Bible Reading Plan

The Rechabites' Obedience

¹ The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of ^(C1)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,² "Go to the house of the ^(C1)Rechabites and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the ^(C2)chambers, and give them wine to drink."³ So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons, and all the household of the Rechabites,⁴ and I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the ^(C1)man of God, which was next to the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, ^(C2)the doorkeeper.⁵ Then I set before the ^(F1)men of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, "^(C1)Drink wine!"⁶ But they said, "We will not drink wine, for ^(C1)Jonadab the son of ^(C2)Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, 'You shall ^(C3)not drink wine, you or your sons, forever.⁷ 'You shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed nor plant a vineyard, nor ^(F1)own one; but you shall live in ^(C1)tents all your days, so that you may live ^(C2)many days ^(F2)in the land where you ^(C3)live as strangers.'⁸ "And we have ^(C1)obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters,⁹ nor to build ourselves houses to live in; and we ^(C1)do not have a vineyard, a field, or seed.¹⁰ "But we have ^(C1)lived only in tents, and have obeyed and have done according to all that our father ^(C2)Jonadab commanded us.¹¹ "However, when ^(C1)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, 'Come, and let's ^(C2)go to Jerusalem away from the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Arameans.' So we have lived in Jerusalem."

Judah Rebuked

¹² Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,¹³ "This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: 'Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, "^(C1)Will you not accept instruction by listening to My words?" declares the LORD.¹⁴ "The ^(C1)words of Jonadab the son of Rechab have been followed, which he commanded his sons: not to drink wine. And they do not drink wine to this day, for they have obeyed their father's command. But I have spoken to you ^(C2)again and again, yet you have ^(C3)not listened to Me.¹⁵ "Also I have sent to you all My ^(C1)servants the prophets, sending them again and again, saying: '^(C2)Turn now every person from his evil way and amend your deeds, and ^(C3)do not follow other gods to worship them. Then you will ^(C4)live in the land which I have given to you and to your forefathers; but you have not ^(C5)inclined your ear or listened to Me.¹⁶ 'Indeed, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have ^(C1)followed the command of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to Me.'"'¹⁷ "Therefore this is what the LORD says, the God of armies, the God of Israel: 'Behold, ^(C1)I am bringing on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I ^(C2)spoke to them but they did not listen, and I have called them but they did not answer.'"

¹⁸ Then Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, "This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: 'Because you have ^(C1)obeyed the command of Jonadab your father, kept all his commands, and done according to all that he commanded you,¹⁹ therefore this is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel says: "Jonadab the son of Rechab ^(C1)will not lack a man to ^(C2)stand before Me ^(F1)always."'"

Jeremiah's Scroll Read in the Temple

¹ In the ^(C1)fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,² "Take a ^(F1)(C1)scroll and write on it all the ^(C2)words which I have spoken to you concerning ^(C3)Israel, Judah, and all the ^(C4)nations, from the ^(C5)day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.³ "^(C1)Perhaps the house of Judah will listen to all the disaster which I plan to carry out against them, so that every person will ^(C2)turn from his evil way; then I will ^(C3)forgive their wrongdoing and their sin."

⁴ Then Jeremiah called ^(C1)Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a ^(F1)(C2)scroll ^(F2)at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD which He had spoken to him.⁵ Jeremiah then commanded Baruch, saying, "I am ^(F1)(C1)restricted; I cannot go into the house of the LORD.⁶ "So you go and ^(C1)read from the scroll, which you have ^(C2)written ^(F1)at my dictation, the words of the LORD ^(F2)to the people at the LORD'S house on a day of ^(C3)fasting. And you shall also read them ^(F2)to all the people of Judah who come from their cities.⁷ "^(C1)Perhaps their pleading will ^(F1)come before the LORD, and everyone will turn from his evil way; for ^(C2)great is the anger and the wrath that the LORD has pronounced against this people."⁸ So Baruch the son of Neriah acted in accordance with all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, ^(C1)reading from the book the words of the LORD in the LORD'S house.

⁹ Now in the ^(C1)fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ^(C2)ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who ^(C3)came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a ^(C4)fast before the LORD.¹⁰ Then Baruch read to all the people from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD in the ^(C1)chamber of ^(C2)Gemariah the son of Shaphan the ^(C3)scribe, in the upper courtyard, at the ^(C4)entry of the New Gate of the LORD'S house.

