Jeremiah 43

And in the fourth year of Ioakim son of Iosias king of Judah, a word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Take for yourself a scroll of a book, and write on it all the words which I have declared to you against Jerusalem and against Judah and against all the nations, from the day when I spoke to you, from the days of Iosias king of Judah and until this day.

Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the evils which I reckon to do to them, so that they may turn away from their evil way, and I will be merciful to their iniquities and their sins.

And Ieremias called Barouch son of Nerias, and he wrote from the mouth of Ieremias all the words of the Lord which he had declared to him, on a scroll of a book.

And Ieremias commanded Barouch, saying: I am being kept under guard; I cannot enter into the house of the Lord.

And you shall read from this scroll into the ears of the people in the house of the Lord on a day of fasting, and into the ears of all Judah, of those who come from their city—you shall read to them.

Perhaps their mercy will fall before the face of the Lord, and they will turn back from their evil way; for great is the wrath and the anger of the Lord which he has spoken against this people.

And Barouch did according to all that Ieremias commanded him, to read in the book the words of the Lord in the house of the Lord.

And it happened in the eighth year of King Ioakim, in the ninth month, that all the people in Jerusalem and the house of Judah convoked a fast before the face of the Lord.

And Barouch read in the book the words of Ieremias in the house of the Lord, in the house of Gamarias son of Saphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entrance of the new gate of the house of the Lord, in the ears of all the people.

And Michaias son of Gamarias son of Saphan heard all the words of the Lord from the book.

And he went down into the house of the king, into the house of the scribe, and behold, there all the rulers were sitting: Elisama the scribe and Dalaias son of Selemias and Elnathan son of Akchobor and Gamarias son of Saphan and Sedekias son of Ananias and all the rulers.

And Michaias announced to them all the words which he heard while Barouch was reading into the ears of the people.

And all the rulers sent to Barouch son of Nerias Ioudin son of Nathanias son of Selemias son of Chousi, saying: The scroll from which you are reading into the ears of the people—take it into your hand and come. And Barouch took the scroll and went down to them.

And they said to him: Read again into our ears. And Barouch read.

And it happened, when they heard all the words, that they took counsel each with his neighbor and said: We must surely report to the king all these words.

And they asked Barouch, saying: From where did you write all these words?

And Barouch said: From his mouth Ieremias announced to me all these words, and I was writing in a book.

And they said to Barouch: Go, hide yourself, you and Ieremias; let no person know where you are.

And they went in to the king, into the court, and they gave the scroll to be kept in the house of Elisama, and they reported to the king all the words.

And the king sent Ioudin to take the scroll, and he took it from the house of Elisama; and Ioudin read it into the ears of the king and into the ears of all the rulers who were standing around the king.

And the king was sitting in a winter house, and a brazier of fire was before him.

And it happened that, as Ioudin read three columns and four, he would cut them off with the scribe's razor and throw them into the fire that was on the brazier, until the whole scroll was consumed in the fire on the brazier.

And they did not seek, nor did they tear their garments — the king and his servants who heard all these words.

And Elnathan and Godolias and Gamarias urged the king not to burn the scroll.

And the king commanded Ieremeel the king's son and Saraia son of Esriel to seize Barouch and Ieremias; but they were hidden.

And the word of the Lord came to Ieremias after the king had burned the scroll, all the words which Barouch wrote from the mouth of Ieremias, saying:

Again take you another scroll and write all the words that were on the scroll which Ioakim the king burned.

And you shall say: Thus said the Lord: You burned this scroll, saying, Why did you write on it, saying: The king of Babylon shall surely come in and utterly destroy this land, and man and beast shall cease from it?

Therefore thus said the Lord concerning Ioakim king of Judah: He shall have none sitting on the throne of David; and his corpse shall be cast out in the heat of the day and in the frost of the night.

And I will visit upon him and upon his offspring and upon his servants, and I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the land of Judah all the evils which I spoke to them, and they did not listen.

And Barouch took another scroll and wrote on it from the mouth of Ieremias all the words of the book which Ioakim had burned; and there were yet added to it many more words like these.