Beginning

The Example of the Rechabites

35 This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the Lord during the reign^[a] of Josiah’s son Jehoiakim, king of Judah: ² “Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak to them. Bring them into the Lord’s Temple, to one of the offices, and offer them wine to drink.” ³ So I took Jeremiah’s son Jaazaniah (a descendant of Habazziniah), his brothers, all his sons, and the whole family of the Rechabites. ⁴ I brought them to the Lord’s Temple to the office of the descendants of Igdaliah’s son Hanan, the man of God, which was next to the office of the officials, and which was above the office of Shallum’s son Maaseiah, the keeper of the threshold.

⁵ I put containers full of wine and cups in front of the members of the Rechabite clan^[b] and told them, “Drink the wine!”

⁶ But they said, “We won’t drink wine, because our ancestor, Rechab’s son Jonadab commanded us: ‘You and your descendants are never to drink wine! ⁷ You aren’t to build houses, you aren’t to sow seeds, and you aren’t to plant vineyards, or own them. Instead, you are to live in tents all your lives,^[c] so you will enjoy a long life in the land where you reside.’^{[d] 8} We have obeyed everything that our ancestor, Rechab’s son Jonadab, commanded us. So we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters have drunk no wine all our lives,^{[e] 9} and have built no houses to live in. We don’t have vineyards, fields, or seed. ¹⁰ We have lived in tents. We have obeyed and have done everything that our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. ¹¹ Now when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come on! Let’s go to Jerusalem because of the army of the Chaldeans and the army of Aram. And now we’re living in Jerusalem.’”

¹² This message from the Lord came to Jeremiah: ¹³ “This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not accept correction by listening to what I say?” declares the Lord. ¹⁴ “But what Rechab’s son Jonadab commanded his sons about not drinking wine is observed, and they haven’t drunk wine until this day. Indeed, they obey the commands of their ancestor. But I’ve spoken to you again and again,^[f] and you haven’t obeyed me. ¹⁵ I’ve sent you all my servants, the prophets, sending them again and again.^[g] I’ve said, ‘Each of you turn from his evil behavior^[h] and make your deeds right. Don’t follow other gods to serve them. Then you will remain in the land that I gave to you and to your ancestors.’ But you haven’t paid attention^[i] and you haven’t obeyed me. ¹⁶ Indeed the descendants of Rechab’s son Jonadab have carried out the command of their ancestor that he gave them, but this people has not obeyed me.” ¹⁷ Therefore, this is what the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says: “Look, I’m bringing on Judah and all the residents of Jerusalem all the disaster that I pronounced against them, because I spoke to them, but they didn’t listen, and I called out to them, but they didn’t answer.”’”

¹⁸ Then Jeremiah told the house of the Rechabites, “This is what the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you obeyed the commandment of your ancestor Jonadab, have observed all his commandments, and have done everything that he commanded you,’ ¹⁹ therefore, this is what the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Rechab’s son Jonadab won’t lack a descendant^[j] who serves me^[k] always.’”

Jeremiah’s Scroll Read in the Temple

36 In the fourth year of the reign of^[l] Josiah’s son King Jehoiakim of Judah, this message came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I’ve spoken to you about Israel, about Judah, and about all the nations, since I first spoke to you^[m] in the time of Josiah until the present time. ³ Perhaps the house of Judah will hear about all the calamity that I’m planning to bring on them, and so each of them will turn from his wicked way and I’ll forgive their iniquities and sins.”

⁴ Jeremiah summoned Neriah’s son Baruch and at Jeremiah’s dictation, Baruch wrote on the scroll all the words of the Lord that he had spoken to him.

⁵ Jeremiah instructed Baruch, “I’m confined and can’t go to the Lord’s Temple. ⁶ You go and read the words of the Lord that you wrote at my dictation from the scroll. Read them^[n] to^[o] the people at the Lord’s Temple on the fast day. Also read them to all the people of Judah who are coming from their towns. ⁷ Perhaps their pleas for help will come to the Lord’s attention, and each of them will turn from his evil lifestyle in light of the great anger and wrath that the Lord has declared against this people.” ⁸ So Neriah’s son Baruch did just as Jeremiah the prophet instructed him, reading the words of the Lord from the scroll at the Lord’s Temple.

⁹ In the ninth month of the fifth year of the reign of^[p] Josiah’s son Jehoiakim, king of Judah, a fast was proclaimed in the Lord’s presence in Jerusalem for all the people of Jerusalem, as well as all the people who were coming from the towns of Judah. ¹⁰ Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll to^[q] all the people at the Lord’s Temple. He did this^[r] from the office of Shaphan’s son Gemariah the scribe, in the upper court at the entrance of the New Gate of the Lord’s Temple.

Jeremiah’s Scroll Read in the Palace

¹¹ When Gemariah’s son Micaiah, the grandson of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, ¹² he went down to the palace, to the scribe’s office, where all the officials were sitting. Elishama the scribe, Shemaiah’s son Delaiah, Achbor’s son Elnathan, Shaphan’s son Gemariah, Hananiah’s son Zedekiah, and all the other officials were there. ¹³ Micaiah told them all the things that he had heard when Baruch read from the scroll to the people. ¹⁴ Then all the officials sent Nethaniah’s son Jehudi, (who was also the grandson of Shelemiah and Cushi’s great-grandson), to Baruch, who said, “Take the scroll that you read to^[s] the people and come.” Neriah’s son Baruch took the scroll with him and went to them.

