Beginning

The Faithfulness of the Rechabites

35 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, saying,^{[a] 2} “Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak with them, and bring them to the house of Yahweh into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.” ³ So I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole of the house of the Rechabites, ⁴ and I brought them to the house of Yahweh, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was beside the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah, the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold.

⁵ Then I set^[b] before^[c] the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” ⁶ But they answered, “We will not drink wine, for Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our ancestor,^[d] commanded us, saying,^[e] ‘You shall not drink wine, you or your children, forever.^{[f] 7} And you shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed, and you shall not plant a vineyard, and it shall not be for you, but in tents you shall live all your days, so that you may live many days on the surface of the land where you are dwelling as aliens.’ ⁸ And we obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our ancestor,^[g] in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, ⁹ and not to build houses for our living, and there is not vineyard, or field, or seed for us. ¹⁰ But we have lived in tents, and we have obeyed, and we have done all that Jehonadab, our ancestor,^[h] commanded us. ¹¹ But then^[i] at the coming up against the land of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, then we said, ‘Come and let us go to Jerusalem before^[j] the army of the Chaldeans, and before^[k] the army of the Arameans.’^[l] That is why we are living in Jerusalem.”

¹² And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,^{[m] 13} “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Go and say to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Can you not learn a lesson to listen to my words?” declares^[n] Yahweh. ¹⁴ “The words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, that he commanded his descendants^[o] to not drink, have been carried out, and they have not drunk until this day, for they have obeyed the command of their ancestor.^[p] But I have spoken to you over and over again,^[q] and you have not listened to me. ¹⁵ And I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, I have sent them over and over again,^[r] saying,^[s] ‘Turn back please each one from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and you must not go after other gods to serve them, so that you may live^[t] on the land that I gave to you and to your ancestors.’^[u] But you did not incline your ear and you did not listen to me. ¹⁶ For the descendants^[v] of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have carried out the command of their ancestor^[w] that he commanded them, but this people did not listen to me.”

¹⁷ Therefore^[x] thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, “Look, I am going to bring to Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem every disaster that I have spoken against them, because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, and I have called to them and they have not answered.”’” ¹⁸ But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have listened to the command of Jonadab your ancestor,^[y] and you have kept all his commands, and you have done all that he commanded you,’ ¹⁹ therefore^[z] thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘A man will not be cut off for Jonadab, the son of Rechab, to stand before me^[aa] always.’”^[ab]

Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll of Jeremiah’s Prophecies

36 And then^[ac] in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,^{[ad] 2} “Take for yourself a scroll^[ae] and you must write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day that I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, and until this day. ³ Perhaps when the house of Judah hears all the disasters^[af] that I am planning to do to them, then they may turn back each one from his evil way, and I will forgive their guilt and their sin.”

⁴ Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Yahweh that he had spoken to him on a scroll.^{[ag] 5} And Jeremiah instructed Baruch, saying,^[ah] “I am held back, I am not able to enter the temple of Yahweh. ⁶ So you must go and you shall read aloud from the scroll that you have written from my mouth the words of Yahweh in the hearing of the people in the temple of Yahweh on a day of fast, and also you shall read aloud in the hearing of all those of Judah who came from their towns. ⁷ Perhaps their plea will fall before^[ai] Yahweh and each one will turn away from his evil way, for great is the anger and wrath that Yahweh pronounced against this people.” ⁸ And Baruch the son of Neriah did all that Jeremiah the prophet instructed him, to read aloud from the scroll the words of Yahweh in the temple of Yahweh.

⁹ And then^[aj] in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the towns of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before^[ak] Yahweh. ¹⁰ Then Baruch read aloud from the scroll the words of Jeremiah in the temple of Yahweh, in the chamber of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, the secretary, in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the New Gate of the temple of Yahweh in the hearing of all the people.

¹¹ When Micaiah, the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of Yahweh from the scroll, ¹² he went down to the house of the king, to the chamber of the secretary, and look, all the officials were sitting there: Elishama the secretary, and Delaiah, the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan, the son of Achbor, and Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah, the son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. ¹³ And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard at the reading aloud of Baruch from the scroll in the hearing of the people.

¹⁴ Then all the officials sent Jehudi, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying,^[al] “The scroll that you read aloud from in the hearing of the people, take it in your hand and come.” And Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and he came to them. ¹⁵ And they said to him, “Sit please and read it aloud in our hearing.” So Baruch read aloud in their hearing. ¹⁶ And then,^[am] the moment of their hearing all the words, they turned to one another in alarm^[an] and they said to Baruch, “We must certainly report all these words to the king!” ¹⁷ Then they asked Baruch, saying,^[ao] “Tell us please, how did you write all these words, from his mouth?” ¹⁸ And Baruch said to them, “From his mouth. He dictated to me all these words and I was writing on the scroll with the ink.” ¹⁹ Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and let not a man know where you are.”