¹¹ Now when ^(C1)Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all the words of the LORD from the book,¹² he went down to the king's house, into the scribe's chamber. And behold, all the officials were sitting there—^(C1)Elishama the scribe, ^(C2)Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, ^(C3)Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the other officials.¹³ And Micaiah ^(C1)declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the book to the people.¹⁴ Then all the officials sent ^(C1)Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, who was the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, "Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read to the people and come." So Baruch the son of Neriah ^(C2)took the scroll in his hand and came to them.¹⁵ And they said to him, "Sit down, please, and read it to us." So Baruch ^(C1)read it to them.¹⁶ When they had heard all the words, they turned in ^(C1)fear one to another. And they said to Baruch, "We will certainly ^(C2)report all these words to the king."¹⁷ Then they asked Baruch, saying, "Tell us, please, ^(C1)how did you write all these words? Was it ^(F1)at Jeremiah's dictation?"¹⁸ And Baruch said to them, "He ^(C1)dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the book."¹⁹ Then the officials said to Baruch, "Go, ^(C1)hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are."

The Scroll Is Burned

²⁰ So they came to the ^(C1)king in the courtyard, but they had deposited the scroll in the chamber of ^(C1)Elishama the scribe; and they reported all the words to the king.²¹ Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi ^(C1)read it to the king as well as to all the officials who were standing beside the king.²² Now the king was sitting in the ^(C1)winter house in the ^(C2)ninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him.²³ And when Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe's knife and ^(C1)threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all of the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier.²⁴ Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words did ^(C1)not tremble in fear, nor did they ^(C2)tear their garments.²⁵ Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah ^(C1)urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.²⁶ And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to ^(C1)seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the ^(C2)LORD hid them.

The Scroll Is Replaced

²⁷ Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah after the king had ^(C1)burned the scroll and the words which ^(C2)Baruch had written ^(F1)at the dictation of Jeremiah, saying,²⁸ "^(C1)Take again another scroll and write on it all the previous words that were ^(C2)on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned.²⁹ "And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, 'This is what the LORD says: "You have ^(C1)burned this scroll, saying, '^(C2)Why have you written on it ^(F1)that the ^(C3)king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will make mankind and animals disappear from it?'"³⁰ 'Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: "He shall have ^(C1)no one to sit on the throne of David, and his ^(C2)dead body shall be thrown out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night.³¹ "I will also ^(C1)punish him, his ^(F1)descendants, and his servants for their wrongdoing, and I will ^(C2)bring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the people of Judah all the disaster that I have declared to them—but they did not listen."'"

³² Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch the son of Neriah, and he ^(C1)wrote on it at the ^(F1)dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many ^(F2)similar words were added to them.

Jeremiah Warns against Trust in Pharaoh

¹ Now ^(C1)Zedekiah the son of Josiah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had ^(C2)made king in the land of Judah, reigned as king in place of ^(C3)Coniah the son of Jehoiakim.² But ^(C1)neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD which He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

³ Yet ^(C1)King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and ^(C2)the priest Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "^(C3)Please pray to the LORD our God in our behalf."⁴ Now Jeremiah was still coming and going among the people, for they had not yet ^(C1)put him in prison.⁵ Meanwhile, ^(C1)Pharaoh's army had set out from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who had been besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they ^(C2)withdrew from Jerusalem.

⁶ Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,⁷ "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: '^(C1)This is what you are to say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: "Behold, ^(C2)Pharaoh's army, which has come out to help you, is going to return to its own land of Egypt.⁸ "Then the Chaldeans will ^(C1)return and fight against this city, and they will capture it and burn it with fire."'⁹ "This is what the LORD says: 'Do not ^(C1)deceive yourselves, saying, "The Chaldeans will certainly go away from us," for they will not go.¹⁰ 'For ^(C1)even if you had defeated the entire army of Chaldeans who were fighting against you, and there were only wounded men left among them, each man in his tent, they would rise up and ^(C2)burn this city with fire.'"

Jeremiah Imprisoned

¹¹ Now it happened when the army of the Chaldeans had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh's army,¹² that Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin in order to ^(C1)take ^(F1)possession of some property there among the people.¹³ While he was at the ^(C1)Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah the son of Hananiah was there; and he ^(C2)arrested Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "You are deserting to the Chaldeans!"¹⁴ But Jeremiah said, "^(C1)A lie! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans"; yet he would not listen to him. So Irijah arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials.¹⁵ Then the officials were ^(C1)angry at Jeremiah and they beat him, and ^(C2)put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for they had made it into the prison.¹⁶ For Jeremiah had come into the ^(F1)(C1)dungeon, that is, the vaulted cell; and Jeremiah stayed there many days.

