Chapter 36

Jeremiah’s Scroll Read in the Temple

1 In the afourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

2 “Take a 1ascroll and write on it all the bwords which I have spoken to you concerning cIsrael and concerning Judah, and concerning all the dnations, from the eday I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.

3 “aPerhaps the house of Judah will hear all the calamity which I plan to bring on them, in order that every man will bturn from his evil way; then I will cforgive their iniquity and their sin.”

4 Then Jeremiah called aBaruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a 1bscroll 2at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord which He had spoken to him.

5 Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am 1arestricted; I cannot go into the house of the Lord.

6 “So you go and aread from the scroll which you have bwritten 1at my dictation the words of the Lord 2to the people in the Lord’s house on a cfast day. And also you shall read them 2to all the people of Judah who come from their cities.

7 “aPerhaps their supplication will 1come before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way, for bgreat is the anger and the wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.”

8 Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, areading from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.

9 Now in the afifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the bninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who ccame from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a dfast before the Lord.

10 Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord in the achamber of bGemariah the son of Shaphan the cscribe, in the upper court, at the dentry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house, to all the people.

11 Now when aMicaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all the words of the Lord from the book,

12 he went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber. And behold, all the officials were sitting there—aElishama the scribe, and bDelaiah the son of Shemaiah, and cElnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the other officials.

13 Micaiah adeclared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the book to the people.

14 Then all the officials sent aJehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah btook the scroll in his hand and went to them.

15 They said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.” So Baruch aread it to them.

16 When they had heard all the words, they turned in afear one to another and said to Baruch, “We will surely breport all these words to the king.”

17 And they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us, please, ahow did you write all these words? Was it 1at his dictation?”

18 Then Baruch said to them, “He adictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the book.”

19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, ahide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are.”

The Scroll Is Burned

20 So they went to the aking in the court, but they had deposited the scroll in the chamber of aElishama the scribe, and they reported all the words to the king.

21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi aread it to the king as well as to all the officials who stood beside the king.

22 Now the king was sitting in the awinter house in the bninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him.

23 When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe’s knife and athrew it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier.

24 Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were anot afraid, nor did they brend their garments.

25 Even though Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah apleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.

26 And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to aseize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the bLord hid them.

The Scroll Is Replaced

27 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after the king had aburned the scroll and the words which bBaruch had written at the dictation of Jeremiah, saying,

28 “aTake again another scroll and write on it all the former words that were bon the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned.

29 “And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You have aburned this scroll, saying, ‘bWhy have you written on it 1that the cking of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will make man and beast to cease from it?’ ”

30 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah, “He shall have ano one to sit on the throne of David, and his bdead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night.

31 “I will also apunish him and his 1descendants and his servants for their iniquity, and I will bbring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the calamity that I have declared to them—but they did not listen.” ’ ”

32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the son of Neriah, the scribe, and he awrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many 1similar words were added to them.