CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Jeremiah 36
Chapter 36 of 52
Chapter Overview
What happens in Jeremiah 36
God tells Jeremiah to write all his messages on a scroll. Jeremiah dictates to his scribe Baruch, who reads the scroll publicly. When King Jehoiakim hears it read, he cuts the scroll apart and burns it piece by piece. But God has Jeremiah write a new scroll with even more words added to it.
Scripture
Jeremiah 36
Jeremiah Dictates God's Words to Baruch
Study note
In the fourth year of King Jehoiakim's reign (about 605 BC), God told Jeremiah to write down every message he had received over the past 23 years. The hope was that hearing all these warnings collected together might cause the people to turn from their sin. Since Jeremiah was restricted from entering the temple, he dictated the words to Baruch son of Neriah, who served as his faithful scribe. Baruch then read the scroll aloud at the temple on a day of fasting.
1 In the fourth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, this message came to Jeremiah from the Lord: And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 "Get a scroll and write on it every word I have spoken to you. Write about Israel, Judah, and all the other nations. Write everything from the time I first spoke to you during Josiah's reign until today." Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.
3 "Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to bring on them, each one will turn from their evil ways. Then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin." It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.
4 So Jeremiah called his helper Baruch son of Neriah. As Jeremiah spoke the words, Baruch wrote down on a scroll everything the Lord had told Jeremiah. Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.
5 Then Jeremiah told Baruch, "I am not allowed to go to the Lord's Temple right now." And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the LORD:
6 "So you go instead. On the next day of fasting, go to the Temple and read the Lord's words from the scroll to all the people. Read them to everyone from Judah's towns who has come to Jerusalem." Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the LORD in the ears of the people in the LORD's house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities.
7 "Maybe they will beg the Lord for mercy. Maybe they will turn from their evil ways. The Lord's anger against these people is a fearsome thing." It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and will return every one from his evil way: for great is the anger and the fury that the LORD hath pronounced against this people.
8 Baruch son of Neriah did everything the prophet Jeremiah told him to do. He read the Lord's words from the scroll in the Lord's Temple. And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the LORD in the LORD's house.
The Scroll Is Read to Officials
Study note
About a year after the scroll was written, on a public fast day in the ninth month, Baruch read the scroll in the temple. A young man named Michaiah heard the reading and reported it to a group of royal officials. The officials sent for Baruch and had him read the scroll to them. They were alarmed by its contents and felt the king needed to hear it. But they also warned Baruch and Jeremiah to go into hiding, fearing the king's anger.
9 In the ninth month of the fifth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, a day of fasting before the Lord was announced. All the people in Jerusalem came, along with everyone from the towns of Judah. And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the LORD to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem.
10 Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll to all the people. He did this from the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, which was in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the New Gate of the Lord's Temple. Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the entry of the new gate of the LORD's house, in the ears of all the people.
11 When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the grandson of Shaphan, heard all the Lord's words read from the scroll, When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the LORD,
12 He went down to the scribe's room in the royal palace. All the officials were meeting there. They were Elishama the scribe, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Akbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah son of Hananiah. All the other officials were there too. Then he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's chamber: and, lo, all the princes sat there, even 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 Micaiah told them everything he had heard Baruch read from the scroll to the people. Then Michaiah declared unto them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.
14 The officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi, to tell Baruch, "Bring the scroll you read to the people and come here." So Baruch son of Neriah brought the scroll and came to them. Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in thine hand the roll wherein thou hast read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll in his hand, and came unto them.
15 They said to him, "Please sit down and read it to us." So Baruch read it to them. And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears.
16 When they heard all the words, they looked at each other in alarm. They said to Baruch, "We must tell the king about all these words." Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were afraid both one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.
17 They asked Baruch, "Tell us — how did you write all this? Did Jeremiah dictate it to you?" And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth?
18 "Yes," Baruch answered. "He dictated every word to me, and I wrote them down in ink on this scroll." Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.
19 The officials told Baruch, "You and Jeremiah need to go hide. Don't let anyone know where you are." Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye be.
King Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll
Study note
The officials reported the scroll's contents to King Jehoiakim, who was sitting in his winter quarters with a fire burning in the hearth. As a servant named Jehudi read the scroll aloud, the king would cut off every few columns with a knife and throw them into the fire. He showed no fear or respect for God's words. Some officials begged the king not to burn it, but he ignored them. He then ordered the arrest of Jeremiah and Baruch, but the Lord kept them hidden and safe.
20 They put the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe. Then the leaders went to the king in the yard. They told him all that happened. And they went in to the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king.
21 The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and Jehudi brought it from Elishama the scribe's room. He read it out loud to the king and all the officials standing around him. So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king.
22 It was the ninth month, and the king was sitting in his winter room with a fire burning in the fireplace in front of him. Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him.
23 Jehudi read three or four columns at a time. Each time, the king cut them off with a knife. He threw them into the fire. He kept on until the whole scroll was burned up. And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
24 Neither the king nor any of his officials showed any fear or tore their clothes in grief after hearing these words. Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.
25 Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the scroll, he refused to listen. Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them.
26 Instead, the king ordered Jerahmeel the prince, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the Lord had hidden them. But 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 the LORD hid them.
The Scroll Is Rewritten
Study note
After the king burned the scroll, God told Jeremiah to write everything again on a new scroll. God also added a special judgment against King Jehoiakim: none of his descendants would sit on the throne of David for long, and his body would be dishonored after death. When Jeremiah dictated the new scroll to Baruch, it contained all the original words plus many additional ones. This shows that God's word cannot be destroyed by human opposition.
27 The king burned the scroll that had all the words Baruch had written down as Jeremiah spoke them. After that, the Lord gave Jeremiah this message: Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
28 "Get another scroll and write on it all the same words that were on the first scroll — the one King Jehoiakim of Judah burned." Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.
29 "Also say this to King Jehoiakim of Judah: 'The Lord says: You burned that scroll. You demanded, "Why did you write that the king of Babylon will definitely come and destroy this land and wipe out all its people and animals?"'" And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?
30 "So the Lord says about King Jehoiakim of Judah: 'None of his descendants will sit on David's throne. His dead body will be thrown out, exposed to the heat of day and the frost of night.'" Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.
31 "'I will punish him, his children, and his officials for their wickedness. I will bring on them, on Jerusalem, and on Judah every disaster I warned about. I warned them, but they refused to listen.'" And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not.
32 So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to his scribe Baruch son of Neriah. As Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote down all the words from the scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah had burned in the fire. And many more similar words were added. Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.
Key Themes
Themes in Jeremiah 36
The authority and persistence of God's wordRejection of Scripture by those in powerThe partnership of prophet and scribeGod's word cannot be destroyedAccountability for rejecting truth
Apply This Today
Living Jeremiah 36
A king can cut and burn a scroll, but He cannot destroy God's word. When we reject or dismiss Scripture because it makes us uncomfortable, we place ourselves under greater judgment. God's word will accomplish its purpose regardless of human attempts to silence it, and there will always be someone faithful enough to write it down again.
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