¹² And I gave the deed of purchase to ^(A)Baruch the son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my cousin, in the presence of ^(B)the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in ^(C)the court of the guard.

⁵⁹ The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah ^(A)the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, ^(B)in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was the quartermaster.

Jeremiah Prays for Understanding

¹⁶ “After I had given the deed of purchase to ^(A)Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying:

²⁶ And the king commanded Jerahmeel the ^(A)king's son and Seraiah the son of Azriel and ^(B)Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize ^(C)Baruch the secretary and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.

⁴ Then Jeremiah called ^(A)Baruch the son of Neriah, and ^(B)Baruch wrote on ^(C)a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord that he had spoken to him. ⁵ And Jeremiah ordered ^(D)Baruch, saying, ^(E)“I am banned from going to the house of the Lord,

²¹ for ^(A)we aim at what is honorable ^(B)not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of man.

Message to Baruch

45 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to ^(A)Baruch the son of Neriah, ^(B)when he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, ^(C)in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: ² “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: ³ You said, ^(D)‘Woe is me! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain. ^(E)I am weary with my groaning, ^(F)and I find no rest.’ ⁴ Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord: ^(G)Behold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up—that is, the whole land. ⁵ And ^(H)do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, ^(I)I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the Lord. But I will give you ^(J)your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.”

³ but ^(A)Baruch the son of Neriah ^(B)has set you against us, ^(C)to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may kill us or take us into exile in Babylon.” ⁴ So ^(D)Johanan the son of Kareah and all ^(E)the commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah. ⁵ But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took ^(F)all the remnant of Judah who had returned to live in the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been driven— ^6 (G)the men, the women, the children, ^(H)the princesses, and every person whom ^(I)Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with ^(J)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan; also Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah.

³² Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to ^(A)Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who ^(B)wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.