New Living Translation NLT
The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
1 During the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king in Judah, the LORD gave this message to Jeremiah:
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In the fourth year of Y'hoyakim the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Y'hudah, this word came to Yirmeyahu from ADONAI:
2 “Get a scroll, and write down all my messages against Israel, Judah, and the other nations. Begin with the first message back in the days of Josiah, and write down every message, right up to the present time.
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"Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you against Isra'el, Y'hudah and all the other nations, from the day I started speaking to you, back in the time of Yoshiyahu, until today.
3 Perhaps the people of Judah will repent when they hear again all the terrible things I have planned for them. Then I will be able to forgive their sins and wrongdoings.”
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Perhaps the house of Y'hudah will listen to all the disaster I intend to bring on them, and turn back, each person from his evil way; then I will forgive their wickedness and sin."
4 So Jeremiah sent for Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated all the prophecies that the LORD had given him, Baruch wrote them on a scroll.
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So Yirmeyahu summoned Barukh the son of Neriyah; and Barukh wrote down on a scroll, at Yirmeyahu's dictation, all the words that ADONAI had said to him.
5 Then Jeremiah said to Baruch, “I am a prisoner here and unable to go to the Temple.
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Then Yirmeyahu gave this order to Barukh: "I am not allowed to enter the house of ADONAI.
6 So you go to the Temple on the next day of fasting, and read the messages from the LORD that I have had you write on this scroll. Read them so the people who are there from all over Judah will hear them.
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Therefore, you take the scroll which you wrote at my dictation, go into the house of ADONAI on a fast-day, and read from it the words of ADONAI in the hearing of the people; also read them to all Y'hudah as they exit their cities.
7 Perhaps even yet they will turn from their evil ways and ask the LORD ’s forgiveness before it is too late. For the LORD has threatened them with his terrible anger.”
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Perhaps they will turn to ADONAI in prayer and will return, each one, from his evil way. For the anger and fury which ADONAI has decreed against this people is great."
8 Baruch did as Jeremiah told him and read these messages from the LORD to the people at the Temple.
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Barukh the son of Neriyah obeyed everything Yirmeyahu the prophet ordered him to do, reading the words of ADONAI from the scroll in ADONAI's house.
9 He did this on a day of sacred fasting held in late autumn, during the fifth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah. People from all over Judah had come to Jerusalem to attend the services at the Temple on that day.
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A fast was proclaimed in the ninth month of the fifth year of Y'hoyakim the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Y'hudah, for all the people in Yerushalayim and all the people who came from the cities of Y'hudah to Yerushalayim.
10 Baruch read Jeremiah’s words on the scroll to all the people. He stood in front of the Temple room of Gemariah, son of Shaphan the secretary. This room was just off the upper courtyard of the Temple, near the New Gate entrance.
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It was then that Barukh read from the scroll the words of Yirmeyahu in the house of ADONAI, in the chamber of G'maryahu the son of Shafan the secretary, in the upper courtyard, at the entry to the New Gate of ADONAI's house, for all the people to hear.
11 When Micaiah son of Gemariah and grandson of Shaphan heard the messages from the LORD,
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When Mikhay'hu the son of G'maryahu, the son of Shafan, had heard from the scroll all the words of ADONAI,
12 he went down to the secretary’s room in the palace where the administrative officials were meeting. Elishama the secretary was there, along with Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Acbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials.
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he went down to the king's palace, into the secretary's room. All the officials were there - Elishama the secretary, D'layahu the son of Sh'ma'yahu, Elnatan the son of 'Akhbor, G'maryah the son of Shafan, Tzidkiyahu the son of Hananyahu and all the [other] officials.
13 When Micaiah told them about the messages Baruch was reading to the people,
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Mikhay'hu told them all the words he had heard when Barukh read the scroll in the people's hearing;
14 the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, grandson of Shelemiah and great-grandson of Cushi, to ask Baruch to come and read the messages to them, too. So Baruch took the scroll and went to them.
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whereupon all the officials sent Y'hudi the son of N'tanyahu, the son of Shelemyahu, the son of Kushi, to Barukh to say, "Take in your hand the scroll from which you read in the hearing of the people, and come." So Barukh the son of Neriyah took the scroll in his hand and went to them.
15 “Sit down and read the scroll to us,” the officials said, and Baruch did as they requested.
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They said to him, "Sit down, please, and read it to us." Barukh read it to them.
