Jeremiah 36
36
Baruch Reads the Lord’s Messages
1During the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king in Judah,#36:1 The fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign was 605 b.c. the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah: 2“Get a scroll, and write down all my messages against Israel, Judah, and the other nations. Begin with the first message back in the days of Josiah, and write down every message, right up to the present time. 3Perhaps the people of Judah will repent when they hear again all the terrible things I have planned for them. Then I will be able to forgive their sins and wrongdoings.”
4So Jeremiah sent for Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated all the prophecies that the Lord had given him, Baruch wrote them on a scroll. 5Then Jeremiah said to Baruch, “I am a prisoner here and unable to go to the Temple. 6So you go to the Temple on the next day of fasting, and read the messages from the Lord that I have had you write on this scroll. Read them so the people who are there from all over Judah will hear them. 7Perhaps even yet they will turn from their evil ways and ask the Lord’s forgiveness before it is too late. For the Lord has threatened them with his terrible anger.”
8Baruch did as Jeremiah told him and read these messages from the Lord to the people at the Temple. 9He did this on a day of sacred fasting held in late autumn,#36:9 Hebrew in the ninth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar (also in 36:22). The ninth month in the fifth year of Jehoiakim’s reign occurred within the months of November and December 604 b.c. Also see note on 1:3. during the fifth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah. People from all over Judah had come to Jerusalem to attend the services at the Temple on that day. 10Baruch read Jeremiah’s words on the scroll to all the people. He stood in front of the Temple room of Gemariah, son of Shaphan the secretary. This room was just off the upper courtyard of the Temple, near the New Gate entrance.
11When Micaiah son of Gemariah and grandson of Shaphan heard the messages from the Lord, 12he went down to the secretary’s room in the palace where the administrative officials were meeting. Elishama the secretary was there, along with Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Acbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. 13When Micaiah told them about the messages Baruch was reading to the people, 14the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, grandson of Shelemiah and great-grandson of Cushi, to ask Baruch to come and read the messages to them, too. So Baruch took the scroll and went to them. 15“Sit down and read the scroll to us,” the officials said, and Baruch did as they requested.
16When they heard all the messages, they looked at one another in alarm. “We must tell the king what we have heard,” they said to Baruch. 17“But first, tell us how you got these messages. Did they come directly from Jeremiah?”
18So Baruch explained, “Jeremiah dictated them, and I wrote them down in ink, word for word, on this scroll.”
19“You and Jeremiah should both hide,” the officials told Baruch. “Don’t tell anyone where you are!” 20Then the officials left the scroll for safekeeping in the room of Elishama the secretary and went to tell the king what had happened.
King Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll
21The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. Jehudi brought it from Elishama’s room and read it to the king as all his officials stood by. 22It was late autumn, and the king was in a winterized part of the palace, sitting in front of a fire to keep warm. 23Each time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king took a knife and cut off that section of the scroll. He then threw it into the fire, section by section, until the whole scroll was burned up. 24Neither the king nor his attendants showed any signs of fear or repentance at what they heard. 25Even when Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the scroll, he wouldn’t listen.
26Then the king commanded his son Jerahmeel, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch and Jeremiah. But the Lord had hidden them.
Jeremiah Rewrites the Scroll
27After the king had burned the scroll on which Baruch had written Jeremiah’s words, the Lord gave Jeremiah another message. He said, 28“Get another scroll, and write everything again just as you did on the scroll King Jehoiakim burned. 29Then say to the king, ‘This is what the Lord says: You burned the scroll because it said the king of Babylon would destroy this land and empty it of people and animals. 30Now this is what the Lord says about King Jehoiakim of Judah: He will have no heirs to sit on the throne of David. His dead body will be thrown out to lie unburied—exposed to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. 31I will punish him and his family and his attendants for their sins. I will pour out on them and on all the people of Jerusalem and Judah all the disasters I promised, for they would not listen to my warnings.’”
32So Jeremiah took another scroll and dictated again to his secretary, Baruch. He wrote everything that had been on the scroll King Jehoiakim had burned in the fire. Only this time he added much more!
