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The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord , when ^(a)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, with ^(b)all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and against all its cities, saying,

"Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘^(c)Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him: "Thus says the Lord , ‘Behold, ^(d)I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and ^(e)he will burn it with fire.

^(f)You will not escape from his hand, for you will surely be captured and delivered into his hand; and you will ^(g)see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you ^[a]face to face, and you will go to Babylon.'"'

Yet hear the word of the Lord , O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the Lord concerning you, ‘You will not die by the sword.

You will die in peace; and as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will ^(h)burn spices for you; and ⁽ⁱ⁾they will lament for you, "Alas, lord!"' For I have spoken the word," declares the Lord .

Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke ^(j)all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem

when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the remaining cities of Judah, that is, ^(k)Lachish and ^(l)Azekah, for they alone remained as ^(m)fortified cities among the cities of Judah.

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had ⁽ⁿ⁾made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to ^(o)proclaim ^[b]release to them:

that each man should set free his male servant and each man his female servant, a ^(p)Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman; so that ^(q)no one should keep them, a Jew his brother, in bondage.

And all the ^(r)officials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant that each man should set free his male servant and each man his female servant, so that no one should keep them any longer in bondage; they obeyed, and set them free.

But afterward they turned around and took back the male servants and the female servants whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection for male servants and for female servants.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord , saying,

"Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘I ^(s)made a covenant with your forefathers in the day that I ^(t)brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, saying,

"^(u)At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who ^[c]has been sold to you and has served you six years, you shall send him out free from you; but your forefathers ^(v)did not obey Me or incline their ear to Me.

Although recently you had turned and ^(w)done what is right in My sight, each man proclaiming ^[d]release to his neighbor, and you had ^(x)made a covenant before Me ^(y)in the house which is called by My name.

Yet you ^(z)turned and ^(aa)profaned My name, and each man ^[e]took back his male servant and each man his female servant whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your male servants and female servants."'

"Therefore thus says the Lord , ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming ^[f]release each man to his brother and each man to his neighbor. Behold, I am ^(ab)proclaiming a ^[g]release to you,' declares the Lord , ‘to the ^(ac)sword, to the pestilence and to the famine; and I will make you a ^(ad)terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

I will give the men who have ^(ae)transgressed My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they ^(af)cut the calf in two and passed between its parts—

the ^(ag)officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the court officers and the priests and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf—

I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who ^(ah)seek their life. And their ^(ai)dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.

^(aj)Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has ^(ak)gone away from you.

Behold, I am going to command,' declares the Lord , ‘and I will bring them back to this city; and they will fight against it and ^(al)take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a ^(am)desolation ^(an)without inhabitant.'"

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of ^(a)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,

"Go to the house of the ^(b)Rechabites and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord , into one of the ^(c)chambers, and give them wine to drink."

Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites,

and I brought them into the house of the Lord , into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the ^(d)man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, ^(e)the doorkeeper.

Then I set before the ^[a]men of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine and cups; and I said to them, "^(f)Drink wine!"

But they said, "We will not drink wine, for ^(g)Jonadab the son of ^(h)Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall ⁽ⁱ⁾not drink wine, you or your sons, forever.

You shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed and you shall not plant a vineyard or own one; but in ^(j)tents you shall dwell all your days, that you may live ^(k)many days in the land where you ^(l)sojourn.'

We have ^(m)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,

nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; and we ⁽ⁿ⁾do not have vineyard or field or seed.

We have only ^(o)dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and have done according to all that ^(p)Jonadab our father commanded us.

But when ^(q)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come and let us ^(r)go to Jerusalem before the army of the Chaldeans and before the army of the Arameans.' So we have dwelt in Jerusalem."

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

"Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, "^(s)Will you not receive instruction by listening to My words?" declares the Lord .

"The ^(t)words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are observed. So they do not drink wine to this day, for they have obeyed their father's command. But I have spoken to you ^[b](u)again and again; yet you have ^(v)not listened to Me.