16 When they heard all the messages, they looked at one another in alarm. “We must tell the king what we have heard,” they said to Baruch.
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After they had heard all the words, they turned in fear to each other and said to Barukh, "We will certainly tell the king about all these words."
17 “But first, tell us how you got these messages. Did they come directly from Jeremiah?”
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Then they asked Barukh, "Tell us now, how did you write all these words? At his dictation?"
18 So Baruch explained, “Jeremiah dictated them, and I wrote them down in ink, word for word, on this scroll.”
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Barukh answered them, "He said all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the scroll."
19 “You and Jeremiah should both hide,” the officials told Baruch. “Don’t tell anyone where you are!”
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At this, the officials said to Barukh, "Go and hide yourselves, you and Yirmeyahu; don't let anyone know where you are."
20 Then the officials left the scroll for safekeeping in the room of Elishama the secretary and went to tell the king what had happened.
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After depositing the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, they went in to the courtyard and told everything to the king.
21 The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. Jehudi brought it from Elishama’s room and read it to the king as all his officials stood by.
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The king sent Y'hudi to bring the scroll, and he took it from the room of Elishama the secretary. Y'hudi read it to the king and all the officials standing near the king.
22 It was late autumn, and the king was in a winterized part of the palace, sitting in front of a fire to keep warm.
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The king was sitting in his winter house; and since it was the ninth month, he had a fire burning in the stove in front of him.
23 Each time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king took a knife and cut off that section of the scroll. He then threw it into the fire, section by section, until the whole scroll was burned up.
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After Y'hudi had read three or four columns from the scroll, he would cut off that portion with a knife and throw it into the fire that was burning in the stove, until the entire scroll had been consumed by the fire in the stove.
24 Neither the king nor his attendants showed any signs of fear or repentance at what they heard.
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But even though they heard all these words, neither the king nor any of his servants grew afraid or tore their clothes.
25 Even when Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the scroll, he wouldn’t listen.
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Elnatan, D'layahu and G'maryahu had begged the king not to burn the scroll; but he wouldn't listen to them.
26 Then the king commanded his son Jerahmeel, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch and Jeremiah. But the LORD had hidden them.
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Then the king ordered Yerachme'el the king's son, S'rayahu the son of 'Azri'el and Shelemyahu the son of 'Avde'el to arrest Barukh the scribe and Yirmeyahu the prophet; but ADONAI hid them.
27 After the king had burned the scroll on which Baruch had written Jeremiah’s words, the LORD gave Jeremiah another message. He said,
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Then this word of ADONAI came to Yirmeyahu after the king had burned the scroll with the words Barukh had written at Yirmeyahu's dictation:
28 “Get another scroll, and write everything again just as you did on the scroll King Jehoiakim burned.
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"Take another scroll, and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, which Y'hoyakim the king of Y'hudah burned up.
29 Then say to the king, ‘This is what the LORD says: You burned the scroll because it said the king of Babylon would destroy this land and empty it of people and animals.
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And as far as Y'hoyakim king of Y'hudah is concerned, you are to say that ADONAI says, 'You burned this scroll, asking, "Why did you write in it that the king of Bavel will certainly come and destroy this land and leave it without either humans or animals?"
30 Now this is what the LORD says about King Jehoiakim of Judah: He will have no heirs to sit on the throne of David. His dead body will be thrown out to lie unburied—exposed to the heat of the day and the frost of the night.
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Therefore ADONAI says this about Y'hoyakim king of Y'hudah: "He will have no one to occupy David's throne; and his dead body will be thrown out to lie in the heat by day and in the frost by night.
31 I will punish him and his family and his attendants for their sins. I will pour out on them and on all the people of Jerusalem and Judah all the disasters I promised, for they would not listen to my warnings.’”
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Moreover, I will punish him, his offspring and his officials for their wickedness; and I will bring on them, the inhabitants of Yerushalayim and the people of Y'hudah all the disaster I have decreed against them, to which they have paid no attention."'"
32 So Jeremiah took another scroll and dictated again to his secretary, Baruch. He wrote everything that had been on the scroll King Jehoiakim had burned in the fire. Only this time he added much more!
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Then Yirmeyahu took another scroll and gave it to Barukh the scribe, the son of Neriyah. At Yirmeyahu's dictation he wrote in it all the words of the scroll which Y'hoyakim king of Y'hudah had burned up in the fire, and to those he added many similar words.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.