¹⁷ Now King Zedekiah sent men and took him out; and in his palace the king ^(C1)secretly asked him and said, "Is there a ^(C2)word from the LORD?" And Jeremiah said, "There is!" Then he said, "You will be ^(C3)handed over to the king of Babylon!"¹⁸ Moreover, Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, "^(C1)In what way have I sinned against you, or your servants, or this people, that you have put me in prison?¹⁹ "And ^(C1)where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, 'The ^(C2)king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land'?²⁰ "But now, please listen, my lord the king; please let my ^(C1)plea ^(F1)come before you and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, so that I will not die there."²¹ Then King Zedekiah gave a command, and they placed Jeremiah in custody in the ^(C1)courtyard of the guardhouse, and gave him a loaf of ^(C2)bread daily from the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city was ^(C3)gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guardhouse.

Jeremiah Thrown into the Cistern

¹ Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the ^(C1)son of Shelemiah, and ^(C2)Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying,² "This is what the LORD says: 'Anyone who ^(C1)stays in this city will die by the ^(C2)sword, by famine, or by plague; but anyone who surrenders to the Chaldeans will live and have his own ^(C3)life as plunder, and stay alive.'³ "This is what the LORD says: 'This city will certainly be ^(C1)handed over to the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.'"⁴ Then the ^(C1)officials said to the king, "Please have this man put to death, since he is ^(F1)(C2)discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and ^(F2)all the people, by speaking words like these to them; for this man ^(C3)is not seeking the well-being of this people, but rather their harm."⁵ And King Zedekiah said, "Behold, he is in your ^(F1)hands; for the king ^(C1)can do nothing against you."⁶ So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the ^(C1)cistern of Malchijah the king's son, which was in the courtyard of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only ^(C2)mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.⁷ But ^(C1)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a ^(F1)(C2)eunuch, while he was in the king's palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. Now the king was sitting at the ^(C3)Gate of Benjamin;⁸ and Ebed-melech went out from the king's palace and spoke to the king, saying,⁹ "My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have thrown into the cistern; and he will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is ^(C1)no more bread in the city."¹⁰ Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, "Take thirty men from here ^(F1)under your authority and bring Jeremiah the prophet up from the cistern before he dies."¹¹ So Ebed-melech took the men under his ^(F1)authority and went into the king's palace to a place beneath the storeroom, and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags, and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah.¹² Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, "Now put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes"; and Jeremiah did so.¹³ So they pulled Jeremiah out with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the ^(C1)courtyard of the guardhouse.

Zedekiah Seeks an Answer from God

¹⁴ Then King Zedekiah ^(C1)sent word and ^(F1)had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of the LORD; and the king said to Jeremiah, "I am going to ^(C2)ask you something; do not hide anything from me."¹⁵ And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "^(C1)If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you advice, you will not listen to me."¹⁶ But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in ^(C1)secret, saying, "As the LORD lives, who made this ^(F1)(C2)life for us, I certainly will not put you to death, nor will I hand you over to ^(C3)these men who are seeking your ^(F1)life."

¹⁷ So Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "This is what the LORD ^(C1)God of armies, the ^(C2)God of Israel says: 'If you will indeed ^(C3)surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then ^(F1)you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will ^(F2)survive.¹⁸ 'But if you do ^(C1)not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city ^(C2)will be handed over to the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and ^(C3)you yourself will not escape from their hands.'"¹⁹ Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "I am ^(C1)in fear of the Jews who have ^(C2)deserted to the Chaldeans, for they may hand me over to them, and they will ^(C3)abuse me."²⁰ But Jeremiah said, "They will not turn you over. Please ^(F1)(C1)obey the LORD in what I am saying to you, so that it may go ^(C2)well for you and ^(F2)(C3)you may live.²¹ "But if you keep refusing to surrender, this is the word which the LORD has shown me:²² 'Behold, all of the ^(C1)women who have been left in the palace of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the officers of the king of Babylon; and those women will say,

"^(F1)Your close friends
Have misled and overpowered you;
While your feet were sunk in the mire,
They turned back."

²⁴ Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "Let no one know about these words, and you will not die.²⁵ "But if the ^(C1)officials hear that I have talked with you and come to you and say to you, 'Tell us now what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us and we will not put you to death,'²⁶ then you are to say to them, 'I was ^(C1)presenting my plea before the king, not to make me return to the house of Jonathan to die there.'"²⁷ Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. So he reported to them in accordance with all these words which the king had commanded; and they stopped speaking with him, since the ^(F1)conversation had not been overheard.²⁸ So Jeremiah ^(C1)stayed in the courtyard of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured.