UST JER Chapter 36

◄ JER 36 ► ║ ═ ©

36 During the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was the king of Judah, Yahweh spoke this message to me, Jeremiah. He said, 2 “Take a scroll and write on it all the messages that I have spoken to you about Israel and about Judah and about all the other nations. Write down everything that I have told you, from the time when Josiah was king until today. 3 It may be that the people of Judah will hear about all the disasters that I am planning to bring on them, each of them will stop behaving wickedly. If they do that, I will forgive them for their sinful behavior.”

4 So I, Jeremiah summoned Baruch son of Neriah, and while I spoke aloud all the messages that Yahweh had given me. Baruch wrote them on a scroll. 5 Then I,Jeremiah instructed Baruch, “The authorities have forbidden me to enter the temple of Yahweh. 6 You must go there instead. On a day when the people are abstaining from food, read aloud from the scroll the messages of Yahweh that I dictated to you, so that the people in Yahweh’s temple can hear them. Read them aloud also so that all the people of Judah who come there from their cities can hear them. 7 Perhaps they will humbly plead with Yahweh that he would act mercifully toward them, and each of them will stop behaving wickedly, because Yahweh is extremely angry with these people and has threatened that he will punish them severely.” 8 Baruch son of Neriah did everything that I, Jeremiah the prophet had commanded him to do. He read aloud from the scroll the messages of Yahweh at the temple of Yahweh.

9 During the ninth month of the fifth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was the king of Judah, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who had come to Jerusalem from the cities of Judah proclaimed a time of fasting before Yahweh. 10 So at the temple of Yahweh, Baruch read aloud from the scroll the messages that I, Jeremiah, had given him, so that all the people could hear them. He read them in the room that belonged to Gemariah son of Shaphan, the scribe. That room was in the upper courtyard, next to the entrance of the New Gate of the temple of Yahweh.

11 Micaiah, the son of Gemariah and the grandson of Shaphan, heard all the messages of Yahweh that Baruch read from the scroll. 12 Then he went down to the palace, into the room of the scribe, where all the king’s officials were sitting. They were Elishama the scribe, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Akbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. 13 Micaiah told them everything that he had heard when Baruch read aloud from the scroll to the people. 14 So all the officials sent Jehudi, the son of Nethaniah and the grandson of Shelemiah and the great-grandson of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Bring us that scroll that you read aloud to the people, and come here.” So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and went to them. 15 They said to him, “Please sit down and read it to us.” So Baruch read it aloud to them. 16 When they heard all the messages, they became afraid, each person expressing this to their neighbor. They said to Baruch, “We must certainly report all these messages to the king.” 17 Then they asked Baruch, “Please tell us: How did you get all these messages? Did Jeremiah dictate them to you?” 18 Baruch answered them, “Yes, Jeremiah spoke all these messages aloud to me, and I wrote them on the scroll with ink.” 19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must go and hide. Do not let anyone know where you are.”

20 The officials put the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe. Then they went to the king in the courtyard and reported to him everything that Baruch had read to them. 21 So the king sent Jehudi to bring the scroll, and Jehudi brought it from the room of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi read it aloud to the king and to all the officials who were standing beside the king. 22 It was the ninth month, the cold season, so the king was sitting in the part of the palace where he lived during the winter, and in front of him a fire was burning in a pot to keep him warm. 23 Each time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut off that section with a scribe’s knife and threw it into the fire in the pot. He did this again and again, until the whole scroll had finished burning in the fire that was in the pot. 24 The king and all his officials who heard all these messages were not afraid, and they did not tear their clothes to show that they were sorry for what they had done. 25 And even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he refused to pay attention to them. 26 Then the king commanded his son Jerahmeel, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and me, Jeremiah the prophet. But they were unable to do that because Yahweh had hidden us.

27 After King Jehoiakim burned the scroll that held the messages that Baruch had written down while I, Jeremiah spoke them aloud, Yahweh spoke this message to me, Jeremiah. Yahweh said, 28 “Get another scroll and write on it all the messages that were on the first scroll, the one that Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned. 29 Regarding Jehoiakim the king of Judah you must say, ‘Yahweh says this: “you burned this scroll and you rebuked Jeremiah for writing on it that the king of Babylon would certainly come and destroy this land and put an end to every person and animal in it. 30 So now I,Yahweh say this about you Jehoiakim king of Judah: ‘None of your descendants will rule this kingdom. After you die, people will throw your corpse out on the ground, where it will lie in the heat during the day and in the frost during the night. 31 I, Yahweh will punish you and your descendants and your officials because of the wicked things that you have all done. I will bring on you, and on everyone who lives in Jerusalem, and on all the people of Judah, every disaster that I warned you about, because none of you would pay attention to me.’ ”

32 So I, Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah, the scribe. While I spoke aloud, Baruch wrote on it all the messages of the scroll that Jehoiakim the king of Judah had burned in the fire. I, Jeremiah also dictated many other similar messages, and Baruch added them to the scroll.