King Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah's First Scroll

36 ^(A) During the fourth year that Jehoiakim^[a] son of Josiah^[b] was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, ² since the time Josiah was king, I have been speaking to you about Israel, Judah, and the other nations. Now, get a scroll^[c] and write down everything I have told you, ³ then read it to the people of Judah. Maybe they will stop sinning when they hear what terrible things I plan for them. And if they turn back to me, I will forgive them.”

⁴ I sent for Baruch son of Neriah and asked him to help me. I repeated everything the Lord had told me, and Baruch wrote it all down on a scroll. ⁵ Then I said,

Baruch, the officials refuse to let me go into the Lord's temple, ⁶ so you must go instead. Wait for the next holy day when the people of Judah come to the temple to pray and to go without eating.^[d] Then take this scroll to the temple and read it aloud. ⁷ The Lord is furious, and if the people hear how he is going to punish them, maybe they will ask to be forgiven.

^8-10 In the ninth month^[e] of the fifth year that Jehoiakim was king, the leaders set a day when everyone who lived in Jerusalem or who was visiting there had to pray and go without eating. So Baruch took the scroll to the upper courtyard of the temple. He went over to the side of the courtyard and stood in a covered area near New Gate, where he read the scroll aloud.

This covered area belonged to Gemariah,^[f] one of the king's highest officials.

^20-22 The officials put the scroll in Elishama's room and went to see the king, who was in one of the rooms where he lived and worked during the winter. It was the ninth month^[a] of the year, so there was a fire burning in the fireplace,^[b] and the king was sitting nearby. After the officials told the king about the scroll, he sent Jehudi to get it. Then Jehudi started reading the scroll to the king and his officials. ^23-25 But every time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king would tell him to cut them off with his penknife and throw them in the fire. Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the scroll, but he ignored them, and soon there was nothing left of it.

The king and his servants listened to what was written on the scroll, but they were not the least bit afraid, and they did not tear their clothes in sorrow.^[c]

Jeremiah's Second Scroll

²⁷ I had told Baruch what to write on that first scroll,^[a] but King Jehoiakim^[b] had burned it. So the Lord told me ²⁸ to get another scroll and write down everything that had been on the first one.

The New Agreement with Israel and Judah

^31 (A)(B) The Lord said:

The time will surely come when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and Judah. ³² It will be different from the agreement I made with their ancestors when I led them out of Egypt. Although I was their God, they broke that agreement.

^33 (C) Here is the new agreement that I, the Lord, will make with the people of Israel:

^34 (D) “No longer will they have to teach one another to obey me. I, the Lord, promise that all of them will obey me, ordinary people and rulers alike. I will forgive their sins and forget the evil things they have done.”