²⁰ And they went to the king, to the courtyard, and they put^[ap] the scroll for safe-keeping in the chamber of Elishama the secretary, and they reported all the words in the hearing of the king. ²¹ Then the king sent Jehudi to take the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary, and Jehudi read it aloud in the hearing of the king, and in the hearing of all the officials who stood next to the king. ²² Now the king was sitting in the quarters of the winter in the ninth month, and a fire-pot was burning before^[aq] him. ²³ And then,^[ar] as Jehudi read three or four columns, he would cut it up in pieces with the knife of the scribe, and he would throw it^[as] into the fire that was in the fire-pot until the whole of the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the fire-pot. ²⁴ And the king and any of his servants who heard all these words were not startled, and they did not tear their garments. ²⁵ And even when Elnathan, and Delaiah, and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. ²⁶ And the king commanded Jerahmeel, the son of the king, and Seraiah, the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah, the son of Abdeel, to arrest Baruch the secretary and Jeremiah the prophet, but Yahweh hid them.

²⁷ And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah after the king burned the scroll and the words that Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,^{[at] 28} “Take again^[au] for yourself 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, the king of Judah, you shall say, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “You have burned this scroll, saying,^[av] ‘Why have you written in it, saying,^[aw] “The king of Babylon will certainly come and he will destroy this land, and he will cause to disappear from it humankind and animals”?’”^{[ax] 30} Therefore^[ay] thus says Yahweh concerning Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, “There will not be for him one who sits on the throne of David. And his dead body will be thrown out to the heat in the day and to the frost in the night. ³¹ And I will punish him, and his offspring, and his servants for their guilt, and I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the people of Judah all the disaster with which I have threatened them, but they would not listen.”’” ³² Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the son of Neriah, the secretary, and he wrote on it from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, had burned in the fire, and furthermore was added to them many words like these.

The Babylonians Withdraw to Meet a Threat from Egypt

37 And king Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had made king, reigned as king in the land of Judah in place of Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim. ² But he and his servants and the people of the land did not listen to the words of Yahweh that he spoke by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet. ³ And king Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,^[az] “Please pray for us to Yahweh our God.” ⁴ Now Jeremiah was coming and going out in the midst of the people and they had not put him in the house of imprisonment. ⁵ And the army of Pharaoh had come out from Egypt, and the Chaldeans, who were laying siege to Jerusalem, heard their report and they withdrew from Jerusalem.

⁶ And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,^{[ba] 7} “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘This is what you shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me, “Look, the army of Pharaoh, which set out to help you, is going to return to his land Egypt. ⁸ And the Chaldeans will return, and they will fight against this city, and they will capture it, and they will burn it with fire.”’ ⁹ Thus says Yahweh: ‘You must not deceive yourselves, saying,^[bb] “Surely the Chaldeans will go from us,” for they will not go. ¹⁰ For even if you struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and only men pierced through remained among them, each one in his tent, they would rise up and they would burn this city with fire.’”

Jeremiah is Arrested and Put in Prison

¹¹ And then,^[bc] at the withdrawing of the army of the Chaldeans from Jerusalem before^[bd] the army of Pharaoh, ¹² Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive a portion from there in the midst of the people. ¹³ And when^[be] he was at the Gate of Benjamin, there was a sentry on duty^[bf] whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying,^[bg] “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!” ¹⁴ And Jeremiah said, “That is a lie! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But he would not listen to him. So Irijah seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. ¹⁵ And the officials were angry at Jeremiah and they struck him. And they put him in prison,^[bh] in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for they had converted it to the prison^[bi]. ¹⁶ So Jeremiah came to the dungeon^[bj], even to the vaulted cells, and Jeremiah stayed there many days.

¹⁷ Then King Zedekiah sent and fetched him. And the king questioned him in secrecy in his house, and he said, “Is there a word from Yahweh?” And Jeremiah said, “There is.” And he said, “You will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon.”

¹⁸ Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What did I do wrong to you, or to your servants, or to this people, that you have put me in prison?^{[bk] 19} And where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying,^[bl] ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’? ²⁰ Now then, my lord the king, please let my plea fall before you.^[bm] You must not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, so that I will not die there.” ²¹ So King Zedekiah commanded, and they handed Jeremiah over in the courtyard of the guard, and they gave to him a round loaf of bread from the street of the bakers every day^[bn] until the finishing of all the bread from the city. And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.