Jeremiah 35–38

Chapter 35

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, saying, ²Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak with them, and bring them into the house of Jehovah, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink. ³And I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites, ⁴and I brought them into the house of Jehovah, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold. ⁵And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink wine. ⁶And they said, We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, ye nor your sons for ever; ⁷neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor shall ye have any; but all your days ye shall dwell in tents, that ye may live many days in the land where ye sojourn. ⁸And we have hearkened unto the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters, ⁹and not to build houses for us to dwell in; neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed; ¹⁰but we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. ¹¹And it came to pass when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come and let us go into Jerusalem because of the army of the Chaldeans, and because of the army of Syria; and we dwell at Jerusalem.

¹²And the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, saying, ¹³Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken unto my words? saith Jehovah. ¹⁴The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they have drunk none, for they have obeyed their father’s commandment. But I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking, and ye have not hearkened unto me. ¹⁵And I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them; and ye shall dwell in the land that I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear nor hearkened unto me. ¹⁶Yea, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people hath not hearkened unto me; ¹⁷therefore thus saith Jehovah the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken unto them, but they have not hearkened, and I have called unto them, but they have not answered. ¹⁸And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his injunctions, and have done according unto all that he hath commanded you; ¹⁹therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, There shall not fail to Jonadab the son of Rechab a man to stand before me, for ever.

Chapter 36

¹And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, ²Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. ³It may be the house of Judah will hear all the evil that I purpose to do unto them, that they may return every man from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. ⁴And Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Nerijah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Jehovah, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book. ⁵And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up, I cannot go into the house of Jehovah; but go thou in, ⁶and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of Jehovah in the ears of the people in the house of Jehovah upon the fast day; and thou shalt also read them in the ears of all Judah that come from their cities. ⁷It may be they will present their supplication before Jehovah, and that they will return every one from his evil way; for great is the anger and the fury that Jehovah hath pronounced against this people. ⁸And Baruch the son of Nerijah did according to all that the prophet Jeremiah commanded him, reading in the book the words of Jehovah in Jehovah’s house.

⁹And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before Jehovah, for all the people in Jerusalem, and for all the people that came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem. ¹⁰And Baruch read in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the new gate of the house of Jehovah, in the ears of all the people. ¹¹And Micah the son of Gemariah the son of Shaphan heard out of the book all the words of Jehovah; ¹²and he went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber, and behold, all the princes were sitting 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 princes. ¹³And Micah declared unto them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read in the book in the ears of the people. ¹⁴And all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in thy hand the roll in which thou hast read in the ears of the people, and come. And Baruch the son of Nerijah took the roll in his hand, and came unto them. ¹⁵And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. And Baruch read it in their ears. ¹⁶And it came to pass, when they heard all the words, they turned in fear one toward another, and said unto Baruch, We will certainly report to the king all these words. ¹⁷And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words from his mouth? ¹⁸And Baruch said unto them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book. ¹⁹And the princes said unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; that none may know where ye are.

²⁰And they went in unto the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe; and they told all the words in the ears of the king. ²¹And the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll, and he fetched it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes that stood beside the king. ²²Now the king was sitting in the winter-house in the ninth month, and with the fire-pan burning before him. ²³And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four columns, he cut it with the scribe’s knife, and cast it into the fire that was in the pan until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was in the pan. ²⁴And they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king nor any of his servants that heard all these words. ²⁵Moreover, Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll; but he would not hear them. ²⁶And the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but Jehovah hid them. ²⁷And after that the king had burned the roll, and the words that Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁸Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned. ²⁹And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith Jehovah: Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from it man and beast? ³⁰Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David; and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. ³¹And I will visit their iniquity upon him, and upon his seed, and upon his servants; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; and they have not hearkened. ³²And Jeremiah took another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Nerijah; and he wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah, all the words of the book that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and there were added besides unto them many like words.

Chapter 37

¹And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon having made him king in the land of Judah. ²And neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, hearkened unto the words of Jehovah, which he had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah. ³And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto Jehovah our God for us. ⁴And Jeremiah came in and went out among the people; for they had not put him into prison. ⁵And Pharaoh’s army was come forth out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans that besieged…