The Anselm Project

Chapter 36

¹ In 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 of a book and write on it all the words that I spoke to you concerning Israel and concerning Judah and concerning all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until this day. ³ Perhaps they will hear, all the house of Judah, the evil which I have planned to do to them, so that they will return, each man from his evil way, and I will forgive their iniquity and their sin. ⁴ And Jeremiah called 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 scroll of a book. ⁵ Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, "I am restrained; I am not able to come to the house of the LORD." ⁶ And you, go and read in the scroll which you wrote from my mouth the words of the LORD in the hearing of the people in the house of the LORD, on a day of fasting, and also in the hearing of all Judah who come from their cities you shall read them. ⁷ Perhaps their supplication will fall before the LORD, and they will return, each man from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath that the LORD has spoken against this people. ⁸ Baruch son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet had commanded him, reading in the book the words of the LORD in the house of the LORD. ⁹ And it was in the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the LORD, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people coming from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem. ¹⁰ And Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the new gate of the house of the LORD, in the hearing of all the people. ¹¹ And Micaiah son of Gemariah son of Shaphan heard all the words of the LORD from the book. ¹² And he went down to the house of the king, to the chamber of the scribe. And behold, there 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 officials. ¹³ Micaiah told them all the words that he heard when Baruch read from the book in the hearing of the people. ¹⁴ And all the rulers sent to Baruch Yehudi son of Nethaniah son of Shelemiah son of Cushi, saying, "The scroll that you read in the ears of the people—take it in your hand and come." And Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. ¹⁵ And they said to him, "Please sit and read it in our ears." So Baruch read it in their ears. ¹⁶ And when they heard all the words, they feared, one for the other, and they said to Baruch, "We must tell the king all these words." ¹⁷ And they asked Baruch, saying, "Tell us now, how did you write all these words from his mouth?" ¹⁸ And he said to them, "Baruch read to me from his mouth all these words, and I wrote them from the book with ink." ¹⁹ And the officials said to Baruch, "You and Jeremiah hide yourselves, and let no one know where you are." ²⁰ And they went to the king's courtyard and deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and they told all the words in the king's ears. ²¹ And the king sent Jehudi to take the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and Jehudi read it in the king's ears and in the ears of all the officials standing beside the king. ²² The king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, and there was a fire burning before him. ²³ And it happened that, as Jehoiakim read three or four columns, he tore it with a scribe's knife—the book—and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth until he finished all the scroll on the fire that was on the hearth. ²⁴ And the king and all his servants, the hearers of all these words, did not fear and did not tear their garments. ²⁵ And also Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah interceded with the king not to burn the scroll, but he did not hear them. ²⁶ The king commanded Jerahmeel son of the king, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the LORD hid them. ²⁷ And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah after the king burned the scroll and the words that Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah, saying: ²⁸ Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned. ²⁹ And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, Thus says the LORD: You burned this scroll, saying, "Why did you write on it, saying, 'Coming, a king of Babel will come and destroy this land and cause humanity and beast to cease from it'?" ³⁰ Therefore, thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will not be one sitting on the throne of David, and his carcass will be cast out to the sword by day and to the frost by night. ³¹ I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity, and I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon every man of Judah all the evil that I spoke to them, but they did not hear. ³² And 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 burned in fire. And he still added to them many words like these.