Jeremiah 34-36

New King James Version

Zedekiah Warned by God

34 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, ^(A)when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, ^(B)all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem and all its cities, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Go and ^(C)speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, ^(D)I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. ³ And ^(E)you shall not escape from his hand, but shall surely be taken and delivered into his hand; your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, he shall speak with you ^(F)face^[a] to face, and you shall go to Babylon.’ ” ’ ⁴ Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the Lord concerning you: ‘You shall not die by the sword. ⁵ You shall die in peace; as in ^(G)the ceremonies of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, ^(H)so they shall burn incense for you and ^(I)lament for you, saying, “Alas, lord!” For I have pronounced the word, says the Lord.’ ”

⁶ Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, ⁷ when the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and Azekah; for only ^(J)these fortified cities remained of the cities of Judah.

Treacherous Treatment of Slaves

⁸ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem to proclaim ^(K)liberty to them: ^9 (L)that every man should set free his male and female slave—a Hebrew man or woman—^(M)that no one should keep a Jewish brother in bondage. ¹⁰ Now when all the princes and all the people, who had entered into the covenant, heard that everyone should set free his male and female slaves, that no one should keep them in bondage anymore, they obeyed and let them go. ¹¹ But afterward they changed their minds and made the male and female slaves return, whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as male and female slaves.

¹² Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ¹³ “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I made a ^(N)covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying, ¹⁴ “At the end of ^(O)seven years let every man set free his Hebrew brother, who ^[b]has been sold to him; and when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you.” But your fathers did not obey Me nor incline their ear. ¹⁵ Then you ^[c]recently turned and did what was right in My sight—every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor; and you ^(P)made a covenant before Me ^(Q)in the house which is called by My name. ¹⁶ Then you turned around and ^(R)profaned My name, and every one of you brought back his male and female slaves, whom you had set at liberty, at their pleasure, and brought them back into subjection, to be your male and female slaves.’

¹⁷ “Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and every one to his neighbor. ^(S)Behold, I proclaim liberty to you,’ says the Lord—^(T)‘to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine! And I will deliver you to ^(U)trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth. ¹⁸ And I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when ^(V)they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it— ¹⁹ the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the ^[d]eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf— ²⁰ I will ^(W)give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their ^(X)dead bodies shall be for meat for the birds of the heaven and the beasts of the earth. ²¹ And I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army ^(Y)which has gone back from you. ^22 (Z)Behold, I will command,’ says the Lord, ‘and cause them to return to this city. They will fight against it ^(AA)and take it and burn it with fire; and ^(AB)I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.’ ”

The Obedient Rechabites

35 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, ² “Go to the house of the ^(AC)Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of ^(AD)the chambers, and give them wine to drink.”

³ Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, his brothers and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites, ⁴ and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, ^(AE)the keeper of the ^[e]door. ⁵ Then I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine.”

⁶ But they said, “We will drink no wine, for ^(AF)Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink ^(AG)no wine, you nor your sons, forever. ⁷ You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, nor have any of these; but all your days you shall dwell in tents, ^(AH)that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners.’ ⁸ Thus we have ^(AI)obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, ⁹ nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; nor do we have vineyard, field, or seed. ¹⁰ But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. ¹¹ But it came to pass, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, ‘Come, let us ^(AJ)go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and for fear of the army of the Syrians.’ So we dwell at Jerusalem.”

¹² Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, saying, ¹³ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not ^(AK)receive instruction to ^[f]obey My words?” says the Lord. ¹⁴ “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; for to this day they drink none, and obey their father’s commandment. ^(AL)But although I have spoken to you, ^(AM)rising early and speaking, you did not ^[g]obey Me. ¹⁵ I have also sent to you all My ^(AN)servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ^(AO)‘Turn now everyone from his evil way, amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them; then you will ^(AP)dwell in the land which I have given you and your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear, nor obeyed Me. ¹⁶ Surely the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their ^(AQ)father, which he commanded them, but this people has not obeyed Me.” ’

¹⁷ “Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the doom that I have pronounced against them; ^(AR)because I have spoken to them but they have not heard, and I have called to them but they have not answered.’ ”

¹⁸ And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts and done according to all that he commanded you, ¹⁹ therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to ^(AS)stand before Me forever.” ’ ”

The Scroll Read in the Temple

36 Now it came to pass in the ^(AT)fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: ² “Take a ^(AU)scroll of a book and ^(AV)write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, against Judah, and against ^(AW)all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of ^(AX)Josiah even to this day. ³ It ^(AY)may be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities which I purpose to bring upon them, that everyone may ^(AZ)turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

⁴ Then Jeremiah ^(BA)called Baruch the son of Neriah; and ^(BB)Baruch wrote on a scroll of a book, ^[h]at the instruction of Jeremiah, all the words of the Lord which He had spoken to him. ⁵ And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am confined, I cannot go into the house of the Lord. ⁶ You go, therefore, and read from the scroll which you have written ^[i]at my instruction, the words of the Lord, in the hearing of the people in the Lord’s house on ^(BC)the day of fasting. And you shall also read them in the hearing of all Judah who come from their cities. ⁷ It may be that they will present their supplication before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way. For great is the anger and the fury that the Lord has pronounced against this people.” ⁸ And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.

⁹ Now it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem. ¹⁰ Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court at the ^(BD)entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house, in the ^[j]hearing of all the people.

The Scroll Read in the Palace

¹¹ When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the book, ¹² he then went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber; and there all the princes were sitting—^(BE)Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, ^(BF)Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. ¹³ Then Michaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read the book in the hearing of the people. ¹⁴ Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. ¹⁵ And they said to him, “Sit down now, and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing.

¹⁶ Now it happened, when they had heard all the words, that they looked in fear from one to another, and said to Baruch, “We will surely tell the king of all these words.” ¹⁷ And they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words—^[k]at his instruction?”

¹⁸ So Baruch answered them, “He proclaimed with his mouth all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink in the book.”

¹⁹ Then the princes said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah; and let no one know where you are.”

The King Destroys Jeremiah’s Scroll

²⁰ And they went to the king, into the court; but they stored the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the hearing of the king. ²¹ So the king sent Jehudi to bring the scroll, and he took it from Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king. ²² Now the king was sitting in ^(BG)the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning on the hearth before him. ²³ And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four columns, that the king cut it with the scribe’s knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. ²⁴ Yet they were ^(BH)not afraid, nor did they ^(BI)tear their garments, the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words. ²⁵ Nevertheless Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah implored the king not to burn the scroll; but he would not listen to them. ²⁶ And the king commanded Jerahmeel ^[l]the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.

Jeremiah Rewrites the Scroll

²⁷ Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words which Baruch had written ^[m]at the instruction of Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: ²⁸ “Take yet another scroll, and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. ²⁹ And you shall say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, ‘Thus says the Lord: “You have burned this scroll, saying, ^(BJ)‘Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and cause man and beast to ^(BK)cease from here?’ ” ³⁰ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: ^(BL)“He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be ^(BM)cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. ³¹ I will punish him, his ^[n]family, and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the doom that I have pronounced against them; but they did not heed.” ’ ”

³² Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it ^[o]at the instruction of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And besides, there were added to them many similar words.