Jeremiah 36

Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll

1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

2 “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 in the days of Josiah until now.”

3 “Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about all the disaster I plan to bring on them, each one will turn from his evil way. Then I will forgive their wrongdoing and their sin.”

Baruch Writes Jeremiah’s Words

4 So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words the LORD had spoken to him.

5 Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, “I am restricted; I cannot enter the house of the LORD.”

6 “So you go and read from the scroll, the words of the LORD you wrote as I dictated, in the hearing of the people at the LORD’s house on a day of fasting. Read them also in the hearing of all Judah who come from their cities.”

7 “Perhaps their plea will come before the LORD, and each one will turn from his evil way, For great is the anger and wrath the LORD has pronounced against this people.”

8 So Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet commanded him and read the words of the LORD from the scroll in the LORD’s house.

The Scroll Is Read to the Officials

9 In the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and those who came from the cities of Judah proclaimed a fast before the LORD.

10 Then Baruch read Jeremiah’s words from the scroll in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper courtyard at the New Gate of the LORD’s house, in the hearing of all the people.

11 When Micaiah son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll,

12 He went down to the king’s house, to the secretary’s chamber. All the officials were sitting there, Elishama the secretary, 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 he had heard when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people.

14 Then all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Bring the scroll you read to the people and come.”

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

16 When they heard all these words, they turned to one another in fear and said to Baruch, “We must surely report all these words to the king.”

17 They asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you write all these words, Was it at Jeremiah’s dictation?”

18 Baruch answered, “He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them in ink on the scroll.”

19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must hide and tell no one where you are.”

The Scroll Is Read to the King

20 They went to the king in the courtyard and stored the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the secretary, and they reported everything to the king.

21 The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and Jehudi brought it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary. Jehudi read it to the king and to all the officials standing beside him.

22 It was the ninth month, and the king was sitting in his winter palace with a fire burning in the firepot before him.

23 Whenever Jehudi read three or four columns, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, Until the entire scroll was burned in the fire.

24 Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words showed no fear and did not tear their clothes.

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

God’s Judgment on the King

26 Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD hid them.

27 After the king burned the scroll and the words Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

28 “Take another scroll and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned.”

29 “And say to Jehoiakim king of Judah: This is what the LORD says: You burned that scroll and said, ‘Why did you write that the king of Babylon will surely come and destroy this land and wipe out people and animals from it?’”

30 “Therefore this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on the throne of David. His dead body will be thrown out, exposed to the heat by day and the frost by night.”

31 “I will punish him, his descendants, and his servants for their wrongdoing. I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the people of Judah All the disaster I warned them about, because they did not listen.”

The Scroll Is Rewritten

32 So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah the scribe. At Jeremiah’s dictation, Baruch 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.