26 At the beginning of the reign of Y’hoyakim the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Y’hudah, this word came from Adonai: ² “Adonai says: ‘Stand in the courtyard of Adonai’s house and speak to the people from all the cities in Y’hudah who come to worship at Adonai’s house; say everything I order you to say to them, and don’t leave out a word. ³ Maybe they will listen, and each of them turn from his evil way; then I will be able to relent from the disaster I intend to bring on them because of how evil their deeds are. ⁴ So tell them that this is what Adonai says: “If you will not pay attention to me and live according to my Torah, which I have given you, ⁵ and listen to what my servants the prophets, whom I send to you, say — I have sent them frequently, but you haven’t listened — ⁶ then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city an object of cursing for all the nations of the earth.”’”

⁷ The cohanim, the prophets and all the people heard Yirmeyahu speaking these words in the house of Adonai. ⁸ When Yirmeyahu had finished saying everything Adonai had ordered him to say to all the people, the cohanim, prophets and all the people seized him, shouting, “You will die for this! ⁹ Why have you prophesied in the name of Adonai, ‘This house will become like Shiloh,’ and, ‘This city will become uninhabited ruins’?” The people all crowded in on Yirmeyahu in Adonai’s house.

¹⁰ When the officials of Y’hudah heard about it, they came up from the king’s palace to Adonai’s house and sat at the entrance to the New Gate of Adonai’s house. ¹¹ The cohanim and prophets said to the officials and all the people, “This man deserves a death sentence, because he has prophesied against this city; you have heard it with your own ears.” ¹² Then Yirmeyahu said to the officials and all the people, “Adonai sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words you have heard. ¹³ Therefore now, improve your ways and your doings; and listen to the voice of Adonai your God; then Adonai will relent from the disaster he has decreed against you. ¹⁴ But as for me, here, I am in your hands; do with me whatever seems good and right to you. ¹⁵ Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city and on its inhabitants; because the fact is that Adonai sent me to you to speak all these words, so that you could hear them.”

¹⁶ The officials and all the people then said to the cohanim and prophets, “This man does not deserve a death sentence, because he has spoken to us in the name of Adonai our God.” ¹⁷ At this point some of the leaders of the land stood up and addressed all the people assembled: ¹⁸ “Back in the time of Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah, Mikhah from Moreshet was a prophet. He told all the people of Y’hudah, ‘Adonai-Tzva’ot says,

¹⁹ “Did Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah and all Y’hudah put him to death? Not at all. Rather, he feared Adonai, and prayed for Adonai’s favor; and Adonai relented from the disaster he had pronounced against them. So [if we put Yirmeyahu to death,] we might bring great disaster on ourselves.”

²⁰ On the other hand, there was also a man who prophesied in the name of Adonai, Uriyahu the son of Sh’ma‘yahu from Kiryat-Ye‘arim, who prophesied against this city and against this land exactly what Yirmeyahu is saying. ²¹ When Y’hoyakim the king, with all his military men and other officials, heard what he was saying, the king wanted to have him killed. On hearing of this, Uriyahu became frightened, fled and went to Egypt. ²² Y’hoyakim the king sent men to Egypt — Elnatan the son of ‘Akhbor and some others. ²³ They brought Uriyahu back from Egypt and took him to Y’hoyakim the king, who put him to the sword and threw his corpse into the burial-ground of the common people.

²⁴ But in this situation concerning Yirmeyahu, Achikam the son of Shafan used his influence to help him, so that he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.

35 This word came to Yirmeyahu from Adonai during the time of Y’hoyakim the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Y’hudah: ² “Go to the Rekhavim, speak to them, bring them to one of the rooms in the house of Adonai, and give them some wine to drink.” ³ So I took Ya’azanyah the son of Yirmeyahu, the son of Havatzinyah, and his brothers, all his sons and all the Rekhavim, ⁴ and took them into the house of Adonai, to the room of the sons of Hanan the son of Yigdalyahu, a man of God. It was by the room of the officials, which was above the room of Ma‘aseiyah the son of Shalum, the gatekeeper. ⁵ There I set in front of the members of the clan of the Rekhavim pitchers full of wine and cups, and said to them, “Drink some wine.” ⁶ But they said, “We will not drink any wine; because Yonadav the son of Rekhav, our ancestor, gave us this order: ‘You are not to drink wine, neither you nor your descendants, forever. ⁷ Also you are not to build houses, sow seed, or plant or own vineyards. Rather, you are always to live in tents; so that you may live a long time in the land, in which you are not citizens.’ ⁸ We have heeded the words of Yonadav the son of Rekhav, our ancestor, in all that he instructed us to do: not to drink wine as long as we live — we, our wives, our sons and our daughters; ⁹ not to build houses for ourselves to live in; and not to have vineyards, fields or seed. ¹⁰ We have lived in tents, and we have heeded Yonadav our ancestor and done everything he ordered us to do. ¹¹ But when N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel came up to attack the land, we said, ‘Come, let’s go up to Yerushalayim,’ because we were afraid of the army of the Kasdim and the army of Aram; hence we are living in Yerushalayim.”

