Jeremiah Saved from Death^(A)

26 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand in ^(B)the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord’s house, ^(C)all the words that I command you to speak to them. ^(D)Do not diminish a word. ^3 (E)Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may ^(F)relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings.’ ⁴ And you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(G)“If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, ⁵ to heed the words of My servants the prophets ^(H)whom I sent to you, both rising up early and sending them (but you have not heeded), ⁶ then I will make this house like ^(I)Shiloh, and will make this city ^(J)a curse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ”

⁷ So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. ⁸ Now it happened, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You will surely die! ⁹ Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be ^(K)desolate, without an inhabitant’?” And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.

¹⁰ When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and sat down in the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house. ¹¹ And the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and all the people, saying, ^[a]“This man deserves to ^(L)die! For he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.”

¹² Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and all the people, saying: “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city with all the words that you have heard. ¹³ Now therefore, ^(M)amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; then the Lord will relent concerning the doom that He has pronounced against you. ¹⁴ As for me, here ^(N)I am, in your hand; do with me as seems good and ^[b]proper to you. ¹⁵ But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will surely bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on its inhabitants; for truly the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

¹⁶ So the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve to die. For he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”

^17 (O)Then certain of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying: ^18 (P)“Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts:

¹⁹ Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah ever put him to death? ^(S)Did he not fear the Lord and ^(T)seek the Lord’s favor? And the Lord ^(U)relented concerning the doom which He had pronounced against them. ^(V)But we are doing great evil against ourselves.”

²⁰ Now there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath Jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah. ²¹ And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid and fled, and went to Egypt. ²² Then Jehoiakim the king sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor, and other men who went with him to Egypt. ²³ And they brought Urijah from Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the ^[e]common people.

²⁴ Nevertheless ^(W)the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

The Obedient Rechabites

35 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, ² “Go to the house of the ^(A)Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of ^(B)the chambers, and give them wine to drink.”

³ Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, his brothers and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites, ⁴ and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, ^(C)the keeper of the ^[a]door. ⁵ Then I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine.”

⁶ But they said, “We will drink no wine, for ^(D)Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink ^(E)no wine, you nor your sons, forever. ⁷ You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, nor have any of these; but all your days you shall dwell in tents, ^(F)that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners.’ ⁸ Thus we have ^(G)obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, ⁹ nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; nor do we have vineyard, field, or seed. ¹⁰ But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. ¹¹ But it came to pass, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, ‘Come, let us ^(H)go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and for fear of the army of the Syrians.’ So we dwell at Jerusalem.”

¹² Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, saying, ¹³ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not ^(I)receive instruction to ^[b]obey My words?” says the Lord. ¹⁴ “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; for to this day they drink none, and obey their father’s commandment. ^(J)But although I have spoken to you, ^(K)rising early and speaking, you did not ^[c]obey Me. ¹⁵ I have also sent to you all My ^(L)servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ^(M)‘Turn now everyone from his evil way, amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them; then you will ^(N)dwell in the land which I have given you and your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear, nor obeyed Me. ¹⁶ Surely the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their ^(O)father, which he commanded them, but this people has not obeyed Me.” ’

¹⁷ “Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the doom that I have pronounced against them; ^(P)because I have spoken to them but they have not heard, and I have called to them but they have not answered.’ ”

¹⁸ And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts and done according to all that he commanded you, ¹⁹ therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to ^(Q)stand before Me forever.” ’ ”

The Scroll Read in the Temple

36 Now it came to pass in the ^(A)fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: ² “Take a ^(B)scroll of a book and ^(C)write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, against Judah, and against ^(D)all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of ^(E)Josiah even to this day. ³ It ^(F)may be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities which I purpose to bring upon them, that everyone may ^(G)turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

⁴ Then Jeremiah ^(H)called Baruch the son of Neriah; and ^(I)Baruch wrote on a scroll of a book, ^[a]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 written ^[b]at my instruction, the words of the Lord, in the hearing of the people in the Lord’s house on ^(J)the 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 ^(K)entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house, in the ^[c]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—^(L)Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, ^(M)Elnathan 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—^[d]at 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 ^(N)the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning on the hearth before him. ²³ And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four columns, that the king 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 ^(O)not afraid, nor did they ^(P)tear 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 ^[e]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 ^[f]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, ^(Q)‘Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and cause man and beast to ^(R)cease from here?’ ” ³⁰ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: ^(S)“He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be ^(T)cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. ³¹ I will punish him, his ^[g]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 ^[h]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.

The Empty Tomb^(A)

20 Now the ^(B)first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the ^(C)stone had been taken away from the tomb. ² Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the ^(D)other disciple, ^(E)whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

^3 (F)Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. ⁴ So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. ⁵ And he, stooping down and looking in, saw ^(G)the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, ⁷ and ^(H)the ^[a]handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the ^(I)other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. ⁹ For as yet they did not ^[b]know the ^(J)Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.

Mary Magdalene Sees the Risen Lord

^11 (K)But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. ¹² And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. ¹³ Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”

She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”

^14 (L)Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and ^(M)did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”

She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, ^(N)“Mary!”

She turned and said to ^[c]Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).

¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ^(O)ascended to My Father; but go to ^(P)My brethren and say to them, ^(Q)‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to ^(R)My God and your God.’ ”

^18 (S)Mary Magdalene came and told the ^[d]disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.

The Apostles Commissioned^(T)

^19 (U)Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were ^[e]assembled, for ^(V)fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, ^(W)“Peace be with you.” ²⁰ When He had said this, He ^(X)showed them His hands and His side. ^(Y)Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

²¹ So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! ^(Z)As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” ²² And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ^23 (AA)If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Seeing and Believing

²⁴ Now Thomas, ^(AB)called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”

So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

²⁶ And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” ²⁷ Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and ^(AC)reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be ^(AD)unbelieving, but believing.”

²⁸ And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹ Jesus said to him, ^[f]“Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. ^(AE)Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

That You May Believe

³⁰ And ^(AF)truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; ^31 (AG)but these are written that ^(AH)you may believe that Jesus ^(AI)is the Christ, the Son of God, ^(AJ)and that believing you may have life in His name.