Jeremiah 36
1 It came about in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, and he said,
Now it came about in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2 “Take a scroll for yourself and write on it all the words that I have told you concerning Israel and Judah, and every nation. Do this for everything I have told from the days of Josiah until this very day.
Take a book and put down in it all the words I have said to you against Israel and against Judah and against all the nations, from the day when my word came to you in the days of Josiah till this day.
3 Perhaps the people of Judah will listen to all the disasters that I intend to bring on them. Perhaps everyone will turn away from his wicked way, so I can forgive their iniquity and their sin.”
It may be that the people of Judah, hearing of all the evil which it is my purpose to do to them, will be turned, every man from his evil ways; so that they may have my forgiveness for their evil-doing and their sin.
4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote in a scroll, at Jeremiah's dictation, all the words of Yahweh spoken to him.
Then Jeremiah sent for Baruch, the son of Neriah; and Baruch took down from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord which he had said to him, writing them in a book.
5 Next Jeremiah gave a command to Baruch. He said, “I am in prison and cannot go to Yahweh's house.
And Jeremiah gave orders to Baruch, saying, I am shut up, and am not able to go into the house of the Lord:
6 So you must go and read from the scroll that you wrote at my dictation. On the day of the fast, you must read Yahweh's words in the hearing of the people in his house, and also in the hearing of all of Judah who have come from their cities. Proclaim these words to them.
So you are to go, reading there from the book, which you have taken down from my mouth, the words of the Lord, in the hearing of the people in the Lord's house, on a day when they go without food, and in the hearing of all the men of Judah who have come out from their towns.
7 Perhaps their pleas for mercy will come before Yahweh. Perhaps each person will turn from his wicked way, since the wrath and fury that Yahweh has proclaimed against this people are severe.”
It may be that their prayer for grace will go up to the Lord, and that every man will be turned from his evil ways: for great is the wrath and the passion made clear by the Lord against this people.
8 So Baruch son of Neriah did everything that Jeremiah the prophet had commanded him to do. He read aloud the words of Yahweh in the house of Yahweh.
And Baruch, the son of Neriah, did as Jeremiah the prophet gave him orders to do, reading from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord's house.
9 It came about in the fifth year and ninth month of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, that all the people in Jerusalem and the people who came to Jerusalem from the cities of Judah proclaimed a fast before Yahweh.
Now it came about in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that it was given out publicly that all the people in Jerusalem, and all the people who came from the towns of Judah to Jerusalem, were to keep from food before the Lord.
10 Baruch read aloud Jeremiah's words in the house of Yahweh, from the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper courtyard, by the gate of the entrance to the house of Yahweh. He did this in the hearing of all the people.
Then Baruch gave a public reading of the words of Jeremiah from the book, in the house of the Lord, in the room of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher square, as one goes in by the new doorway of the Lord's house, in the hearing of all the people.
11 Now Micaiah son of Gemariah son of Shaphan heard all of Yahweh's words in the scroll.
And Micaiah, the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, after hearing all the words of the Lord from the book,
12 He went down to the house of the king, to the secretary's room. Look, all the officials were sitting there: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Akbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the officials.
Went down to the king's house, to the scribe's room: and all the rulers were seated 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 rulers.
13 Then Micaiah reported to them all the words that he had heard that Baruch read aloud in the hearing of the people.
Then Micaiah gave them an account of all the words which had come to his ears when Baruch was reading the book to the people.
14 So all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah son of Shelemiah son of Cushi, to Baruch. Jehudi said to Baruch, “Take the scroll in your hand, the scroll from which you were reading in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and went to the officials.
So all the rulers sent Jehudi, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, Take in your hand the book from which you have been reading to the people and come. So Baruch, the son of Neriah, took the book in his hand and came down to them.
15 Then they said to him, “Sit down and read this in our hearing.” So Baruch read the scroll.
Then they said to him, Be seated now, and give us a reading from it. So Baruch did so, reading it to them.
