The Obedience of the Rechabites

35 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of ^(A)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: ² “Go to the house of the ^(B)Rechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of ^(C)the chambers; then offer them wine to drink.” ³ So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites. ⁴ I brought them to the house of the Lord into ^(D)the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, ^(E)the man of God, which was near ^(F)the chamber of the officials, above ^(G)the chamber of ^(H)Maaseiah the son of Shallum, ^(I)keeper of the threshold. ⁵ Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” ⁶ But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for ^(J)Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. ⁷ You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, ^(K)that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ ⁸ We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, ⁹ and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, ¹⁰ but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. ¹¹ But ^(L)when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of ^(M)the army of the Chaldeans and ^(N)the army of the Syrians.’ ^(O)So we are living in Jerusalem.”

¹² Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ¹³ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ^(P)Will you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the Lord. ¹⁴ The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father's command. I have spoken to you ^(Q)persistently, but you have not listened to me. ¹⁵ I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them ^(R)persistently, saying, ^(S)‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and ^(T)do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ ^(U)But you did not incline your ear or listen to me. ¹⁶ The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. ¹⁷ Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, ^(V)because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, ^(W)I have called to them and they have not answered.”

¹⁸ But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, ¹⁹ therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man ^(X)to stand before me.”

Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah's Scroll

36 In the ^(Y)fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Take ^(Z)a scroll and ^(AA)write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and ^(AB)Judah ^(AC)and all the nations, ^(AD)from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. ^3 (AE)It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, ^(AF)so that every one may turn from his evil way, and ^(AG)that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

⁴ Then Jeremiah called ^(AH)Baruch the son of Neriah, and ^(AI)Baruch wrote on ^(AJ)a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord that he had spoken to him. ⁵ And Jeremiah ordered ^(AK)Baruch, saying, ^(AL)“I am banned from going to the house of the Lord, ⁶ so you are to go, and ^(AM)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 from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the men of Judah who come out of their cities. ^7 (AN)It may be that their plea for mercy will come before the Lord, ^(AO)and that every one will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.” ⁸ And Baruch the son of Neriah did all that Jeremiah the prophet ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the Lord in the Lord's house.

^9 (AP)In the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, ^(AQ)in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem ^(AR)proclaimed a fast before the Lord. ¹⁰ Then, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll, in the house of the Lord, in ^(AS)the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord's house.

¹¹ When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, son of ^(AT)Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, ¹² he went down to the king's house, into the secretary's chamber, and ^(AU)all the officials were sitting there: ^(AV)Elishama the secretary, ^(AW)Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, ^(AX)Elnathan ^(AY)the son of Achbor, ^(AZ)Gemariah the son of ^(BA)Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the officials. ¹³ And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people. ¹⁴ Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, son of ^(BB)Shelemiah, son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Take in your hand the scroll that you 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 and read it.” So Baruch read it to them. ¹⁶ When they heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear. And they said to Baruch, ^(BC)“We must report all these words to the king.” ¹⁷ Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” ¹⁸ Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me, ^(BD)while I wrote them with ink on the scroll.” ¹⁹ Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.”

²⁰ So they went into the court to the king, having put the scroll in ^(BE)the chamber of Elishama the secretary, and they reported all the words to the king. ²¹ Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary. And Jehudi read it to the king and all the officials who stood beside the king. ²² It was ^(BF)the ninth month, and the king was sitting in ^(BG)the winter house, and there was a fire burning in the fire pot before him. ²³ As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a knife and throw them into the fire in the fire pot, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the fire pot. ²⁴ Yet ^(BH)neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was afraid, ^(BI)nor did they tear their garments. ²⁵ Even when ^(BJ)Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah ^(BK)urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. ²⁶ And the king commanded Jerahmeel the ^(BL)king's son and Seraiah the son of Azriel and ^(BM)Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize ^(BN)Baruch the secretary and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.

²⁷ Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah's dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ²⁸ “Take 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 concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord, You have burned this scroll, saying, ^(BO)“Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off from it man and beast?” ³⁰ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: ^(BP)He shall have none ^(BQ)to sit on the throne of David, ^(BR)and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. ^31 (BS)And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the people of Judah all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, but they would not hear.’”

³² Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to ^(BT)Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who ^(BU)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.

The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly

^14 (R)In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, ^(S)so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

¹⁵ In my ^(T)vain^[c] life I have seen everything. There is ^(U)a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who ^(V)prolongs his life in his evildoing. ¹⁶ Be not overly righteous, and do not ^(W)make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? ¹⁷ Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. ^(X)Why should you die before your time? ¹⁸ It is good that you should take hold of ^(Y)this, and from ^(Z)that ^(AA)withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

^19 (AB)Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

²⁰ Surely ^(AC)there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

²¹ Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear ^(AD)your servant cursing you. ²² Your heart knows that ^(AE)many times you yourself have cursed others.

²³ All this I have tested by wisdom. ^(AF)I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. ²⁴ That which has been is far off, and ^(AG)deep, very deep; ^(AH)who can find it out?

^25 (AI)I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. ²⁶ And I find something more ^(AJ)bitter than death: ^(AK)the woman whose heart is ^(AL)snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but ^(AM)the sinner is taken by her. ²⁷ Behold, this is what I found, says ^(AN)the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— ²⁸ which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. ^(AO)One man among a thousand I found, but ^(AP)a woman among all these I have not found. ²⁹ See, this alone I found, that ^(AQ)God made man upright, but ^(AR)they have sought out many schemes.

5 For every high priest chosen from among men ^(A)is appointed to act on behalf of men ^(B)in relation to God, ^(C)to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. ^2 (D)He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself ^(E)is beset with weakness. ³ Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins ^(F)just as he does for those of the people. ⁴ And ^(G)no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, ^(H)just as Aaron was.

⁵ So also Christ ^(I)did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,

⁶ as he says also in another place,

⁷ In the days of his flesh, ^(L)Jesus^[a] offered up prayers and supplications, ^(M)with loud cries and tears, to him ^(N)who was able to save him from death, and ^(O)he was heard because of his reverence. ⁸ Although ^(P)he was a son, ^(Q)he learned obedience through what he suffered. ⁹ And ^(R)being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, ¹⁰ being designated by God a high priest ^(S)after the order of Melchizedek.

Warning Against Apostasy

¹¹ About this we have much to say, and it is ^(T)hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. ¹² For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again ^(U)the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need ^(V)milk, not solid food, ¹³ for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is ^(W)a child. ¹⁴ But solid food is for ^(X)the mature, for those who have their powers ^(Y)of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.