Jeremiah’s Scroll Read in the Temple

1Now it happened that in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, 2“Take a scroll of a book and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel and concerning Judah and concerning all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day. 3Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I devise [†]to bring on them, in order that every man will turn from his evil way; then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

4Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a [†]scroll [†]at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of Yahweh which He had spoken to him. 5And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am [†]confined; I cannot go into the house of Yahweh. 6So you shall go and read from the scroll, which you have written [†]at my dictation, the words of Yahweh [†]in the hearing of the people in the house of Yahweh on a fast day. And also you shall read them in the hearing of all the people of Judah who come from their cities. 7Perhaps their supplication will [†]come before Yahweh, and everyone will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath that Yahweh has spoken against this people.” 8So Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of Yahweh in the house of Yahweh.

9Now it happened in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem called for a fast before Yahweh. 10Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of Yahweh in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the house of Yahweh, in the hearing of all the people.

11Then Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of Yahweh from the book. 12And he went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber. And behold, all the officials 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 other officials. 13And Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the book in the hearing of the people. 14Then all the officials 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 went to them. 15And they said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing. 16Now it happened that when they heard all the words, they turned in dread one to another and said to Baruch, “We will surely declare all these words to the king.” 17And they asked Baruch, saying, “Declare to us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it [†]at his dictation?” 18Then Baruch said to them, “He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the book.” 19Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are.”

The Scroll Is Burned

20So they went to the king in the court, but they had deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and they declared all the words in the hearing of the king. 21Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king as well as in the hearing of all the officials who stood beside the king. 22Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him. 23And it happened that when Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe’s knife and threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll [†]was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. 24Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not in dread, nor did they tear their garments. 25Even though Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah interceded with the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but Yahweh hid them.

The Scroll Is Replaced

27Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll and the words which Baruch had written at the dictation of Jeremiah, saying, 28“Take again another scroll and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned. 29And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “You have burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written on it [†]that the king of Babylon will certainly come and make this land a ruin and will make man and beast to cease from it?’” 30Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah, “He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. 31And I will also punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity, and I will bring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the evil that I have spoken about to them—but they did not listen.”’”

32Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the son of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many [†]similar words were added to them.