16 It happened that when they heard all these words, each man turned in fear to the one next to him and said to Baruch, “We must certainly report all of these words to the king.”
Now it came about that, after hearing all the words, they said to one another in fear, We will certainly give the king an account of all these words.
17 Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you come to write all these words at Jeremiah's dictation?”
And questioning Baruch, they said, Say now, how did you put all these words down in writing from his mouth?
18 Baruch said to them, “He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them in ink on this scroll.”
Then Baruch, answering, said, He said all these things to me by word of mouth, and I put them down with ink in the book.
19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, hide yourself, and Jeremiah, too. Do not let anyone know where you are.”
Then the rulers said to Baruch, Go and put yourself in a safe place, you and Jeremiah, and let no man have knowledge of where you are.
20 So they put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, and they went to the king in the courtyard and they reported everything in the hearing of the king.
Then they went into the open square to the king; but the book they put away in the room of Elishama the scribe; and they gave the king an account of all the words.
21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. Jehudi took it from the room of Elishama the secretary. Then he read it in the hearing of the king and all the officials who were standing beside him.
So the king sent Jehudi to get the book, and he took it from the room of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi gave a reading of it in the hearing of the king and all the rulers who were by the king's side.
22 Now the king was staying in the winter house in the ninth month, and a brazier was burning in front of him.
Now the king was seated in the winter house, and a fire was burning in the fireplace in front of him.
23 It happened that as Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut it off with a knife and throw it into the fire in the brazier until all of the scroll was destroyed.
And it came about that whenever Jehudi, in his reading, had got through three or four divisions, the king, cutting them with his penknife, put them into the fire, till all the book was burned up in the fire which was burning in the fireplace.
24 But neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words were frightened, nor did they tear their clothes.
But they had no fear and gave no signs of grief, not the king or any of his servants, after hearing all these words.
25 Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah had even urged the king not to burn the scroll, but he did not listen to them.
And Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made a strong request to the king not to let the book be burned, but he would not give ear to them.
26 Then the king commanded Jerahmeel, a relative, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but Yahweh had hidden them.
And the king gave orders to Jerahmeel, the king's son, and Seraiah, the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah, the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the Lord kept them safe.
27 Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll and the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah's dictation, saying,
Then after the book, in which Baruch had put down the words of Jeremiah, had been burned by the king, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,
28 “Go back, take another scroll for yourself, and write in it all the words that were on the original scroll, the one that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned.
Take another book and put down in it all the words which were in the first book, which Jehoiakim, king of Judah, put into the fire.
29 Then you must say this to Jehoiakim king of Judah: 'You burned that scroll, saying, “Why have you written on it, 'The king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, for he will destroy both man and beast in it'?”'”
And about Jehoiakim, king of Judah, you are to say, This is what the Lord has said: You have put this book into the fire, saying, Why have you put in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come, causing the destruction of this land and putting an end to every man and beast in it?
30 Therefore Yahweh says this concerning you, Jehoiakim king of Judah: “No descendant of yours will ever sit on the throne of David. As for you, your corpse will be thrown out into the heat of day and the frost of night.
For this reason the Lord has said of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, He will have no son to take his place on the seat of David: his dead body will be put out to undergo the heat of the day and the cold of the night.
31 For I will punish you, your descendants, and your servants for the iniquity of you all. I will bring on you, on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on every person in Judah all the disasters with which I have threatened you with, but to which you paid no attention.”
And I will send punishment on him and on his seed and on his servants for their evil-doing; I will send on them and on the people of Jerusalem and the men of Judah, all the evil which I said against them, but they did not give ear.
32 So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah the scribe. Baruch wrote on it at Jeremiah's dictation all the words that had been in the scroll burned by Jehoiakim king of Judah. Furthermore, many other similar words were added to this scroll.
Then Jeremiah took another book, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who put down in it, from the mouth of Jeremiah, all the words of the book which had been burned in the fire by Jehoiakim, king of Judah: and in addition a number of other words of the same sort.
