CHAPTER 36

¹And it happened in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah that this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, ²“Take for yourself a book-scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you concerning Israel and concerning Judah and concerning all the nations from the day that I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, to this day. ³Perhaps the house of Judah will listen to all the evil that I plan to do to them so that they may turn back each from his evil way, and I shall forgive their crime and their offense.” ⁴And Jeremiah called to Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD that he had spoken to him on a book-scroll. ⁵And Jeremiah charged Baruch, saying: “I am confined. I cannot come to the house of the LORD. ⁶And you instead shall come and read out from the scroll that you have written from my mouth all the words of the LORD in the hearing of the people in the house of the LORD on the fast-day, and you shall also read it out in the hearing of all Judah who come from their towns. ⁷Perhaps their supplication will fall before the LORD and they will turn back each from his evil way, for great are the anger and the wrath that the LORD has spoken concerning this people.” ⁸And Baruch did as all that Jeremiah had charged him to read out from the book the words of the LORD in the house of the LORD. ⁹And it happened in the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people coming from the towns of Judah proclaimed a fast before the LORD. ¹⁰And Baruch read out from the book the words of the LORD in the house of the LORD in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe in the upper court at the entrance to the gate of the house of the LORD in the hearing of all the people. ¹¹And Micaiah son of Gemariah son of Shaphan heard all the words of the LORD from the book. ¹²And he went down to the house of the king to the chamber of the scribe, and, look, all the nobles were sitting there, Elishama the scribe and Delaiah son of Shemaiah and Elnathan son of Achbor and Gemariah son of Shaphan and Zedekiah son of Hananiah and all the nobles. ¹³And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard when Baruch had read out from the book in the hearing of the people. ¹⁴And all the nobles sent to Baruch Jehudi son of Shelemiah son of Cushi, saying, “The scroll from which you read in the hearing of the people, take it in your hand and go.” And Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. ¹⁵And they said to him, “Sit down, pray, and read it in our hearing.” And Baruch read it out in their hearing. ¹⁶And it happened when they heard all the words, that they turned in fear to each other, and they said to Baruch, “We will surely tell all these words to the king.” ¹⁷And Baruch they asked, saying, “Tell us, pray, how did you write all these words from his mouth?” ¹⁸And Baruch said to them, “With his mouth he read out to me all these words, and I wrote it in the book with ink.” ¹⁹And the nobles said to Baruch, “Go, hide, you and Jeremiah, that no man know where you are.” ²⁰And they came to the king in the court, and the scroll they laid aside in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and they told all these words in the hearing of the king. ²¹And the king sent Jehudi to take the scroll from the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and Jehudi read it out in the hearing of the king and in the hearing of all the nobles standing in attendance upon the king. ²²And the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, and fire in the brazier before him was burning. ²³And it happened, as Jehudi read three or four columns, he would cut them out with a scribe’s knife and fling them into the fire that was in the brazier until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. ²⁴And the king and all his servants hearing all these words were not afraid and did not rend their garments. ²⁵And though Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah implored the king not to burn the scroll, he did not listen to them. ²⁶And the king charged Jerahmeel the king’s son and Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdel to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the LORD had hidden them. ²⁷And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll and the words that Baruch had written from the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, “Again, take for yourself another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned. ²⁸And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah, you shall say: Thus said the LORD, You burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why did you write in it, saying, the king of Babylonia shall surely come and lay waste to this land and make man and beast cease from it?’ ²⁹Therefore, thus said the LORD concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: No one of his shall sit on the throne of David, and his carcass shall be flung to the parching heat by day and to the frost by night. ³⁰And I will reckon his crime against him and against his seed and against his servants and bring down on them and on all the dwellers of Jerusalem and on the men of Judah all the evil that I spoke concerning them, yet they do not heed. ³¹And Jeremiah had taken another scroll and had given it to Baruch son Neriah the scribe, and he wrote on it all the words of the book that Jehoiakim had burned in the fire, and many words of the sort were added.