The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah

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- Chapter 36 -

When Jehoiakim son of Josiah had been the king of Judah for almost four years, Yahweh gave this message to me:

“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.

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 things that they have done.”

So Jeremiah summoned Baruch son of Neraiah. Then, as Jeremiah dictated to him all the messages that Yahweh had spoken to him, he wrote them on a scroll.

Then Jeremiah said to him, “I am not allowed to leave here and go to the temple.

So, you go to the temple on the next day when the people are fasting, 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.

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.”

Baruch did what Jeremiah told him to do. He went to the temple and read to the people all those messages from Yahweh.

He did it on the ninth month, 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 Yahweh. This happened when Jehoiakim had been king for almost five years.

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.

Jeremiah’s Scroll Read in the Palace

When Micaiah son of Gemariah, and grandson of Shaphan, heard these messages from Yahweh,

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 son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Acbor, Gemariah, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials of the king were also there.

When Micaiah told them about the messages that Baruch had been reading to the people,

the officials sent Jehudi 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.

They said to him, “Please sit down and read it to us.” So Baruch did what they requested.

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!”

Then they asked Baruch, “How did you get this scroll? Did Jeremiah dictate to you all the messages on this scroll?”

Baruch replied, “Yes, Jeremiah dictated them to me, and I wrote them with ink on this scroll.”

Then the officials told Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must both hide. Do not tell anyone where you are!”

Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll

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.

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.

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 warm.

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.

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.

Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, but he did not pay any attention.

Then the king commanded his son Jerahmeel, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch and me. But they were unable to do that because Yahweh had hidden us.

Jeremiah Rewrites the Scroll

After the king had burned the scroll on which were written the messages that I had dictated to Baruch, Yahweh said this to me:

“Get another scroll, and tell Baruch to write everything again, the same messages that he had written on the scroll that King Jehoiakim burned.

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 come with his army and destroy this land and get rid of all the people and the animals.

Now this is what I, Yahweh, say about you, Jehoiakim: None of your descendants will rule this kingdom. Your corpse will be thrown out on the ground and not buried; it will be under the hot sun during the days and struck by frost during the nights.

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’”’

So Jeremiah took another scroll, and again he 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, Jeremiah added more messages.

In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

“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.

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.”

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.

Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am restricted. I can’t go into the LORD’s house.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

Jeremiah’s Scroll Read in the Palace

When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the LORD’s words,

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.

Then Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.

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.

They said to him, “Sit down now, and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing.

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.”

They asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words at his mouth?”

Then Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.”

Then the princes said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah go hide. Don’t let anyone know where you are.”

Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll

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.

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.

Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, and there was a fire in the brazier burning before him.

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.

The king and his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, and didn’t tear their garments.

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.

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.

Jeremiah Rewrites the Scroll

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,

“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.

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”?’”

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.

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.”’”

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.