2 “Take a ascroll of a book and bwrite on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, against Judah, and against call the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of dJosiah even to this day.
3 It amay be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities which I purpose to bring upon them, that everyone may bturn from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”
4 Then Jeremiah acalled Baruch the son of Neriah; and bBaruch wrote on a scroll of a book,1 at the instruction of Jeremiah, all the words of the Lord which He had spoken to him.
5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am confined, I cannot go into the house of the Lord.
6 You go, therefore, and read from the scroll which you have written1 at my instruction, the words of the Lord, in the hearing of the people in the Lord’s house on athe day of fasting. And you shall also read them in the hearing of all Judah who come from their cities.
7 It may be that they will present their supplication before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way. For great is the anger and the fury that the Lord has pronounced against this people.”
8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.
9 Now 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 who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem.
10 Then Baruch read from 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 upper court at the aentry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house, in the1 hearing of all the people.
The Scroll Read in the Palace
11 When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the book,
12 he then went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber; and there all the princes were sitting—aElishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, bElnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes.
13 Then Michaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read the book in the hearing of the people.
14 Therefore 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 from which you have read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them.
15 And they said to him, “Sit down now, and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing.
16 Now it happened, when they had heard all the words, that they looked in fear from one to another, and said to Baruch, “We will surely tell the king of all these words.”
17 And they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words—1at his instruction?”
18 So Baruch answered them, “He proclaimed with his mouth all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink in the book.”
19 Then the princes said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah; and let no one know where you are.”
The King Destroys Jeremiah’s Scroll
20 And they went to the king, into the court; but they stored the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the hearing of the king.
21 So the king sent Jehudi to bring the scroll, and he took it from Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king.
22 Now the king was sitting in athe winter house in the ninth month, with afire burning on the hearth before him.
23 And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four columns, thattheking cut it with the scribe’s knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
24 Yet they were anot afraid, nor did they btear their garments, the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words.
25 Nevertheless Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah implored the king not to burn the scroll; but 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 seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.
Jeremiah Rewrites the Scroll
27 Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words which Baruch had written at the instruction of Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying:
28 “Take yet another scroll, and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned.
29 And you shall say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, ‘Thus says the Lord: “You have burned this scroll, saying, a‘Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and cause man and beast to bcease from here?’ ”
30 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: a“He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be bcast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night.
31 I will punish him, his family, and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the doom that I have pronounced against them; but they did not heed.” ’ ”
32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the instruction of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And besides, there were added to them many similar words.
Little is known about Baruch, son of Neriah. A note in TheAmplified Bible, citing II Chronicles 34:8, suggests that he may have been the grandson of Maaseiah, who served as the governor of Jerusalem in the days of King Josiah. Baruch may have been attached to a family of means, perhaps a prominent one. He was certainly educated, serving as he did as Jeremiah's secretary. Entrusted with putting down Jeremiah's words for posterity, we can surmise that he was detail-oriented and performance-motivated, able to get a lot of work done and get it done correctly.
Jeremiah 43 and 44 offer us a clue about Baruch's social status. Shortly after Jerusalem's fall, a small number of Jews remaining in the city ask Jeremiah to seek God's counsel regarding what action they should take. After ten days, God tells the people through Jeremiah to remain in the vicinity, around Jerusalem. Specifically, they are not to flee to Egypt in an attempt to escape from the Babylonians. The Jewish leadership rejects God's instruction to them, and ultimately leads the people down to Egypt anyway. One of their reasons for rejecting Jeremiah's comments may be telling. They respond to the prophet, as recorded in Jeremiah 43:2-3:
You speak falsely! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, “Do not go to Egypt to dwell there.” But Baruch the son of Neriah has set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death or carry us away captive to Babylon.
It appears that the Jewish leadership saw Baruch as somewhat of a mover-and-shaker, someone who had influence over Jeremiah, as though he, rather than God, were the power behind Jeremiah's words. It is not likely that they would come to this conclusion (erroneous as it was) if Baruch were just a secretary. He was undoubtedly a highly competent, poised person, perhaps prominent to some extent.
The Berean gives you the starting point: one scripture and a focused commentary in your inbox each morning — read it in minutes, or go as deep as you like.
Free, daily, and spam-free. We never share your address. Unsubscribe anytime.