¹⁵ They told him, “Please sit down and read it to us.”^[t] So Baruch read it to them. ¹⁶ When they heard all the words, they turned to one another in fear, saying to Baruch, “We must report all these things to the king.” ¹⁷ Then they asked Baruch, “Please tell us how you wrote all the words. Did Jeremiah dictate them all?”^[u]

¹⁸ Baruch answered them, “Yes, Jeremiah dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them in the scroll with ink.”

¹⁹ Then the officials told Baruch, “Go, hide yourself, both you and Jeremiah, and don’t let anyone know where you are.”

The King Burns Jeremiah’s Scroll

²⁰ The officials^[v] went to the king in the courtyard, but they deposited the scroll in the office of Elishama the scribe. Then they reported everything written on the scroll^[w] to the king. ²¹ The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the office of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi read it to the king^[x] and to all the officials who were standing beside the king. ²² The king was sitting in the winter palace in the ninth month and a stove^[y] was burning in front of him.^{[z] 23} As Jehudi would read three or four columns, the king^[aa] would cut it with a scribe’s knife and throw it into the fire which was in the stove, until all the scroll was burned^[ab] in the fire in the stove. ²⁴ The king and all his officials^[ac] who were listening to these words were not afraid, nor did they tear their garments. ²⁵ Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. ²⁶ The king ordered his^[ad] son Jerahmeel, Azriel’s son Seraiah, and Abdeel’s son Shelemiah to get Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord had hidden them.

Jeremiah Rewrites the Scroll

²⁷ This message from the Lord came to Jeremiah after the king burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation: ²⁸ “Go back, take another scroll and write on it all the original^[ae] words which were on the scroll that Jehoiakim, king of Judah, burned. ²⁹ Concerning Jehoiakim, king of Judah, you are to say, ‘This is what the Lord says: “You burned this scroll, all the while saying, ‘Why did you write on it that the king of Babylon will definitely come, destroy this land, and eliminate both people and animals from it?’” ³⁰ Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning Jehoiakim, king of Judah, “He will have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his corpse will be thrown out to rot during the heat of the day and the frost of the night. ³¹ I’ll punish him, his descendants, and his officials^[af] for their iniquity. I’ll bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the calamity about which I’ve warned them, but they would not listen.”’”

³² Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Neriah’s son Baruch the scribe. He wrote on it, at Jeremiah’s dictation, all the words of the book that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned in the fire. He also added to them many similar words.

Zedekiah Consults Jeremiah

37 Josiah’s son King Zedekiah reigned in place of Jehoiakim’s son Coniah,^[ag] whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had made king of the land of Judah. ² But neither he nor his officials nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord that were spoken by^[ah] Jeremiah the prophet.

³ King Zedekiah sent Shelemiah’s son Jehucal and Maaseiah’s son Zephaniah the priest to Jeremiah the prophet, asking him, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.” ⁴ Now Jeremiah was still^[ai] going in and out among the people since he had not yet been put in prison. ⁵ Pharaoh’s army had come out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

⁶ Then this message from the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: ⁷ “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘This is what you are to say to the king of Judah who sent you to me to inquire of me, “Look, Pharaoh’s army that has come to help will go back to its own land of Egypt, ⁸ and then the Chaldeans will come back to fight against this city, to capture it, and burn it with fire.”’ ⁹ “This is what the Lord says: ‘Don’t deceive yourselves by saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” ‘for they won’t go. ¹⁰ Indeed, even if you defeated the entire Chaldean army that is fighting against you, and they had only wounded men left in their tents, they would get up and burn this city with fire.’”’”

Jeremiah Arrested for Treason

¹¹ When the Chaldean army was leaving Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, ¹² Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go to the territory of Benjamin to take possession of his property^[aj] there among the people. ¹³ He was in the Gate of Benjamin, and chief officer Irijah, Shelemiah’s son and the grandson of Hananiah, was there. He arrested Jeremiah the prophet, accusing him: “You are going over to the Chaldeans!”

¹⁴ Jeremiah said, “It’s a lie! I’m not going over to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah^[ak] would not listen to him, and he^[al] arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. ¹⁵ The officials were angry with Jeremiah and beat him. They put him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe because they had made it into a prison. ¹⁶ So Jeremiah came into the cells in the dungeon^[am] and remained there for a long time.^[an]

¹⁷ Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah^[ao] and received him. The king questioned him secretly in his house: “Is there a message from the Lord?”

Jeremiah said, “There is,” and then he said, “You will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon.” ¹⁸ Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, “What offense have I committed against you, your officials, or these people that you have put me in prison? ¹⁹ Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, telling you: ‘The king of Babylon won’t come against you or against this land’? ²⁰ Now, please listen, your majesty,^[ap] and pay attention to what I’m asking you. Don’t make me go back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, so I don’t die there.”

²¹ So King Zedekiah gave the order, and they assigned Jeremiah to the courtyard of the guard. Each day they gave him a loaf of bread from the bakers’ street until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.