Chapter 36 The Enduring Word

The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah

Chapter 36 selected verses

Common English Bible translation

CEB Study Bible published 2013

In the fourth year of

Judah's King Jehoiakim,

Josiah's son, this word

came to Jeremiah from

the Lord:

Take a scroll and write

in it all the words I

have spoken to you

concerning Israel, Judah,

and all the nations from

the time of Josiah until

today.  Perhaps when the

people of Judah hear about

every disaster I intend to

bring upon them, they will

turn from their evil ways,

and I will forgive their

wrongdoing and sins.  

So Jeremiah sent for Baruch,

Neriah's son.  As Jeremiah

dictated all the words that

the Lord had spoken to him,

Baruch wrote them in the

scroll. . .In the 9th month

of the 5th year of Judah's

King Jehoiakim, Josiah's

son, all the people in

Jerusalem and all those who

had come from Judean towns

observed a fast for the 

Lord in Jerusalem . . .When

the officials heard all its

words, they were alarmed.

'How did you write all these

words?  Did they come from

Jeremiah?'

Baruch replied, 'He dictated

all the words to me, and I

wrote them with ink in the

scroll. . .'You and Jeremiah

had better go & hide; don't

let anyone know where you are.

The king sent Jehudi to take

the scroll..whenever Jehudi

would read 3 or 4 columns 

of the scroll, the king would

cut them off with a scribe's 

knife and throw them into the

firepot until the whole scroll 

was burned up. . .The Lord's

word came to Jeremiah after 

the king had burned the scroll 

containing the words written by 

Baruch at Jeremiah's dictation:

Get another scroll & write

in it all the words that were

in the first scroll that Judah's

King Jehoiakim burned. . .You

burned it because it declared

that the king of Babylon will 

come & destroy this land and

eliminate every sign of life. . 

Jehoiakim won't have any heirs

to occupy the throne of David,

& his dead body will be cast

out & exposed to the heat of

the day & the frost of the 

night. . .But they wouldn't

listen. . .

Many similar words were added

to the scroll.

[The king's actions do NOT have 

the last word.  God instructs

Jeremiah to dictate another 

scroll. . .once again the

prophetic summons 

to change & to avert disaster 

goes unheeded.]