¹² Then the word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu: ¹³ “Adonai-Tzva’ot the God of Isra’el says to go to the men of Y’hudah and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim and say: ‘Won’t you ever learn to listen to my words?’ says Adonai. ¹⁴ ‘The words of Yonadav the son of Rekhav which he ordered his offspring, not to drink wine, are obeyed; so to this day they don’t drink any; because they heed their ancestor’s order. But I have spoken to you, spoken frequently, and you have not listened to me. ¹⁵ I have also sent you all my servants the prophets, sent them frequently, with the message, “Every one of you should turn back now from his evil way, improve your actions and not follow other gods in order to serve them. Then you will live in the land I gave you and your ancestors. But you have not paid attention or listened to me. ¹⁶ Because the descendants of Yonadav the son of Rekhav have obeyed the order of their ancestor, which he ordered them; but this people has not listened to me; ¹⁷ therefore — ” here is what Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: “I will inflict on Y’hudah and all the inhabitants of Yerushalayim all the disaster I have decreed against them; because I have spoken to them, but they have not listened; and I have called out to them, but they have not answered.”’”

¹⁸ Then to the clan of the Rekhavim Yirmeyahu said, “Here is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘Because you have heeded the order of Yonadav your ancestor, observed all his commands and done what he ordered you to do; ¹⁹ therefore Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says this: “Yonadav the son of Rekhav will never lack a descendant to stand before me.”’”

36 In the fourth year of Y’hoyakim the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Y’hudah, this word came to Yirmeyahu from Adonai: ² “Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you against Isra’el, Y’hudah and all the other nations, from the day I started speaking to you, back in the time of Yoshiyahu, until today. ³ Perhaps the house of Y’hudah will listen to all the disaster I intend to bring on them, and turn back, each person from his evil way; then I will forgive their wickedness and sin.”

⁴ So Yirmeyahu summoned Barukh the son of Neriyah; and Barukh wrote down on a scroll, at Yirmeyahu’s dictation, all the words that Adonai had said to him. ⁵ Then Yirmeyahu gave this order to Barukh: “I am not allowed to enter the house of Adonai. ⁶ Therefore, you take the scroll which you wrote at my dictation, go into the house of Adonai on a fast-day, and read from it the words of Adonai in the hearing of the people; also read them to all Y’hudah as they exit their cities. ⁷ Perhaps they will turn to Adonai in prayer and will return, each one, from his evil way. For the anger and fury which Adonai has decreed against this people is great.”

⁸ Barukh the son of Neriyah obeyed everything Yirmeyahu the prophet ordered him to do, reading the words of Adonai from the scroll in Adonai’s house. ⁹ A fast was proclaimed in the ninth month of the fifth year of Y’hoyakim the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Y’hudah, for all the people in Yerushalayim and all the people who came from the cities of Y’hudah to Yerushalayim. ¹⁰ It was then that Barukh read from the scroll the words of Yirmeyahu in the house of Adonai, in the chamber of G’maryahu the son of Shafan the secretary, in the upper courtyard, at the entry to the New Gate of Adonai’s house, for all the people to hear. ¹¹ When Mikhay’hu the son of G’maryahu, the son of Shafan, had heard from the scroll all the words of Adonai, ¹² he went down to the king’s palace, into the secretary’s room. All the officials were there — Elishama the secretary, D’layahu the son of Sh’ma‘yahu, Elnatan the son of ‘Akhbor, G’maryah the son of Shafan, Tzidkiyahu the son of Hananyahu and all the [other] officials. ¹³ Mikhay’hu told them all the words he had heard when Barukh read the scroll in the people’s hearing; ¹⁴ whereupon all the officials sent Y’hudi the son of N’tanyahu, the son of Shelemyahu, the son of Kushi, to Barukh to say, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Barukh the son of Neriyah took the scroll in his hand and went to them. ¹⁵ They said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.” Barukh read it to them. ¹⁶ After they had heard all the words, they turned in fear to each other and said to Barukh, “We will certainly tell the king about all these words.” ¹⁷ Then they asked Barukh, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words? At his dictation?” ¹⁸ Barukh answered them, “He said all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the scroll.” ¹⁹ At this, the officials said to Barukh, “Go and hide yourselves, you and Yirmeyahu; don’t let anyone know where you are.” ²⁰ After depositing the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, they went in to the courtyard and told everything to the king.