Also I have sent to you all My ^(w)servants the prophets, sending them ^[c]again and again, saying: ‘^(x)Turn now every man from his evil way and amend your deeds, and ^(y)do not go after other gods to worship them. Then you will ^(z)dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your forefathers; but you have not ^(aa)inclined your ear or listened to Me.

Indeed, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have ^(ab)observed the command of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to Me.'"'

Therefore thus says the Lord , the God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, ^(ac)I am bringing on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I ^(ad)spoke to them but they did not listen, and I have called them but they did not answer.'"

Then Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have ^(ae)obeyed the command of Jonadab your father, kept all his commands and done according to all that he commanded you;

therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, "Jonadab the son of Rechab ^(af)shall not lack a man to ^(ag)stand before Me ^[d]always."'"

In the ^(a)fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord , saying,

"Take a ^[a](b)scroll and write on it all the ^(c)words which I have spoken to you concerning ^(d)Israel and concerning Judah, and concerning all the ^(e)nations, from the ^(f)day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.

^(g)Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the calamity which I plan to bring on them, in order that every man will ^(h)turn from his evil way; then I will ⁽ⁱ⁾forgive their iniquity and their sin."

Then Jeremiah called ^(j)Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a ^[b](k)scroll ^[c]at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord which He had spoken to him.

Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, "I am ^[d](l)restricted; I cannot go into the house of the Lord .

So you go and ^(m)read from the scroll which you have ⁽ⁿ⁾written ^[e]at my dictation the words of the Lord ^[f]to the people in the Lord's house on a ^(o)fast day. And also you shall read them ^[g]to all the people of Judah who come from their cities.

^(p)Perhaps their supplication will ^[h]come before the Lord , and everyone will turn from his evil way, for ^(q)great is the anger and the wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people."

Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, ^(r)reading from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord's house.

Now in the ^(s)fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ^(t)ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who ^(u)came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a ^(v)fast before the Lord .

Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord in the ^(w)chamber of ^(x)Gemariah the son of Shaphan the ^(y)scribe, in the upper court, at the ^(z)entry of the New Gate of the Lord's house, to all the people.

Now when ^(aa)Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all the words of the Lord from the book,

he went down to the king's house, into the scribe's chamber. And behold, all the officials were sitting there—^(ab)Elishama the scribe, and ^(ac)Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and ^(ad)Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the other officials.

Micaiah ^(ae)declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the book to the people.

Then all the officials sent ^(af)Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, 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 ^(ag)took the scroll in his hand and went to them.

They said to him, "Sit down, please, and read it to us." So Baruch ^(ah)read it to them.

When they had heard all the words, they turned in ^(ai)fear one to another and said to Baruch, "We will surely ^(aj)report all these words to the king."

And they asked Baruch, saying, "Tell us, please, ^(ak)how did you write all these words? Was it ^[i]at his dictation?"

Then Baruch said to them, "He ^(al)dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the book."

Then the officials said to Baruch, "Go, ^(am)hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are."

So they went to the ^(an)king in the court, but they had deposited the scroll in the chamber of ^(ao)Elishama the scribe, and they reported all the words to the king.

Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi ^(ap)read it to the king as well as to all the officials who stood beside the king.

Now the king was sitting in the ^(aq)winter house in the ^(ar)ninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him.

When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe's knife and ^(as)threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier.

Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were ^(at)not afraid, nor did they ^(au)rend their garments.

Even though Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah ^(av)pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.

And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to ^(aw)seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the ^(ax) Lord hid them.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after the king had ^(ay)burned the scroll and the words which ^(az)Baruch had written at the dictation of Jeremiah, saying,

"^(ba)Take again another scroll and write on it all the former words that were ^(bb)on the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned.

And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord , "You have ^(bc)burned this scroll, saying, ‘^(bd)Why have you written on it ^[j]that the ^(be)king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will make man and beast to cease from it?'"

Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah, "He shall have ^(bf)no one to sit on the throne of David, and his ^(bg)dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night.

I will also ^(bh)punish him and his ^[k]descendants and his servants for their iniquity, and I will ^(bi)bring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the calamity that I have declared to them—but they did not listen."'"

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