2Ki 24:1-7, 2Ch 36:5, Jer 22:13-17, Jer 26, Jer 36 | ESV | STEP | In his days , Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up , and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years . Then he turned and rebelled against him.

1 ^aIn his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 And the Lord sent against him bands of the ^bChaldeans and ^cbands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, ^daccording to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servants the prophets. 3 Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them out of his sight, ^efor the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also ^ffor the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord would not pardon. 5 ^gNow the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 6 So Jehoiakim ^hslept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 7 ⁱAnd the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, ^jfor the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt ^kfrom the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

2 Chronicles 36:5

5 ^lJehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God.

Jeremiah 22:13-17

13 ^m“Woe to him who builds his house by ⁿunrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice,
^owho makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
and does not give him his wages,
14 who says, ‘I will build myself a great house
with spacious upper rooms,’
who cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar
and ^ppainting it with vermilion.
15 Do you think you are a king
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and ^qdo justice and righteousness?
^rThen it was well with him.
16 ^sHe judged the cause of the poor and needy;
^tthen it was well.
Is not this ^uto know me?
declares the Lord.
17 But you have eyes and heart
only for your dishonest gain,
^vfor shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence.”

Jeremiah 26

Jeremiah Threatened with Death

1 ^wIn the beginning of the reign of ^xJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: 2 “Thus says the Lord: ^yStand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the Lord ^zall the words that I command you to speak to them; ^aado not hold back a word. 3 ^abIt may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, ^acthat I may relent of the disaster that I intend to do to them ^adbecause of their evil deeds. 4 You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^aeIf you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you, 5 ^afand to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you ^agurgently, ^ahthough you have not listened, 6 then I will make this house ^ailike Shiloh, and I will make this city ^aja curse for all the nations of the earth.’”

7 ^akThe priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. 8 And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then ^althe priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, “You shall die! 9 Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be ^amlike Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, ^anwithout inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.

10 When ^aothe officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and took their seat in the ^apentry of the New Gate of the house of the Lord. 11 Then ^aqthe priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, ^ar“This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”

12 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. 13 Now therefore ^asmend your ways and your deeds, ^atand obey the voice of the Lord your God, ^auand the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. 14 ^avBut as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. 15 Only know for certain that if you put me to death, ^awyou will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”

Jeremiah Spared from Death

16 ^axThen the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, ^ay“This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” 17 ^azAnd certain of ^bathe elders of the land arose and spoke to all the assembled people, saying, 18 “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts,

^bb“‘Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
and the mountain of the house a wooded height.’
19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? ^bcDid he not fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord, ^bdand did not the Lord relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against them? ^beBut we are about to bring great disaster upon ourselves.”

20 There was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from ^bfKiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land in words like those of Jeremiah. 21 And when ^bgKing Jehoiakim, with all his warriors and all the officials, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah heard of it, he was afraid and fled and escaped to Egypt. 22 Then ^bhKing Jehoiakim sent to Egypt certain men, ^biElnathan the son of ^bjAchbor and others with him, 23 and they took Uriah from Egypt and brought him to King Jehoiakim, ^bkwho struck him down with the sword and dumped his dead body into the burial place of the common people.

24 But the hand of ^blAhikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah so that he was not given over to the people to be put to death.

Jeremiah 36

Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah’s Scroll

1 In the ^bmfourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Take ^bna scroll and ^bowrite on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and ^bpJudah ^bqand all the nations, ^brfrom the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. 3 ^bsIt may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, ^btso that every one may turn from his evil way, and ^buthat I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

4 Then Jeremiah called ^bvBaruch the son of Neriah, and ^bwBaruch wrote on ^bxa scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord that he had spoken to him. 5 And Jeremiah ordered ^byBaruch, saying, ^bz“I am banned from going to the house of the Lord, 6 so you are to go, and ^caon a day of fasting in the hearing of all the people in the Lord’s house you shall read the words of the Lord from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the men of Judah who come out of their cities. 7 ^cbIt may be that their plea for mercy will come before the Lord, ^ccand that every one will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.” 8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did all that Jeremiah the prophet ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.

9 ^cdIn the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, ^cein the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem ^cfproclaimed a fast before the Lord. 10 Then, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll, in the house of the Lord, in ^cgthe chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house.

11 When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, son of ^chShaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, 12 he went down to the king’s house, into the secretary’s chamber, and ^ciall the officials were sitting there: ^cjElishama the secretary, ^ckDelaiah the son of Shemaiah, ^clElnathan ^cmthe son of Achbor, ^cnGemariah the son of ^coShaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the officials. 13 And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people. 14 Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, son of ^cpShelemiah, son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Take in your hand the scroll that you 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 and read it.” So Baruch read it to them. 16 When they heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear. And they said to Baruch, ^cq“We must report all these words to the king.” 17 Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” 18 Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me, ^crwhile I wrote them with ink on the scroll.” 19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.”

20 So they went into the court to the king, having put the scroll in ^csthe chamber of Elishama the secretary, and they reported all the words to the king. 21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary. And Jehudi read it to the king and all the officials who stood beside the king. 22 It was ^ctthe ninth month, and the king was sitting in ^cuthe winter house, and there was a fire burning in the fire pot before him. 23 As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a knife and throw them into the fire in the fire pot, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the fire pot. 24 Yet ^cvneither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was afraid, ^cwnor did they tear their garments. 25 Even when ^cxElnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah ^cyurged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26 And the king commanded Jerahmeel the ^czking’s son and Seraiah the son of Azriel and ^daShelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize ^dbBaruch the secretary and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.

27 Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 28 “Take 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 concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord, You have burned this scroll, saying, ^dc“Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off from it man and beast?” 30 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: ^ddHe shall have none ^deto sit on the throne of David, ^dfand his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. 31 ^dgAnd I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the people of Judah all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, but they would not hear.’”

32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to ^dhBaruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who ^diwrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.