Jeremiah 36

Jeremiah Dictates a Scroll

1In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2“Take for yourself a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you concerning Israel, concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until this day. 3Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that each may turn from his evil way, and I may forgive their guilt and their sin.” 4Then Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD that he had spoken to him.

Baruch Reads in the Temple

5Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am restricted; I cannot enter the house of the LORD. 6So you go and read from the scroll that you wrote from my mouth the words of the LORD in the hearing of the people in the house of the LORD on a fast day. Also in the hearing of all Judah who come from their cities you shall read them. 7Perhaps their plea will fall before the LORD, and each will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and fury that the LORD has spoken against this people.” 8Baruch son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the scroll the words of the LORD in the house of the LORD.

Micaiah Reports the Reading

9In the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the LORD. 10Then Baruch read from the scroll the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entrance of the New Gate of the house of the LORD, in the hearing of all the people. 11When Micaiah son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll, 12he went down to the king’s house, to the scribe’s chamber. Look, all the officials were sitting there: Elishama the scribe, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the officials. 13Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the scroll in the hearing of the people.

The Officials Hear the Scroll

14Then all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you read in the hearing of the people and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. 15They said to him, “Please sit and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing. 16When they heard all the words, they turned in fear each toward his neighbor and said to Baruch, “We must surely tell the king all these words.” 17They asked Baruch, saying, “Please tell us, how did you write all these words from his mouth?” 18Baruch said to them, “He dictated all these words to me from his mouth, and I wrote them with ink on the scroll.” 19Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.”

Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll

20They went to the king in the court, but deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and they told all the words in the hearing of the king. 21Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. He took it from the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and in the hearing of all the officials standing beside the king. 22The king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him. 23Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king would cut them with the scribe’s knife and throw them into the fire that was in the brazier, until the whole scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. 24The king and all his servants who heard all these words did not fear, nor did they tear their garments. 25Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he did not listen to them. 26The king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the LORD hid them.

Jeremiah Dictates the Scroll Again

27Then 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, 28“Take for yourself another scroll and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned. 29And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say: Thus says the LORD: You burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why did you write on it, saying, “The king of Babylon will surely come and destroy this land and cause human and animal to cease from it”?’ 30Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body will be cast out to the heat by day and to the frost by night. 31I will attend to him, his offspring, and his servants for their guilt. I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the disaster that I spoke against them, but they did not listen.” 32Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah the scribe, and he wrote on it from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many words like them were added to them.