²¹ The king sent Y’hudi to bring the scroll, and he took it from the room of Elishama the secretary. Y’hudi read it to the king and all the officials standing near the king. ²² The king was sitting in his winter house; and since it was the ninth month, he had a fire burning in the stove in front of him. ²³ After Y’hudi had read three or four columns from the scroll, he would cut off that portion with a knife and throw it into the fire that was burning in the stove, until the entire scroll had been consumed by the fire in the stove. ²⁴ But even though they heard all these words, neither the king nor any of his servants grew afraid or tore their clothes. ²⁵ Elnatan, D’layahu and G’maryahu had begged the king not to burn the scroll; but he wouldn’t listen to them. ²⁶ Then the king ordered Yerachme’el the king’s son, S’rayahu the son of ‘Azri’el and Shelemyahu the son of ‘Avde’el to arrest Barukh the scribe and Yirmeyahu the prophet; but Adonai hid them.

²⁷ Then this word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu after the king had burned the scroll with the words Barukh had written at Yirmeyahu’s dictation: ²⁸ “Take another scroll, and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, which Y’hoyakim the king of Y’hudah burned up. ²⁹ And as far as Y’hoyakim king of Y’hudah is concerned, you are to say that Adonai says, ‘You burned this scroll, asking, “Why did you write in it that the king of Bavel will certainly come and destroy this land and leave it without either humans or animals?” ³⁰ Therefore Adonai says this about Y’hoyakim king of Y’hudah: “He will have no one to occupy David’s throne; and his dead body will be thrown out to lie in the heat by day and in the frost by night. ³¹ Moreover, I will punish him, his offspring and his officials for their wickedness; and I will bring on them, the inhabitants of Yerushalayim and the people of Y’hudah all the disaster I have decreed against them, to which they have paid no attention.”’”

³² Then Yirmeyahu took another scroll and gave it to Barukh the scribe, the son of Neriyah. At Yirmeyahu’s dictation he wrote in it all the words of the scroll which Y’hoyakim king of Y’hudah had burned up in the fire, and to those he added many similar words.

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Miryam from Magdala went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ² So she came running to Shim‘on Kefa and the other talmid, the one Yeshua loved, and said to them, “They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him!”

³ Then Kefa and the other talmid started for the tomb. ⁴ They both ran, but the other talmid outran Kefa and reached the tomb first. ⁵ Stooping down, he saw the linen burial-sheets lying there but did not go in. ⁶ Then, following him, Shim‘on Kefa arrived, entered the tomb and saw the burial-sheets lying there, ⁷ also the cloth that had been around his head, lying not with the sheets but in a separate place and still folded up. ⁸ Then the other talmid, who had arrived at the tomb first, also went in; he saw, and he trusted. ⁹ (They had not yet come to understand that the Tanakh teaches that the Messiah has to rise from the dead.)

¹⁰ So the talmidim returned home, ¹¹ but Miryam stood outside crying. As she cried, she bent down, peered into the tomb, ¹² and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Yeshua had been, one at the head and one at the feet. ¹³ “Why are you crying?” they asked her. “They took my Lord,” she said to them, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

¹⁴ As she said this, she turned around and saw Yeshua standing there, but she didn’t know it was he. ¹⁵ Yeshua said to her, “Lady, why are you crying? Whom are you looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you’re the one who carried him away, just tell me where you put him; and I’ll go and get him myself.” ¹⁶ Yeshua said to her, “Miryam!” Turning, she cried out to him in Hebrew, “Rabbani!” (that is, “Teacher!”) ¹⁷ “Stop holding onto me,” Yeshua said to her, “because I haven’t yet gone back to the Father. But go to my brothers, and tell them that I am going back to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” ¹⁸ Miryam of Magdala went to the talmidim with the news that she had seen the Lord and that he had told her this.

¹⁹ In the evening that same day, the first day of the week, when the talmidim were gathered together behind locked doors out of fear of the Judeans, Yeshua came, stood in the middle and said, “Shalom aleikhem!” ²⁰ Having greeted them, he showed them his hands and his side. The talmidim were overjoyed to see the Lord. ²¹ “Shalom aleikhem!” Yeshua repeated. “Just as the Father sent me, I myself am also sending you.” ²² Having said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Ruach HaKodesh! ²³ If you forgive someone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you hold them, they are held.”

²⁴ Now T’oma (the name means “twin”), one of the Twelve, was not with them when Yeshua came. ²⁵ When the other talmidim told him, “We have seen the Lord,” he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger into the place where the nails were and put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe it.”

²⁶ A week later his talmidim were once more in the room, and this time T’oma was with them. Although the doors were locked, Yeshua came, stood among them and said, “Shalom aleikhem!” ²⁷ Then he said to T’oma, “Put your finger here, look at my hands, take your hand and put it into my side. Don’t be lacking in trust, but have trust!” ²⁸ T’oma answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Yeshua said to him, “Have you trusted because you have seen me? How blessed are those who do not see, but trust anyway!”

³⁰ In the presence of the talmidim Yeshua performed many other miracles which have not been recorded in this book. ³¹ But these which have been recorded are here so that you may trust that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by this trust you may have life because of who he is.