The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah

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- Chapter 36 -

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,

“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.

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 path, so I can forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

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.

Next Jeremiah gave a command to Baruch. He said, “I am in prison and cannot go to Yahweh’s house.

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.

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.”

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.

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 in honor of Yahweh.

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.

Jeremiah’s Scroll Read in the Palace

Now Micaiah son of Gemariah son of Shaphan heard all of Yahweh’s words in the scroll.

He went down to the house of the king, to the secretary’s room. Look, all the officials were sitting there: Elishama the scribe, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the officials.

Then Micaiah reported to them all the words that he had heard that Baruch read aloud in the people’s hearing.

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 people’s hearing and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and went to the officials.

Then they said to him, “Sit down and read this in our hearing.” So Baruch read the scroll.

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.”

Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you come to write all these words at Jeremiah’s dictation?”

Baruch said to them, “He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them in ink on this scroll.”

Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, hide yourself, and Jeremiah, too. Do not let anyone know where you are.”

Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll

Then they went to the king’s court and reported these words to him. But first they deposited the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary.

Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. Jehudi took it from the room of Elishama the secretary. Then he read it aloud to the king and all the officials who were standing beside him.

Now the king was staying in the winter house in the ninth month, and a brazier was burning in front of him.

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.

But neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words were frightened, nor did they tear their clothes.

Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah had even urged the king not to burn the scroll, but he did not listen to them.

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.

Jeremiah Rewrites the Scroll

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, and he said,

“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.

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’?”’”

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 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.”

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.

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.