36 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:

² Take a scroll [of parchment] for a book and write on it all the words I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations from the day I spoke to you in the days of [King] Josiah until this day.

³ It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do to them, so that each one may turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.^(A)

⁴ Then Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote upon the scroll of the book all the words which Jeremiah dictated, [words] that the Lord had spoken to him.

⁵ And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am [in hiding, virtually] restrained and shut up; I cannot go into the house of the Lord.

⁶ Therefore you go, and on a day of fasting, in the hearing of all the people in the Lord’s house, you shall read the words of the Lord which you have written on the scroll at my dictation. Also you shall read them in the hearing of all who come out of the cities of Judah.

⁷ It may be that they will make their supplication [for mercy] before the Lord, and each one will turn back from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.

⁸ And Baruch son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from [Jeremiah’s] book the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.

⁹ And in the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, a fast was proclaimed before the Lord for all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came to Jerusalem from the cities of Judah.

¹⁰ Then Baruch read in the hearing of all the people the words of Jeremiah from the scroll of the book in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house.

¹¹ When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the Lord,

¹² He went down to the king’s house into the scribe’s chamber, and behold, all the princes were sitting there: Elishama the scribe, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the [other] princes.

¹³ Then Micaiah 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 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 [to us]. So Baruch 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 when they had heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear and said to Baruch, We must surely tell the king of all these words.

¹⁷ And they asked Baruch, Tell us now, how did you write all these words? At [Jeremiah’s] dictation?

¹⁸ Then Baruch answered them, He dictated 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.

²⁰ Then they went into the court to the king, but they [first] put the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe; then they reported all the words to the king.

²¹ So the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and of all the princes who stood beside the king.

²² Now it was the ninth month, and the king was sitting in the winter house, and a fire was burning there before him in the brazier.

²³ And [each time] when Jehudi had read three or four columns [of the scroll], he [King Jehoiakim] would cut them off with a penknife and cast them into the fire that was in the brazier, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier.

²⁴ Yet they were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments—neither the king, nor any of his servants who heard all these words.

²⁵ Even though Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah tried to persuade the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.

²⁶ And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son and Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.

²⁷ Now the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll with the words which Baruch wrote at the dictation of Jeremiah, [and the Lord] said:

²⁸ Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned.

²⁹ And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, Thus says the Lord: You have burned this scroll, saying, Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon shall surely come and destroy this land and shall cut off man and beast from it?

³⁰ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: ^[a]He shall have no [heir] to sit upon the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and to the frost by night.

³¹ And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the evil that I have pronounced against them—but they would not hear.

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

37 And Zedekiah son of Josiah, whom ^[b]Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of Coniah [also called Jeconiah and Jehoiachin] son of Jehoiakim.

² But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to and obeyed the words of the Lord which He spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.

³ Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah with Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now to the Lord our God for us.

⁴ Now Jeremiah was coming in and going out among the people, for they had not [yet] put him in prison.

⁵ And Pharaoh’s army had come forth out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the news about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem and departed.

⁶ Then came the word of the Lord to the prophet Jeremiah:

⁷ Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which has come forth to help you, will return to Egypt, to their own land.

⁸ And the Chaldeans shall come again and fight against this city, and they shall take it and burn it with fire.

⁹ Thus says the Lord: Do not deceive yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans will surely stay away from us—for they will not stay away.

¹⁰ For though you should defeat the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained only the wounded and men stricken through among them, every man confined to his tent, yet they would rise up and burn this city with fire.

¹¹ And when the army of the Chaldeans had departed from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s approaching army,

¹² Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin [to slip away during the brief lull in the Chaldean invasion] to receive [the title to] his portion [of land, which the Lord had promised would eventually be valuable] there among the people.

¹³ And when he was at the Gate of Benjamin, a sentry was [on guard] there, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, You are deserting to the Chaldeans.

¹⁴ Then said Jeremiah, It is false! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans. But the sentry would not listen to him. So Irijah took Jeremiah and brought him to the princes.

¹⁵ Therefore the princes were enraged with Jeremiah and beat him and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe—for they had made that the prison.

