Jeremiah 35–38

THE RECHABITES’ EXAMPLE

35This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim^y son of Josiah, king of Judah: ²“Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them,^z and bring them to one of the chambers^a of the temple of the Lord to offer them a drink of wine.”

³So I took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons—the entire house of the Rechabites—⁴and I brought them into the temple of the Lord to a chamber occupied by the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, a man of God,^b who had a chamber near the officials’ chamber, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum the doorkeeper. ⁵I set jars filled with wine and some cups before the sons of the house of the Rechabites and said to them, “Drink wine!”

⁶But they replied, “We do not drink wine, for Jonadab,^c son of our ancestor Rechab, commanded, ‘You and your descendants must never drink wine. ⁷You must not build a house or sow seed or plant a vineyard. Those things are not for you. Rather, you must live in tents your whole life, so you may live a long time on the soil where you stay as a resident alien.’^{d 8}We have obeyed Jonadab, son of our ancestor Rechab, in all he commanded us. So we haven’t drunk wine our whole life—we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters. ⁹We also have not built houses to live in and do not have vineyard, field, or seed. ¹⁰But we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done everything our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. ¹¹However, when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched into the land,^e we said, ‘Come, let’s go into Jerusalem to get away from the Chaldean and Aramean armies.’ So we have been living in Jerusalem.”

¹²Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ¹³“This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Go, say to the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem, ‘Will you not accept discipline^f by listening to my words?—this is the Lord’s declaration. ¹⁴The words of Jonadab, son of Rechab, have been carried out. He commanded his descendants not to drink wine, and they have not drunk to this day because they have obeyed their ancestor’s command. But I have spoken to you time and time again,^Ag and you have not obeyed me! ¹⁵Time and time again^B I have sent you all my servants the prophets, proclaiming, “Turn, each one from his evil way,^h and correct your actions. Stop following other gods to serve them.ⁱ Live in the land that I gave you and your ancestors.” But you did not pay attention or obey me.^{j 16}Yes, the sons of Jonadab son of Rechab carried out their ancestor’s command he gave them, but these people have not obeyed me. ¹⁷Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will certainly bring on Judah and on all the residents of Jerusalem all the disaster I have pronounced against them because I have spoken to them, but they have not obeyed, and I have called to them, but they did not answer.’ ”

¹⁸But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Because you have obeyed the command of your ancestor Jonadab and have kept all his commands and have done everything he commanded you, ¹⁹this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Jonadab son of Rechab will never fail to have a man to stand before me always.’ ”^k

JEREMIAH DICTATES A SCROLL

36In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah,^l king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Take a scroll,^m and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations from the time I first spoke to you during Josiah’s reign until today. ³Perhaps when the house of Judah hears about all the disaster I am planning to bring on them, each one of them will turn from his evil way. Then I will forgive their iniquityⁿ and their sin.”

⁴So Jeremiah summoned Baruch^o son of Neriah. At Jeremiah’s dictation,^A Baruch wrote on a scroll all the words the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah. ⁵Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, “I am restricted;^p I cannot enter the temple of the Lord, ⁶so you must go and read from the scroll—which you wrote at my dictation^B—the words of the Lord in the hearing of the people at the temple of the Lord on a day of fasting. Read his words in the hearing of all the Judeans who are coming from their cities. ⁷Perhaps their petition will come before the Lord,^q and each one will turn from his evil way, for the anger and fury that the Lord has pronounced against this people are intense.” ⁸So Baruch son of Neriah did everything the prophet Jeremiah had commanded him. At the Lord’s temple he read the Lord’s words from the scroll.

BARUCH READS THE SCROLL

⁹In the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month,^a all the people of Jerusalem and all those coming in from Judah’s cities into Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the Lord.^{b 10}Then at the Lord’s temple, in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe,^c in the upper courtyard at the opening of the New Gate^d of the Lord’s temple, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read Jeremiah’s words from the scroll.

¹¹When Micaiah son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, ¹²he went down to the scribe’s chamber in the king’s palace. All the officials were sitting there—Elishama the scribe, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor,^e Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. ¹³Micaiah reported to them all the words he had heard when Baruch read from the scroll in the hearing of the people. ¹⁴Then all the officials sent word to Baruch through Jehudi son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi, saying, “Bring the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll and went to them. ¹⁵They said to him, “Sit down and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing.

¹⁶When they had heard all the words, they turned to each other in fear and said to Baruch, “We must surely tell the king all these things.” ¹⁷Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you write all these words? At his dictation?”

¹⁸Baruch said to them, “At his dictation. He recited all these words to me while I was writing on the scroll in ink.”

JEHOIAKIM BURNS THE SCROLL

¹⁹The officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must hide and tell no one where you are.” ²⁰Then, after depositing the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, the officials came to the king at the courtyard and reported everything in the hearing of the king. ²¹The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi then read it in the hearing of the king and all the officials who were standing by the king. ²²Since it was the ninth month, the king was sitting in his winter quarters^f with a fire burning in front of him. ²³As soon as Jehudi would read three or four columns, Jehoiakim would cut the scroll^A with a scribe’s knife and throw the columns into the fire in the hearth until the entire scroll was consumed by the fire in the hearth. ²⁴As they heard all these words, the king and all his servants did not become terrified^g or tear their clothes. ²⁵Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah had urged the king not to burn the scroll, he did not listen to them. ²⁶Then the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to seize the scribe Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah, but the Lord hid them.

JEREMIAH DICTATES ANOTHER SCROLL

²⁷After the king had burned the scroll and the words Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation,^B the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ²⁸“Take another scroll, and once again write on it the original words that were on the original scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah burned.^{h 29}You are to proclaim concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord says: You have burned the scroll, asking, “Why have you written on it thatⁱ the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and cause it to be without people or animals?”^{j 30}Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah: He will have no one to sit on David’s throne,^k and his corpse will be thrown out to be exposed to the heat of day and the frost of night.^{l 31}I will punish him, his descendants, and his officers for their iniquity. I will bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the people of Judah all the disaster, which I warned them about but they did not listen.’ ”

³²Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it at Jeremiah’s dictation^C all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim,^m Judah’s king, had burned in the fire. And many other words like them were added.

JERUSALEM’S LAST DAYS

37Zedekiah son of Josiah^a reigned as king in the land of Judah^b in place of Coniah^Dc son of Jehoiakim, for King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made him king. ²He and his officers and the people of the land did not obey the words of the Lord^d that he spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.

³Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal^e son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah^f son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, requesting, “Please pray to the Lord our God on our behalf!” ⁴Jeremiah was going about his daily tasks^E among the people, for he had not yet been put into the prison.^{g 5}Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt,^h and when the Chaldeans, who were besieging Jerusalem, heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

⁶The word of the Lord came to the prophet Jeremiah: ⁷“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: This is what you will say to Judah’s king,ⁱ who is sending you to inquire of me: ‘Watch: Pharaoh’s army, which has come out to help you,^j is going to return to its own land of Egypt. ⁸The Chaldeans will then return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it.^{k 9}This is what the Lord says: Don’t deceive…