The Scroll Read in the Temple

36 Now it came to pass in the ^(A)fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: ² “Take a ^(B)scroll of a book and ^(C)write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, against Judah, and against ^(D)all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of ^(E)Josiah even to this day. ³ It ^(F)may be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities which I purpose to bring upon them, that everyone may ^(G)turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

⁴ Then Jeremiah ^(H)called Baruch the son of Neriah; and ^(I)Baruch wrote on a scroll of a book, ^[a]at the instruction of Jeremiah, all the words of the Lord which He had spoken to him. ⁵ And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am confined, I cannot go into the house of the Lord. ⁶ You go, therefore, and read from the scroll which you have written ^[b]at my instruction, the words of the Lord, in the hearing of the people in the Lord’s house on ^(J)the day of fasting. And you shall also read them in the hearing of all Judah who come from their cities. ⁷ It may be that they will present their supplication before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way. For great is the anger and the fury that the Lord has pronounced against this people.” ⁸ And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.

Assurance to Baruch

45 The ^(A)word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to ^(B)Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book ^[a]at the instruction of Jeremiah, in the ^(C)fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: ³ ‘You said, “Woe is me now! For the Lord has added grief to my sorrow. I ^(D)fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.” ’

⁴ “Thus you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, ^(E)what I have built I will break down, and what I have planted I will pluck up, that is, this whole land. ⁵ And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, ^(F)I will bring adversity on all flesh,” says the Lord. “But I will give your ^(G)life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go.” ’ ”

Daniel and His Friends Obey God^(A)

1 In the third year of the reign of ^(B)Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

⁹ Now it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem. ¹⁰ Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court at the ^(A)entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house, in the ^[a]hearing of all the people.

The Scroll Read in the Palace

¹¹ When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the book, ¹² he then went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber; and there all the princes were sitting—^(B)Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, ^(C)Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. ¹³ Then Michaiah 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 the 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.” So Baruch the 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 it happened, when they had heard all the words, that they looked in fear from one to another, and said to Baruch, “We will surely tell the king of all these words.” ¹⁷ And they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words—^[b]at his instruction?”

¹⁸ So Baruch answered them, “He proclaimed with his mouth 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.”

The King Destroys Jeremiah’s Scroll

²⁰ And they went to the king, into the court; but they stored the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the hearing of the king. ²¹ So the king sent Jehudi to bring the scroll, and he took it from Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king. ²² Now the king was sitting in ^(D)the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning on the hearth before him. ²³ And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four columns, that the king cut it with the scribe’s knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. ²⁴ Yet they were ^(E)not afraid, nor did they ^(F)tear their garments, the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words. ²⁵ Nevertheless Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah implored the king not to burn the scroll; but he would not listen to them. ²⁶ And the king commanded Jerahmeel ^[c]the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.

Jeremiah Rewrites the Scroll

²⁷ Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words which Baruch had written ^[d]at the instruction of Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: ²⁸ “Take yet 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 you shall say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, ‘Thus says the Lord: “You have burned this scroll, saying, ^(G)‘Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and cause man and beast to ^(H)cease from here?’ ” ³⁰ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: ^(I)“He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be ^(J)cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. ³¹ I will punish him, his ^[e]family, and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the doom that I have pronounced against them; but they did not heed.” ’ ”

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

^6 (A)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him, and bound him in ^[a]bronze fetters to ^(B)carry him off to Babylon.

² And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with ^(A)some of the articles of ^[a]the house of God, which he carried ^(B)into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; ^(C)and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god.

³ Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring ^(D)some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles, ⁴ young men ^(E)in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and ^(F)whom they might teach the language and ^[b]literature of the Chaldeans. ⁵ And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might ^(G)serve before the king. ⁶ Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ^7 (H)To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: ^(I)he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.

⁸ But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself ^(J)with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. ⁹ Now ^(K)God had brought Daniel into the favor and ^[c]goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs. ¹⁰ And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king.”

¹¹ So Daniel said to ^[d]the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹² “Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³ Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.” ¹⁴ So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days.

¹⁵ And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies. ¹⁶ Thus ^[e]the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.

¹⁷ As for these four young men, ^(L)God gave them ^(M)knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had ^(N)understanding in all visions and dreams.

¹⁸ Now at the end of the days, when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ Then the king ^[f]interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore ^(O)they served before the king. ^20 (P)And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm. ^21 (Q)Thus Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus.