Jeremiah 35–38

¹The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, saying: ²‘Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and thou hast spoken with them, and brought them into the house of Jehovah, unto one of the chambers, and caused them to drink wine.’ ³And I take Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and all the house of the Rechabites, ⁴and bring them into the house of Jehovah, unto the chamber of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, a man of God, that is near to the chamber of the princes, that is above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum, keeper of the threshold; ⁵and I put before the sons of the house of the Rechabites goblets full of wine, and cups, and I say unto them, Drink ye wine. ⁶And they say, ‘We do not drink wine: for Jonadab son of Rechab, our father, charged us, saying, Ye do not drink wine, ye and your sons—unto the age; ⁷and a house ye do not build, and seed ye do not sow, and a vineyard ye do not plant, nor have ye any; for in tents do ye dwell all your days, that ye may live many days on the face of the ground whither ye are sojourning.

⁸‘And we hearken to the voice of Jonadab son of Rechab, our father, to all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters; ⁹nor to build houses for our dwelling; and vineyard, and field, and seed, we have none; ¹⁰and we dwell in tents, and we hearken, and we do according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us; ¹¹and it cometh to pass, in the coming up of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon unto the land, that we say, Come, and we enter Jerusalem, because of the force of the Chaldeans, and because of the force of Aram—and we dwell in Jerusalem.’

¹²And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah, saying: ‘Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel:

¹³‘Go, and thou hast said to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Do ye not receive instruction?—to hearken unto My words—an affirmation of Jehovah. ¹⁴Performed have been the words of Jonadab son of Rechab, when he commanded his sons not to drink wine, and they have not drunk unto this day, for they have obeyed the command of their father; and I—I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking, and ye have not hearkened unto Me. ¹⁵And I send unto you all My servants the prophets, rising early and sending, saying: Turn back, I pray you, each from his evil way, and amend your doings, yea, ye do not walk after other gods, to serve them, and dwell ye on the ground that I have given to you and to your fathers; and ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto Me.

¹⁶‘Because the sons of Jonadab son of Rechab have performed the command of their father, that he commanded them, and this people have not hearkened unto Me, ¹⁷therefore thus said Jehovah, God of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am bringing in unto Judah, and unto all inhabitants of Jerusalem, all the evil that I have spoken against them, because I have spoken unto them, and they have not hearkened, yea, I call to them, and they have not answered.’ ¹⁸And to the house of the Rechabites said Jeremiah: ‘Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, Because that ye have hearkened unto the command of Jonadab your father, and ye observe all his commands, and do according to all that he commanded you; ¹⁹therefore, thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, Of Jonadab son of Rechab one standing before me is not cut off all the days.’

Chapter 36

¹And it cometh to pass, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying: ²‘Take to thee a roll of a book, and thou hast written on it all the words that I have spoken unto thee concerning Israel, and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day; ³if so be the house of Israel do hear all the evil that I am thinking of doing to them, so that they turn back each from is evil way, and I have been propitious to their iniquity, and to their sin.’ ⁴And Jeremiah calleth Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch writeth from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Jehovah, that He hath spoken unto him, on a roll of a book. ⁵And Jeremiah commandeth Baruch, saying, ‘I am restrained, I am not able to enter the house of Jehovah; ⁶but thou hast entered—and thou hast read in the roll that thou hast written from my mouth, the words of Jehovah, in the ears of the people, in the house of Jehovah, in the day of the fast, and also in the ears of all Judah who are coming in from their cities thou dost read them; ⁷if so be their supplication doth fall before Jehovah, and they turn back each from his evil way, for great is the anger and the fury that Jehovah hath spoken concerning this people.’ ⁸And Baruch son of Neriah doth according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, to read in the book the words of Jehovah in the house of Jehovah.