¹⁶ When Jeremiah had come into ^[c]the cells in the dungeon and had remained there many days,

¹⁷ Zedekiah the king sent and brought him out; and the king asked him secretly in his house, Is there any word from the Lord? And Jeremiah said, There is! And he said also, You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.

¹⁸ Moreover, Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, In what have I sinned against you or against your servants or against this people, that you have put me in prison?

¹⁹ Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you or against this land?

²⁰ Therefore hear now, I pray you, O my lord the king. Let my supplication, I pray you, come before you and be acceptable, that you do not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.

²¹ Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guard, and a round loaf of bread from the bakers’ street was given to him daily until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained [imprisoned] in the court of the guard.

38 Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal [also called Jehucal] son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying,

² Thus says the Lord: He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life as his only booty [as a prize of war], and he shall live.^(B)

³ Thus says the Lord: This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.

⁴ Therefore the princes said to the king, We beseech you, let this man [Jeremiah] be put to death; for [talking] thus he weakens the hands of the soldiers who remain in this city and the hands of all the people by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of these people, but [to do them] harm.

⁵ Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hands; for the king is in no position to do anything against you.

⁶ So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon or cistern pit [in the charge] of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard; and they let Jeremiah down [into the pit] with ropes. And in the dungeon or cistern pit there was no water, but only mire, and Jeremiah sank in the mire.

⁷ Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian [a Cushite], one of the eunuchs who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon or cistern pit; and while the king was then sitting in the Gate of Benjamin,

⁸ Ebed-melech went out of the king’s house and spoke to the king, saying,

⁹ My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon or cistern pit; and he is liable to die of hunger and is [as good as] dead in the place where he is, for there is no more bread left in the city.

¹⁰ Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from here thirty men with you and raise Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon or cistern pit before he dies.

¹¹ So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king [to a room] under the treasury, and took along from there old rags and worn-out garments and let them down by ropes into the dungeon or cistern pit to Jeremiah.

¹² And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Put now these old rags and worn-out garments under your armpits under the ropes. And Jeremiah did so.

¹³ So they drew up Jeremiah with the ropes and took him up out of the dungeon or cistern pit; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

¹⁴ Then Zedekiah the king sent and brought Jeremiah the prophet to him into the third entrance that is in the house of the Lord. And the king said to Jeremiah, I am going to ask you something; hide nothing from me.

¹⁵ Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me.

¹⁶ So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, As the Lord lives, Who made our lives, I will not put you to death or give you into the hands of these men who seek your life.

¹⁷ Then said Jeremiah to Zedekiah, Thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will go forth and surrender to the princes of the king of Babylon, then you will live and this city will not be burned with fire; and you will live—you and your house.

¹⁸ But if you will not go forth and surrender to the princes of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given into the hands of the Chaldeans and they will burn it with fire; and you will not escape out of their hands.

¹⁹ And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest the enemy deliver me into their [these former subjects’] hands and they mock me and abuse me.

²⁰ But Jeremiah said, They will not deliver you [to them]. Obey, I beg of you, the voice of the Lord, Who speaks to you through me. Then it will be well with you, and you will live.

²¹ But if you refuse to go forth and surrender to them, this is the word [the vision] that the Lord has shown me:

²² Behold, [in it] all the women who are left in the house of the king of Judah will be brought forth to the king of Babylon’s princes and will say [to you, King Zedekiah], Your friends have prevailed against your better judgment and have deceived you. Now when your feet are sunk in the mire [of trouble], they have turned their backs.

²³ All your wives and your children will be brought out to the Chaldeans; and you [yourself] will not escape out of their hands, but you will be seized by the king of Babylon, and you will cause this city [Jerusalem] to be burned with fire.

²⁴ Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, Let no man know of this conversation and you will not die.

²⁵ But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say, Tell us what you said to the king and what he said to you; hide it not from us and we will not put you to death,

²⁶ Then you shall say to them, I was presenting to the king my humble plea that he would not send me back to Jonathan’s house to die there.

²⁷ Then came all the princes to Jeremiah and asked him [just what King Zedekiah had anticipated they would ask], and he told them all that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him, for what the conversation [with the king] had been was not discovered.

²⁸ So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken [by the Chaldeans].