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Jeremiah 36: NLT
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Jeremiah 36
36
Enduring word of God
1In the fourth year of Judah’s King Jehoiakim, Josiah’s son, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2Take a scroll and write in it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations from the time of Josiah until today. 3Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I intend to bring upon them, they will turn from their evil ways, and I will forgive their wrongdoing and sins. 4So Jeremiah sent for Baruch, Neriah’s son. As Jeremiah dictated all the words that the LORD had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them in the scroll. 5Then Jeremiah told Baruch, “I’m confined here and can’t go to the LORD’s temple. 6So you go to the temple on the next day of fasting, and read the LORD’s words from the scroll that I have dictated to you. Read them so that all the people in the temple can hear them, as well as all the Judeans who have come from their towns. 7If they turn from their evil ways, perhaps the LORD will hear their prayers. The LORD has threatened them with fierce anger.” 8Baruch, Neriah’s son, did everything the prophet Jeremiah instructed him: he read all the LORD’s words from the scroll in the temple.
9In the ninth month of the fifth year of Judah’s King Jehoiakim, Josiah’s son, all the people in Jerusalem and all those who had come from Judean towns observed a fast for the LORD in Jerusalem. 10Then Baruch read Jeremiah’s words from the scroll to all the people in the LORD’s temple; he read them in the chamber of Gemariah, Shaphan the scribe’s son, in the upper courtyard near the entrance of the New Gate of the LORD’s temple. 11When Micaiah, Gemariah’s son and Shaphan’s grandson, heard all the LORD’s words from the scroll, 12he went down to the scribes’ chamber in the royal palace. There he found all the officials meeting together: Elishama the scribe; Delaiah, Shemaiah’s son; Elnathan, Achbor’s son; Gemariah, Shaphan’s son; Zedekiah, Hananiah’s son, and all the other officials. 13Micaiah told them all the words he heard Baruch read from the scroll before the people.
14Then all the officials sent Jehudi, Nethaniah’s son and Shelemiah’s grandson, and Cushi’s great-grandson, to Baruch: “Take the scroll you read to the people and come with me.”
So Baruch, Neriah’s son, took the scroll and went to the officials. 15They said to him, “Sit down and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them. 16When they heard all its words, they were alarmed and said to Baruch: “We must at once report all this to the king!” 17Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you write all these words? Did they come from Jeremiah?”
18Baruch replied, “He dictated all the words to me, and I wrote them with ink in the scroll.”
19The officials then said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah had better go and hide. And don’t let anyone know where you are.”
20After leaving the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe, they went to the king’s court and told him everything. 21The king sent Jehudi to take the scroll, and he retrieved it from the room of Elishama the scribe. Then Jehudi read it to the king and all his royal officials who were standing next to the king. 22Now it was the ninth month,#36.22 November–December, Kislev and the king was staying in the winterized part of the palace with the firepot burning near him. 23And whenever Jehudi read three or four columns of the scroll, the king would cut them off with a scribe’s knife and throw them into the firepot until the whole scroll was burned up. 24Neither the king nor any of his attendants who heard all these words were alarmed or tore their clothes. 25Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the scroll, but he wouldn’t listen to them.
26The king commanded Jerahmeel, the king’s son, along with Seraiah, Azriel’s son, and Shelemiah, Abdeel’s son, to arrest the scribe Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah. But the LORD hid them.
27The LORD’s word came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll containing the words written by Baruch at Jeremiah’s dictation: 28Get another scroll and write in it all the words that were in the first scroll that Judah’s King Jehoiakim burned. 29Then say to Judah’s King Jehoiakim: The LORD proclaims: You burned that scroll because it declared that the king of Babylon will come and destroy this land and eliminate every sign of life from it. 30Therefore, this is what the LORD proclaims about Judah’s King Jehoiakim: He won’t have any heirs to occupy the throne of David, and his dead body will be cast out and exposed to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. 31I will punish him and his family and his attendants for their wrongdoing. I will bring upon them, as well as the residents of Jerusalem and the people of Judah, every disaster I pronounced against them. But they wouldn’t listen.
32So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch, Neriah’s son, who wrote at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words in the scroll burned in the fire by Judah’s King Jehoiakim. Many similar words were added to them.
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