CHAPTER 36

1 And it was in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, —

2 Take thee a roll of a book and write in it all the words which I have spoken to thee concerning Israel and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day in which I have spoken to thee, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.

3 It may be that the house of Judah will attend to all the evil which I purpose to do to them, so that they may return, every one from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.

4 And Jeremiah called Baruch, the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Jehovah, which he had spoken to him, in a roll of a book.

5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up, I cannot go to the house of Jehovah;

6 But go thou and read in the roll what thou hast written from my mouth, the words of Jehovah, in the ears of the people, in the house of Jehovah, on a fast day; and also in the ears of all Judah, who come from their cities shalt thou read them.

7 It may be that they will prostrate themselves before Jehovah, and return every one from his evil way; for great is the indignation, and great is the wrath which Jehovah has spoken against this people.

8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all the things which Jeremiah the prophet had commanded him, reading in the book the words of Jehovah in the house of Jehovah.

9 And it was that in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, in the ninth month, they proclaimed a fast before Jehovah to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem.

10 And Baruch read in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah, in the chamber of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the entrance of the new gate of the house of Jehovah, in the ears of all the people.

11 And Micah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of Jehovah from the book;

12 And he went down to the king’s house, to the scribe’s chamber; and, lo, all the princes were sitting there, Elishama the scribe, 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 princes.

13 And Micah declared to them all the words which he had heard when Baruch read in the book in the ears of the people.

14 And all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, The roll in which thou didst read in the ears of the people, take in thine hand and come: and Baruch the son of Neriah, took the roll in his hand and came to them.

15 And they said to him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears.

16 And it was that when they heard all the words, they feared every one as to his neighbor, and said to Baruch, Declaring we shall declare to the king all these words.

17 And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words from his month?

18 And Baruch said to them, With his mouth he pronounced these words to me, and I wrote them on a book with ink.

19 Then the princes said to Baruch, Go and hide thyself, thou and Jeremiah, and let no one know where ye be.

20 And they went to the king into the court, but laid up the volume in the chamber of Elishama the scribe; and they related all the words in the ears of the king;

21 And the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe: and Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes who stood before the king.

22 And the king was sitting in the winter-house, in the ninth month, and there was a fire-hearth burning before him:

23 And it was that when Jehudi had read three or four pages, he cut it with a penknife, and cast it into the fire which was in the fire-hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire which was in the fire-hearth.

24 But neither the king nor any of his servants feared, nor rent their garments, when they heard all these words.

25 Nevertheless Elnathan, and Delaiah, and Gemariah, interceded with the king, that he should not burn the roll; but he hearkened not to them.

26 And the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe, and Jeremiah the prophet: but Jehovah hid them.

27 Then came the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah, after the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch had written from the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, —

28 Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words which were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim, the king of Judah hath burned:

29 And to Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, shalt thou say, Thus saith Jehovah, Thou hast burned this book, saying, Why hast thou written in it, saying, The king of Babylon shall surely come and shall destroy this place, and cause to cease from it man and beast?

30 Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, He shall have none to sit on the throne of David; and his dead body shall be cast forth to the heat by day, and to the frost by night;

31 And I will visit on him and on his seed, and on his servants, their iniquity; and I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the evil which I have denounced on them: but they hearkened not.

32 Then Jeremiah took another roll and gave it to Baruch, the son of Neriah, the scribe, who wrote in it from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, had burnt in the fire; and added to them were many words of the same kind.