⁹And it cometh to pass, in the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, proclaimed a fast before Jehovah have all the people in Jerusalem, and all the people who are coming in from cities of Judah to Jerusalem; ¹⁰and Baruch readeth in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah, in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the opening of the new gate of the house of Jehovah, in the ears of all the people. ¹¹And Michaiah son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, heareth all the words of Jehovah from off the book, ¹²and he goeth down to the house of the king, unto the chamber of the scribe, and lo, there are all the heads sitting: Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan son of Acbor, and Gemariah son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the heads. ¹³And declare to them doth Micaiah all the words that he hath heard, when Baruch readeth in the book in the ears of the people; ¹⁴and all the heads send unto Baruch, Jehudi son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi, saying, ‘The roll in which thou hast read in the ears of the people take in thy hand, and come.’ And Baruch son of Neriah taketh the roll in his hand and cometh in unto them, ¹⁵and they say unto him, ‘Sit down, we pray thee, and read it in our ears,’ and Baruch readeth in their ears, ¹⁶and it cometh to pass, when they hear all the words, they have been afraid one at another, and say unto Baruch, ‘We do surely declare to the king all these words.’ ¹⁷And they asked Baruch, saying, ‘Declare, we pray thee, to us, how didst thou write all these words—from his mouth?’ ¹⁸And Baruch saith to them, ‘From his mouth, he pronounceth unto me all these words, and I am writing on the book with ink.’ ¹⁹And the heads say unto Baruch, ‘Go, be hidden, thou and Jeremiah, and let no one know where ye are.’

²⁰And they go in unto the king, to the court, and the roll they have laid up in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and they declare in the ears of the king all the words. ²¹And the king sendeth Jehudi to take the roll, and he taketh it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and Jehudi readeth it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the heads who are standing by the king; ²²and the king is sitting in the winter-house, in the ninth month, and the stove before him is burning, ²³and it cometh to pass, when Jehudi readeth three or four leaves, he cutteth it out with the scribe’s knife, and hath cast unto the fire, that is on the stove, till the consumption of all the roll by the fire that is on the stove. ²⁴And the king and all his servants who are hearing all these words have not been afraid, nor rent their garments. ²⁵And also Elnathan, and Delaiah, and Gemariah have interceded with the king not to burn the roll, and he hath not hearkened unto them. ²⁶And the king commandeth Jerahmeel son of Hammelek, and Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Jehovah doth hide them. ²⁷And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah—after the king’s burning the roll, even the words that Baruch hath written from the mouth of Jeremiah—saying: ²⁸‘Turn, take to thee another roll, and write on it all the former words that were on the first roll, that Jehoiakim king of Judah burnt, ²⁹and unto Jehoiakim king of Judah thou dost say: Thus said Jehovah, Thou hast burnt this roll, saying, Wherefore hast thou written on it, saying, The king of Babylon surely cometh in, and hath destroyed this land, and caused to cease from it man and beast?

³⁰‘Therefore, thus said Jehovah, concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He hath none sitting on the throne of David, and his carcase is cast out to heat by day, and to cold by night; ³¹and I have charged on him, and on his seed, and on his servants, their iniquity; and I have brought in on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto the men of Judah, all the evil that I have spoken unto them, and they hearkened not.’ ³²And Jeremiah hath taken another roll, and giveth it unto Baruch son of Neriah the scribe, and he writeth on it from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book that Jehoiakim king of Judah hath burnt in the fire; and again there were added unto them many words like these.

Chapter 37

¹And reign doth king Zedekiah son of Josiah instead of Coniah son of Jehoiakim whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had caused to reign in the land of Judah, ²and he hath not hearkened, he, and his servants, and the people of the land, unto the words of Jehovah, that He spake by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet. ³And Zedekiah the king sendeth Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, unto Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ‘Pray, we beseech thee, for us unto Jehovah our God.’ ⁴And Jeremiah is coming in and going out in the midst of the people, (and they have not put him in the prison-house), ⁵and the force of Pharaoh hath come out of Egypt, and the Chaldeans, who are laying siege against…