Jeremias 36:4-32

4 Thus said the Lord God of Israel concerning the captivity which I caused to be carried away from Jerusalem;

5 Build ye houses, and inhabit ; and plant gardens, and eat the fruits thereof;

6 and take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, and be multiplied, and be not diminished.

7 And seek the peace of the land into which I have carried you captive, and ye shall pray to the Lord for the people: for in its peace ye shall peace.

8 For thus saith the Lord; Let not the false prophets that are among you persuade you, and let not your diviners persuade you, and hearken not to your dreams which ye dream.

9 For they prophesy to you unrighteous in my name; and I sent them not.

10 For thus said the Lord; When seventy years shall be on the point of being accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you, and will confirm my words to you, to bring back your people to this place.

11 And I will devise for you a device of peace, and not evil, to bestow upon you these .

12 And do ye pray to me, and I will hearken to you: and do ye earnestly seek me, and ye shall find me;

13 for ye shall seek me with your whole heart.

14 And I will appear to you:

15 whereas ye said, The Lord has appointed for us prophets in Babylon:

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21 Thus saith the Lord concerning Achiab, and concerning Sedekias; Behold, I deliver them into the hands of the king of Babylon; and he shall smite them in your sight.

22 And they shall make of them a curse in all the captivity of Juda in Babylon, saying, The Lord do to thee as he did to Sedekias, and as he did to Achiab, whom the king of Babylon fried in the fire;

23 because of the iniquity which they wrought in Israel, and they committed adultery with the wives of their fellow-citizens; and spoke a word in my name, which I did not command them , and I am witness, saith the Lord.

24 And to Samaeas the Aelamite thou shalt say,

25 I sent thee not in my name: and to Sophonias the priest the son of Maasaeas say thou,

26 The Lord has made thee priest in the place of Jodae the priest, to be ruler in the house of the Lord over every prophet, and to every madman, and thou shalt put them in prison, and into the dungeon.

27 And now wherefore have ye reviled together Jeremias of Anathoth, who prophesied to you?

28 Did he not send for this purpose? for in the course of this month he sent to you to Babylon, saying, It is far off: build ye houses, and inhabit ; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

29 And Sophonias read the book in the ears of Jeremias.

30 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying,

31 Send to the captivity, saying, Thus saith the Lord concerning Samaeas the Aelamite, Since Samaeas has prophesied to you, and I sent him not, and he has made you to trust in iniquity,

32 therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will visit Samaeas, and his family: and there shall not be a man of them in the midst of you to see the good which I will do to you: they shall not see .

Jeremias 36:4-32 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 36

This chapter gives an account of an impious action of King Jehoiakim's burning the roll of Jeremiah's prophecies read unto him, and the consequence of it. The order to write this roll, the time when, the contents and use of it, are in Jer 36:1-3; the writing of it by Baruch, the order of the prophet to read it to the people on such a day, with the view he had in so doing, Jer 36:4-7; the reading of it by Baruch to the people first, Jer 36:8-10; then to the princes, being sent for by them, upon a report made to them, Jer 36:11-15; the king being acquainted with it, Jehudi was sent to fetch the roll, who read it to the king, Jer 36:16-21; who having heard part of it, burnt it, notwithstanding the intercession of some of his princes to the contrary, Jer 36:22-25; and who also ordered the apprehension of Jeremiah and Baruch, who could not be found, Jer 36:26; upon this a new roll is ordered to be written, Jer 36:27,28; which was done with some additions to it, respecting the destruction of the land, and the people in it, by the Chaldeans; and particularly the death of the king, and his want of burial, Jer 36:29-32.