CHAPTER 36
In the fourth
year
of Jehoiakim
son
of Josiah
king
of Judah,
this
word
came
to
Jeremiah
from the LORD:
“Take
a scroll
and write
on
it all
the words
I have spoken
to
you concerning
Israel,
Judah,
and all
the nations,
from the day
I first spoke
to you
during the reign
of Josiah
until today.
Perhaps
when the people
of Judah
hear
about all
the calamity
I
plan
to bring
upon them,
each of them
will turn
from his wicked
way.
Then I will forgive
their iniquity
and their sin.”
So Jeremiah
called
Baruch
son
of Neriah.
At the dictation
of Jeremiah,
Baruch
wrote
on
a scroll
all
the words
the LORD
had spoken
to Jeremiah.
so you
are to go
to the house
of the LORD
on a day
of fasting,
and in the hearing
of the people
you are to read
the words
of the LORD
from the scroll
you wrote
at my dictation.
Read them
in the hearing
of all
the people of Judah
who are coming
from their cities.
Perhaps
they will bring
their petition
before
the LORD,
and each
one will turn
from his wicked
way;
for
great are
the anger
and fury
that
the LORD
has pronounced
against
this
people.”
So Baruch
son
of Neriah
did
everything
Jeremiah
the prophet
had commanded him.
In the house
of the LORD
he read
the words
of the LORD
from the scroll.
Now
in the ninth
month
of the fifth
year
of Jehoiakim
son
of Josiah
king
of Judah,
a fast
before
the LORD
was proclaimed
to all
the people
of Jerusalem
and all
who had come
there
from the cities
of Judah.
From the chamber
of Gemariah
son
of Shaphan
the scribe,
which was in the upper
courtyard
at the opening
of the New
Gate
of the house
of the LORD,
Baruch
read
from the scroll
the words
of Jeremiah
in the hearing
of all
the people.
When Micaiah
son
of Gemariah,
the son
of Shaphan,
heard
all
the words
of the LORD
from
the scroll,
he went down
to
the scribe’s
chamber
in the king’s
palace,
where
all
the officials
were sitting:
Elishama
the scribe,
Delaiah
son
of Shemaiah,
Elnathan
son
of Achbor,
Gemariah
son
of Shaphan,
Zedekiah
son
of Hananiah,
and all
the other officials.
And Micaiah
reported
to them all
the words
he had heard
Baruch
read
from the scroll
in the hearing
of the people.
Then all
the officials
sent
word to
Baruch
through Jehudi
son
of Nethaniah,
son
of Shelemiah,
son
of Cushi,
saying,
“Bring
the scroll
that
you read
in the hearing
of the people,
and come.”
So Baruch
son
of Neriah
took
the scroll
and went
to them.
When they had heard
all
these words,
they turned to
each
other
in fear
and said
to
Baruch,
“Surely we must report
all
these
words
to the king.”
“Tell us
now,”
they asked
Baruch,
“how
did you write
all
these
words?
Was it at Jeremiah’s dictation?”
“It was at
his dictation,”
Baruch
replied.
“He recited
all
these
words
to me
and I
wrote them
in ink
on
the scroll.”
Then the officials
said
to
Baruch,
“You
and Jeremiah
must hide
yourselves
and let no
one know
where
you are.”
So the officials went
to
the king
in the courtyard.
And
having stored
the scroll
in the chamber
of Elishama
the scribe,
they reported
everything
to
the king.
The king
sent
Jehudi
to get
the scroll,
and he took it
from the chamber
of Elishama
the scribe.
And Jehudi
read it
in the hearing
of the king
and all
the officials
who were standing
beside
him.
Since it was the ninth
month,
the king
was sitting
in his winter
quarters
with a fire
burning
before him.
And
as soon as Jehudi
had read
three
or four
columns,
Jehoiakim would cut them off
with a scribe’s
knife
and throw them
into
the firepot,
until
the entire
scroll
had been consumed
by
the fire.
Yet in hearing
all
these
words,
the king
and
his servants
did not
become frightened
or tear
their garments.
Even though
Elnathan,
Delaiah,
and Gemariah
had urged
the king
not
to burn
the scroll,
he would not
listen
to them.
Instead, the king
commanded
Jerahmeel,
a son
of the king,
as well as
Seraiah
son
of Azriel
and Shelemiah
son
of Abdeel,
to seize
Baruch
the scribe
and Jeremiah
the prophet.
But the LORD
had hidden them.
After
the king
had burned
the scroll
with the words
Baruch
had written
at Jeremiah’s
dictation,
the word
of the LORD
came
to
Jeremiah:
“Take
another
scroll
and
rewrite
on it
the very words
that
were
on
the original
scroll,
which
Jehoiakim
king
of Judah
has burned.
You are to proclaim
concerning
Jehoiakim
king
of Judah
that this is what
the LORD
says:
You
have burned
the
scroll
and said,
‘Why
have you written
on it
that
the king
of Babylon
would surely come
and destroy
this
land
and deprive it
of
man
and beast?'
Therefore,
this is what
the LORD
says
about
Jehoiakim
king
of Judah:
He will have
no
one to sit
on
David’s
throne,
and his body
will be
thrown out
to be exposed to heat
by day
and frost
by night.
I will punish him
and his descendants
and servants
for their iniquity.
I will bring
on them,
on
the residents
of Jerusalem,
and on
the men
of Judah,
all
the calamity
about which
I warned them
but they did not
listen.”
Then Jeremiah
took
another
scroll
and gave
it to
the scribe
Baruch
son
of Neriah,
and at Jeremiah’s
dictation
he wrote
on it
all
the words
of the scroll
that
Jehoiakim
king
of Judah
had burned
in the fire.
And many
similar
words
were added
to them.