the temple] on the [next] day when the people are (fasting/abstaining from food), and read to them the messages from Yahweh that you wrote while I dictated them to you. Read them [aloud] to all the people [who are there, including] the people of Judah who come [there] from their towns.
7 perhaps their supplication so falls before YHWH, and they each turn back from his evil way, for the anger and the fury that YHWH has spoken concerning this people [is] great.”
Perhaps they will turn from their evil behavior and request Yahweh [to act mercifully toward them]. [They must do that, ] because Yahweh is very angry with them and has threatened to punish them severely.”
8 And Baruch son of Neriah does according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, to read in the scroll the words of YHWH in the house of YHWH.
Baruch did what I told him to do. He [went to the temple and] read [to the people] all those messages from Yahweh.
9 And it comes to pass, in the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, they proclaimed a fast before YHWH to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people who are coming in from cities of Judah to Jerusalem;
He did it in December on a day when their leaders had proclaimed that all the people in Jerusalem and the people who had come there from [other] towns in Judah should fast to [please/honor] Yahweh. [It was when] Jehoiakim had been king for almost five years.
10 and Baruch reads in the scroll the words of Jeremiah in the house of YHWH, in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the opening of the New Gate of the house of YHWH, in the ears of all the people.
Baruch read to all the people the messages [that he had written] on the scroll. [He read them while he was] in the temple, in the room where Gemariah stayed. He was the son of Shaphan, [who had previously been the king’s] secretary. That room was close to the upper courtyard [of the temple], near the entrance to the temple that is [called] the New Gate.
11 And Michaiah son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, hears all the words of YHWH from off the scroll,
When Micaiah, who was the son of Gemariah and grandson of Shaphan, heard those messages from Yahweh,
12 and he goes down [to] the house of the king, to the chamber of the scribe, and behold, there all the heads are sitting: Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan son of Acbor, and Gemariah son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the heads.
he went down to the secretary’s room in the palace, where all the king’s officials were meeting. Elishama the [king’s] secretary [was there]. Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Acbor, Gemariah, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the [other] officials [of the king were also there].
13 And Micaiah declares to them all the words that he has heard when Baruch reads in the scroll in the ears of the people;
When Micaiah told them about the messages that Baruch had been reading to the people,
14 and all the heads send to Baruch, Jehudi son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll, which you have read in the ears of the people, and come.” And Baruch son of Neriah takes the scroll in his hand and comes to them,
the officials sent Jehudi, who was the son of Nethaniah and grandson of Shelemiah and great-grandson of Cushi, to tell Baruch to come [and read the messages to them, also]. So Baruch took the scroll and went to them.
15 and they say to him, “Please sit down and read it in our ears,” and Baruch reads [it] in their ears,
They said to him, “Please sit down and read it [to us].” So Baruch did what they requested.
16 and it comes to pass, when they hear all the words, they have been afraid—one to another—and say to Baruch, “We surely declare all these words to the king.”
After they had heard all the messages, they were afraid. They looked at each other and [then] they said, “We must tell these messages to the king!”
17 And they asked Baruch, saying, “Please declare to us, how did you write all these words from his mouth?”
Then they asked Baruch, “How did you get this scroll? Did Jeremiah dictate to you all the messages on this scroll?”
18 And Baruch says to them, “He pronounces from his mouth all these words to me, and I am writing on the scroll with ink.”
Baruch replied, “[Yes], Jeremiah dictated them to me, and I wrote them with ink on this scroll.”
19 And the heads say to Baruch, “Go, be hidden, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you [are].”
Then the officials told Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must both hide. Do not tell anyone where you are!”
20 And they go to the king, to the court, and they have laid up the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and they declare all the words in the ears of the king.
They put the scroll in the room of Elishama, the king’s secretary. Then they went to the king, who was in the courtyard, and reported to him everything [that Baruch had read to them].
21 And the king sends Jehudi to take the scroll, and he takes it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and Jehudi reads it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the heads who are standing by the king;
Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. Jehudi brought it from Elishama’s room and read it to the king, while all the [king’s] officials were standing there.
22 and the king is sitting in the winter-house, in the ninth month, and the stove is burning before him,
It was in the cold season, and the king was in a part of the palace where he stayed when it was cold. He was sitting in front of a fire [to keep/be warm].
23 and it comes to pass, when Jehudi reads three or four leaves, he cuts it out with the scribe’s knife, and has cast [it] into the fire that [is] on the stove, until the consumption of all the scroll by the fire that [is] on the stove.
Each time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king cut off that section of the scroll with a knife and threw it into the fire. He did that, section by section, until the entire scroll was burned up.
24 And the king and all his servants who are hearing all these words have not been afraid, nor torn their garments.
Neither the king nor his officials showed that they were afraid [that God would punish them]. They did not tear their clothes [to show that they were sorry for what they had done].
25 And also Elnathan, and Delaiah, and Gemariah have interceded with the king not to burn the scroll, and he has not listened to them.
Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, but he did not pay any attention.
26 And the king commands Jerahmeel son of Hammelek, and Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, and YHWH hides them.
Then the king commanded his son Jerahmeel, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch and me. But [they were unable to do that because] Yahweh had hidden us.
27 And there is a word of YHWH to Jeremiah—after the king’s burning the scroll, even the words that Baruch has written from the mouth of Jeremiah—saying:
After the king had burned the scroll on which were written the messages that I had dictated to Baruch, Yahweh said this to me:
28 “Turn, take another scroll to yourself, and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned,
“Get another scroll, and [tell Baruch to] write everything again, the same messages that he had written on the scroll that the king burned.
29 and say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus said YHWH: You have burned this scroll, saying, Why have you written on it, saying, The king of Babylon surely comes in, and has destroyed this land, and caused man and beast to cease from it?
[Then go to] the king and say to him, ‘Yahweh says this: “You burned the scroll [because you did not like] what was written on it, that the king of Babylon would surely [RHQ] come [with his army] and destroy this land and get rid of all the people and the animals.
30 Therefore, thus said YHWH concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He has none sitting on the throne of David, and his carcass is cast out to heat by day, and to cold by night;
Now this is what [I], Yahweh, say about [you], Jehoiakim: 'None of your descendants will rule this kingdom [MTY]. Your corpse will be thrown out [on the ground and not be buried]; it will be under the hot [sun] during the days and [struck by] frost during the nights.
31 and I have charged on him, and on his seed, and on his servants, their iniquity; and I have brought in on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the men of Judah, all the evil that I have spoken to them, and they did not listen.”
I will punish you and your family and your officials for their sins. And I will cause the people of Jerusalem and the people of the [other] towns in Judah to experience all the disasters that I promised, because you all would not pay attention [to what I said]!'” '”
32 And Jeremiah has taken another scroll, and gives it to Baruch son of Neriah the scribe, and he writes on it from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah has burned in the fire; and again there were added to them many words like these.
So I took another scroll, and again I dictated the messages to Baruch. He wrote everything that had been written on the [other] scroll, the one that King Jehoiakim had burned in the fire. [But this time, I] added more messages.
