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Jeremiah 36

Judah’s king burns the written warning, yet God preserves his messengers and commands the words to be written again.

During Jehoiakim’s reign in Judah, YHWH tells Jeremiah to record years of warnings on a scroll so the people might turn back and receive forgiveness. Jeremiah dictates to Baruch, who reads the scroll at the temple because Jeremiah cannot go there. The words reach the officials, then the king. Jehoiakim cuts up the scroll and burns it despite objections. YHWH hides Jeremiah and Baruch, pronounces judgment on the king, and commands another scroll to be written.

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1In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2“Take a scroll of a book, and write in it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah even to this day.
3It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I intend to do to them, that they may each return from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”
4Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the LORD’s words, which he had spoken to him, on a scroll of a book.
5Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am restricted. I can’t go into the LORD’s house.
6Therefore you go, and read from the scroll which you have written from my mouth, the LORD’s words, in the ears of the people in the LORD’s house on the fast day. Also you shall read them in the ears of all Judah who come out of their cities.
7It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and will each return from his evil way; for the LORD has pronounced great anger and wrath against this people.”
8Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the LORD’s words in the LORD’s house.
9Now in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem, proclaimed a fast before the LORD.
10Then Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the book in the LORD’s house, in the room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the new gate of the LORD’s house, in the ears of all the people.
11When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the LORD’s words,
12he went down into the king’s house, into the scribe’s room; and behold, all the princes were sitting there, Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes.
13Then Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.
14Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll in which you have read in the ears of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand, and came to them.
16Now when they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one toward another, and said to Baruch, “We will surely tell the king of all these words.”
17They asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words at his mouth?”
18Then Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.”
19Then the princes said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah go hide. Don’t let anyone know where you are.”
20They went in to the king into the court, but they had laid up the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe. Then they told all the words in the hearing of the king.
21So the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the room of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king, and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king.
22Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, and there was a fire in the brazier burning before him.
23When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier.
24The king and his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, and didn’t tear their garments.
25Moreover Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the scroll; but he would not listen to them.
26The king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but the LORD hid them.
28“Take again another scroll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned.
29Concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘The LORD says: “You have burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written therein, saying, “The king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cause to cease from there man and animal”?’”
30Therefore the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: “He will have no one to sit on David’s throne. His dead body will be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.
31I will punish him, his offspring, and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but they didn’t listen.”’”
32Then Jeremiah took another scroll, 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 many similar words were added to them.
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Key verses
Jeremiah 36:3God states the purpose of the written warnings: Judah may hear, turn from evil, and receive forgiveness.
Jeremiah 36:26The king’s attempt to seize Jeremiah and Baruch fails because YHWH hides the messengers whose words he rejects.
Jeremiah 36:7Jeremiah sends Baruch to read with the hope that hearing God’s anger will lead to prayer and repentance.
Where this chapter reaches

In 2 Kings, Josiah hears a book read and tears his clothes; Jeremiah 36 records Jehoiakim hearing the scroll without fear or torn garments, linking the accounts through contrasting royal responses. 2 Chronicles shares the setting of Jehoiakim’s reign and Babylon’s action against Judah.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What stands out to you about God’s stated purpose for warnings in verses 3 and 7?

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How does the contrast between the officials’ fear and Jehoiakim’s response shape your reading of the scroll’s destruction?

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Questions people ask about Jeremiah 36

Why did Jehoiakim burn Jeremiah’s scroll?

Verse 29 identifies the message Jehoiakim opposed: Babylon’s king would come and destroy the land. As Jehudi reads, Jehoiakim cuts off sections and burns them, ignoring officials who ask him to stop. The account presents this as refusal to hear YHWH’s warning, followed by judgment against the king.

Why couldn’t Jeremiah go to the temple in Jeremiah 36?

Jeremiah says he is restricted and cannot go into YHWH’s house, but the chapter does not explain the restriction. It does not establish whether he faced a formal ban, confinement, or another obstacle. Baruch therefore reads the dictated words at the temple in his place.

What happened after Jehoiakim burned the scroll?

YHWH commands Jeremiah to take another scroll and write all the former words again. Baruch records them from Jeremiah’s dictation, and many similar words are added. YHWH also pronounces judgment on Jehoiakim and those who refused to listen. Burning the scroll does not cancel the announced judgment.

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Jeremiah · 52 chapters

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).