King Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah's First Scroll
1 During the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, 2 since the time Josiah was king, I have been speaking to you about Israel, Judah, and the other nations. Now, get a scroll and write down everything I have told you, 3 then read it to the people of Judah. Maybe they will stop sinning when they hear what terrible things I plan for them. And if they turn back to me, I will forgive them.”
4 I sent for Baruch son of Neriah and asked him to help me. I repeated everything the Lord had told me, and Baruch wrote it all down on a scroll. 5 Then I said,
Baruch, the officials refuse to let me go into the Lord's temple, 6 so you must go instead. Wait for the next holy day when the people of Judah come to the temple to pray and to go without eating. Then take this scroll to the temple and read it aloud. 7 The Lord is furious, and if the people hear how he is going to punish them, maybe they will ask to be forgiven.
8-10 In the ninth month of the fifth year that Jehoiakim was king, the leaders set a day when everyone who lived in Jerusalem or who was visiting there had to pray and go without eating. So Baruch took the scroll to the upper courtyard of the temple. He went over to the side of the courtyard and stood in a covered area near New Gate, where he read the scroll aloud.
This covered area belonged to Gemariah, one of the king's highest officials. 11 Gemariah's son Micaiah was there and heard Baruch read what the Lord had said. 12 When Baruch finished reading, Micaiah went down to the palace. His father Gemariah was in the officials' room, meeting with the rest of the king's officials, including Elishama, Delaiah, Elnathan, and Zedekiah. 13 Micaiah told them what he had heard Baruch read to the people. 14 Then the officials sent Jehudi and Shelemiah to tell Baruch, “Bring us that scroll.”
When Baruch arrived with the scroll, 15 the officials said, “Please sit down and read it to us,” which he did. 16 After they heard what was written on the scroll, they were worried and said to each other, “The king needs to hear this!” Turning to Baruch, they asked, 17 “Did someone tell you what to write on this scroll?”
18 “Yes, Jeremiah did,” Baruch replied. “I wrote down just what he told me.”
19 The officials said, “You and Jeremiah must go into hiding, and don't tell anyone where you are going.”
20-22 The officials put the scroll in Elishama's room and went to see the king, who was in one of the rooms where he lived and worked during the winter. It was the ninth month of the year, so there was a fire burning in the fireplace, and the king was sitting nearby. After the officials told the king about the scroll, he sent Jehudi to get it. Then Jehudi started reading the scroll to the king and his officials. 23-25 But every time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king would tell him to cut them off with his penknife and throw them in the fire. Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the scroll, but he ignored them, and soon there was nothing left of it.
The king and his servants listened to what was written on the scroll, but they were not the least bit afraid, and they did not tear their clothes in sorrow.
26 The king told his son Jerahmeel to take Seraiah and Shelemiah and to go arrest Baruch and me. But the Lord kept them from finding us.
Jeremiah's Second Scroll
27 I had told Baruch what to write on that first scroll, but King Jehoiakim had burned it. So the Lord told me 28 to get another scroll and write down everything that had been on the first one. 29 Then he told me to say to King Jehoiakim:
Not only did you burn Jeremiah's scroll, you had the nerve to ask why he had written that the king of Babylonia would attack and ruin the land, killing all the people and even the animals. 30 So I, the Lord, promise that you will be killed and your body thrown out on the ground. The sun will beat down on it during the day, and the frost will settle on it at night. And none of your descendants will ever be king of Judah. 31 You, your children, and your servants are evil, and I will punish everyone of you. I warned you and the people of Judah and Jerusalem that I would bring disaster, but none of you have listened. So now you are doomed!
32 After the Lord finished speaking to me, I got another scroll and gave it to Baruch. Then I told him what to write, so this second scroll would contain even more than was on the scroll Jehoiakim had burned.
