Jeremiah 36
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Jeremiah Dictates a Scroll
36 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah,(A) king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Take a scroll,(B) and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations from the time I first spoke to you during Josiah’s reign until today. 3 Perhaps when the house of Judah hears about all the disaster I am planning to bring on them, each one of them will turn from his evil way. Then I will forgive their wrongdoing(C) and their sin.”
4 So Jeremiah summoned Baruch(D) son of Neriah. At Jeremiah’s dictation,[a] Baruch wrote on a scroll all the words the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah. 5 Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, “I am restricted;(E) I cannot enter the temple of the Lord, 6 so you must go and read from the scroll—which you wrote at my dictation[b]—the words of the Lord in the hearing of the people at the temple of the Lord on a day of fasting. You must also read them in the hearing of all the Judeans who are coming from their cities. 7 Perhaps their petition will come before the Lord,(F) and each one will turn from his evil way, for the anger and fury that the Lord has pronounced against this people are great.” 8 So Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet had commanded him. At the Lord’s temple he read the Lord’s words from the scroll.
Baruch Reads the Scroll
9 In the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month,(G) all the people of Jerusalem and all those coming in from Judah’s cities into Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the Lord.(H) 10 Then at the Lord’s temple, in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe,(I) in the upper courtyard at the opening of the New Gate(J) of the Lord’s temple, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read Jeremiah’s words from the scroll.
11 When Micaiah son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, 12 he went down to the scribe’s chamber in the king’s palace. All the officials were sitting there—Elishama the scribe, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor,(K) Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. 13 Micaiah reported to them all the words he had heard when Baruch read from the scroll in the hearing of the people. 14 Then all the officials sent word to Baruch through Jehudi son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi, saying, “Bring the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll and went to them. 15 They said to him, “Sit down and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing.
16 When they had heard all the words, they turned to each other in fear and said to Baruch, “We must surely tell the king all these things.” 17 Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us—how did you write all these words? At his dictation?”[c]
18 Baruch said to them, “At his dictation.[d] He recited all these words to me while I was writing on the scroll in ink.”
Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll
19 The officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must hide yourselves and tell no one where you are.” 20 Then they came to the king at the courtyard, having deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and reported everything in the hearing of the king. 21 The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi then read it in the hearing of the king and all the officials who were standing by the king. 22 Since it was the ninth month, the king was sitting in his winter quarters(L) with a fire burning in front of him. 23 As soon as Jehudi would read three or four columns, Jehoiakim would cut the scroll[e] with a scribe’s knife and throw the columns into the blazing fire until the entire scroll was consumed by the fire in the brazier. 24 As they heard all these words, the king and all of his servants did not become terrified(M) or tear their garments. 25 Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah had urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26 Then the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord had hidden them.
Jeremiah Dictates Another Scroll
27 After the king had burned the scroll with the words Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation,[f] the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 28 “Take another scroll, and once again write on it the very words that were on the original scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned. 29 You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: This is what the Lord says: You have burned the scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written on it:(N) The king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and cause it to be without man or beast?’ 30 Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on David’s throne, and his corpse will be thrown out to be exposed to the heat of day and the frost of night.(O) 31 I will punish him, his descendants, and his officers for their wrongdoing. I will bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the disaster, which I warned them about but they did not listen.”
32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it at Jeremiah’s dictation[g] all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim,(P) Judah’s king, had burned in the fire. And many other words like them were added.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 36:4 Lit From Jeremiah’s mouth
- Jeremiah 36:6 Lit wrote from my mouth
- Jeremiah 36:17 Lit From his mouth
- Jeremiah 36:18 Lit From his mouth
- Jeremiah 36:23 Lit columns, he would tear it
- Jeremiah 36:27 Lit written from Jeremiah’s mouth
- Jeremiah 36:32 Lit it from Jeremiah’s mouth
Jeremiah 36
Common English Bible
Enduring word of God
36 In the fourth year of Judah’s King Jehoiakim, Josiah’s son, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 Take 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. 3 Perhaps 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. 4 So 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. 5 Then Jeremiah told Baruch, “I’m confined here and can’t go to the Lord’s temple. 6 So 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. 7 If they turn from their evil ways, perhaps the Lord will hear their prayers. The Lord has threatened them with fierce anger.” 8 Baruch, Neriah’s son, did everything the prophet Jeremiah instructed him: he read all the Lord’s words from the scroll in the temple.
9 In 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. 10 Then 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. 11 When Micaiah, Gemariah’s son and Shaphan’s grandson, heard all the Lord’s words from the scroll, 12 he 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. 13 Micaiah told them all the words he heard Baruch read from the scroll before the people.
14 Then 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. 15 They said to him, “Sit down and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them. 16 When they heard all its words, they were alarmed and said to Baruch: “We must at once report all this to the king!” 17 Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you write all these words? Did they come from Jeremiah?”
18 Baruch replied, “He dictated all the words to me, and I wrote them with ink in the scroll.”
19 The officials then said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah had better go and hide. And don’t let anyone know where you are.”
20 After leaving the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe, they went to the king’s court and told him everything. 21 The 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. 22 Now it was the ninth month,[a] and the king was staying in the winterized part of the palace with the firepot burning near him. 23 And 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. 24 Neither the king nor any of his attendants who heard all these words were alarmed or tore their clothes. 25 Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the scroll, but he wouldn’t listen to them.
26 The 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.
27 The Lord’s word came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll containing the words written by Baruch at Jeremiah’s dictation: 28 Get another scroll and write in it all the words that were in the first scroll that Judah’s King Jehoiakim burned. 29 Then 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. 30 Therefore, 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. 31 I 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.
32 So 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.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 36:22 November–December, Kislev
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible