Warning to Zedekiah

34 While Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms and peopleso in the empire he ruled were fighting against Jerusalemp and all its surrounding towns, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Go to Zedekiahq king of Judah and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down.r 3 You will not escape from his grasp but will surely be captured and given into his hands.s You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes, and he will speak with you face to face. And you will go to Babylon.

4 “ ‘Yet hear the Lord’s promise to you, Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the Lord says concerning you: You will not die by the sword;t 5 you will die peacefully. As people made a funeral fireu in honor of your predecessors, the kings who ruled before you, so they will make a fire in your honor and lament, “Alas,v master!” I myself make this promise, declares the Lord.’ ”

6 Then Jeremiah the prophet told all this to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, 7 while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah that were still holding out—Lachishw and Azekah.x These were the only fortified cities left in Judah.

Freedom for Slaves

8 The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the peopley in Jerusalem to proclaim freedomz for the slaves. 9 Everyone was to free their Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Hebrew in bondage.a 10 So all the officials and people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their male and female slaves and no longer hold them in bondage. They agreed, and set them free. 11 But afterward they changed their mindsb and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again.

12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your ancestorsc when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.d I said, 14 ‘Every seventh year each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you six years, you must let them go free.’a e Your ancestors, however, did not listen to me or pay attentionf to me. 15 Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight: Each of you proclaimed freedom to your own people.g You even made a covenant before me in the house that bears my Name.h 16 But now you have turned aroundi and profanedj my name; each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free to go where they wished. You have forced them to become your slaves again.

17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom to your own people. So I now proclaim ‘freedom’ for you,k declares the Lord—‘freedom’ to fall by the sword, plaguel and famine.m I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth.n 18 Those who have violated my covenanto and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces.p 19 The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials,q the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf, 20 I will deliverr into the hands of their enemies who want to kill them.s Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.t

21 “I will deliver Zedekiahu king of Judah and his officialsv into the hands of their enemiesw who want to kill them, to the army of the king of Babylon,x which has withdrawny from you. 22 I am going to give the order, declares the Lord, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, takez it and burna it down. And I will lay wasteb the towns of Judah so no one can live there.”

The Rekabites

35 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord during the reign of Jehoiakimc son of Josiah king of Judah: 2 “Go to the Rekabited family and invite them to come to one of the side roomse of the house of the Lord and give them wine to drink.”

3 So I went to get Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons—the whole family of the Rekabites. 4 I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah the man of God.f It was next to the room of the officials, which was over that of Maaseiah son of Shallumg the doorkeeper.h 5 Then I set bowls full of wine and some cups before the Rekabites and said to them, “Drink some wine.”

6 But they replied, “We do not drink wine, because our forefather Jehonadaba i son of Rekab gave us this command: ‘Neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine.j 7 Also you must never build houses, sow seed or plant vineyards; you must never have any of these things, but must always live in tents.k Then you will live a long time in the landl where you are nomads.’ 8 We have obeyed everything our forefatherm Jehonadab son of Rekab commanded us. Neither we nor our wives nor our sons and daughters have ever drunk wine 9 or built houses to live in or had vineyards, fields or crops.n 10 We have lived in tents and have fully obeyed everything our forefather Jehonadab commanded us. 11 But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invadedo this land, we said, ‘Come, we must go to Jerusalemp to escape the Babylonianb and Aramean armies.’ So we have remained in Jerusalem.”

12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: 13 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go and tellq the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘Will you not learn a lessonr and obey my words?’ declares the Lord. 14 ‘Jehonadab son of Rekab ordered his descendants not to drink wine and this command has been kept. To this day they do not drink wine, because they obey their forefather’s command.s But I have spoken to you again and again,t yet you have not obeyedu me. 15 Again and again I sent all my servants the prophetsv to you. They said, “Each of you must turnw from your wicked ways and reformx your actions; do not follow other godsy to serve them. Then you will live in the landz I have given to you and your ancestors.” But you have not paid attention or listeneda to me. 16 The descendants of Jehonadab son of Rekab have carried out the command their forefatherb gave them, but these people have not obeyed me.’

17 “Therefore this is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disasterc I pronounced against them. I spoke to them, but they did not listen;d I called to them, but they did not answer.’ ”e

18 Then Jeremiah said to the family of the Rekabites, “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed the command of your forefatherf Jehonadab and have followed all his instructions and have done everything he ordered.’ 19 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jehonadab son of Rekab will never failg to have a descendant to serveh me.’ ”

Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah’s Scroll

36 In the fourth year of Jehoiakimi son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Take a scrollj and write on it all the wordsk I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiahl till now. 3 Perhapsm when the people of Judah hearn about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, they will each turno from their wicked ways; then I will forgivep their wickedness and their sin.”

4 So Jeremiah called Baruchq son of Neriah,r and while Jeremiah dictateds all the words the Lord had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them on the scroll.t 5 Then Jeremiah told Baruch, “I am restricted; I am not allowed to go to the Lord’s temple. 6 So you go to the house of the Lord on a day of fastingu and read to the people from the scroll the words of the Lord that you wrote as I dictated.v Read them to all the people of Judahw who come in from their towns. 7 Perhaps they will bring their petitionx before the Lord and will each turny from their wicked ways, for the angerz and wrath pronounced against this people by the Lord are great.”

8 Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do; at the Lord’s temple he read the words of the Lord from the scroll. 9 In the ninth montha of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, a time of fastingb before the Lord was proclaimed for all the people in Jerusalem and those who had come from the towns of Judah. 10 From the room of Gemariahc son of Shaphand the secretary,e which was in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the New Gatef of the temple, Baruch read to all the people at the Lord’s temple the words of Jeremiah from the scroll.

11 When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, 12 he went down to the secretary’sg room in the royal palace, where all the officials were sitting: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathanh son of Akbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials.i 13 After Micaiah told them everything he had heard Baruch read to the people from the scroll, 14 all the officials sent Jehudij son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Bring the scrollk from which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah went to them with the scroll in his hand. 15 They said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.”

So Baruch read it to them. 16 When they heard all these words, they looked at each other in fearl and said to Baruch, “We must report all these words to the king.” 17 Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you come to writem all this? Did Jeremiah dictate it?”

18 “Yes,” Baruch replied, “he dictatedn all these words to