Baruch Reads the Scroll in the Temple
1 In the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, 2 “Get a scroll and write on it everything that I have told you about Israel and Judah and all the nations. Write everything that I have told you from the time I first spoke to you, when Josiah was king, up to the present. 3 Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about all the destruction that I intend to bring on them, they will turn from their evil ways. Then I will forgive their wickedness and their sins.”
4 So I called Baruch son of Neriah and dictated to him everything that the Lord had said to me. And Baruch wrote it all down on a scroll. 5 Then I gave Baruch the following instructions: “I am no longer allowed to go into the Temple. 6 But I want you to go there the next time the people are fasting. You are to read the scroll aloud, so that they will hear everything that the Lord has said to me and that I have dictated to you. Do this where everyone can hear you, including the people of Judah who have come in from their towns. 7 Perhaps they will pray to the Lord and turn from their evil ways, because the Lord has threatened this people with his terrible anger and fury.” 8 So Baruch read the Lord's words in the Temple exactly as I had told him to do.
9 In the ninth month of the fifth year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah, the people fasted to gain the Lord's favor. The fast was kept by all who lived in Jerusalem and by all who came there from the towns of Judah. 10 Then, while all the people were listening, Baruch read from the scroll everything that I had said. He did this in the Temple, from the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan, the court secretary. His room was in the upper court near the entrance of the New Gate of the Temple.
The Scroll Is Read to the Officials
11 Micaiah, the son of Gemariah and grandson of Shaphan, heard Baruch read from the scroll what the Lord had said. 12 Then he went to the royal palace, to the room of the court secretary, where all the officials were in session. Elishama, the court secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials were there. 13 Micaiah told them everything that he had heard Baruch read to the people. 14 Then the officials sent Jehudi (the son of Nethaniah, grandson of Shelemiah, and great-grandson of Cushi) to tell Baruch to bring the scroll that he had read to the people. Baruch brought them the scroll. 15 “Sit down,” they said, “and read the scroll to us.” So Baruch did. 16 After he had read it, they turned to one another in alarm and said to Baruch, “We must report this to the king.” 17 Then they asked him, “Tell us, now, how did you come to write all this? Did Jeremiah dictate it to you?”
18 Baruch answered, “Jeremiah dictated every word of it to me, and I wrote it down in ink on this scroll.”
19 Then they told him, “You and Jeremiah must go and hide. Don't let anyone know where you are.”
The King Burns the Scroll
20 The officials put the scroll in the room of Elishama, the court secretary, and went to the king's court, where they reported everything to the king. 21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. He took it from the room of Elishama and read it to the king and all the officials who were standing around him. 22 It was winter and the king was sitting in his winter palace in front of the fire. 23 As soon as Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king cut them off with a small knife and threw them into the fire. He kept doing this until the entire scroll was burned up. 24 But neither the king nor any of his officials who heard all this was afraid or showed any sign of sorrow. 25 Although Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the scroll, he paid no attention to them. 26 Then he ordered Prince Jerahmeel, together with Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to arrest me and my secretary Baruch. But the Lord had hidden us.
Jeremiah Writes Another Scroll
27 After King Jehoiakim had burned the scroll that I had dictated to Baruch, the Lord told me 28 to take another scroll and write on it everything that had been on the first one. 29 The Lord told me to say to the king, “You have burned the scroll, and you have asked Jeremiah why he wrote that the king of Babylonia would come and destroy this land and kill its people and its animals. 30 So now, I, the Lord, say to you, King Jehoiakim, that no descendant of yours will ever rule over David's kingdom. Your corpse will be thrown out where it will be exposed to the sun during the day and to the frost at night. 31 I will punish you, your descendants, and your officials because of the sins all of you commit. Neither you nor the people of Jerusalem and of Judah have paid any attention to my warnings, and so I will bring on all of you the disaster that I have threatened.”
32 Then I took another scroll and gave it to my secretary Baruch, and he wrote down everything that I dictated. He wrote everything that had been on the first scroll and similar messages that I dictated to him.