Day 300 of 730

¹The 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 Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the rooms, and give them wine to drink."

³Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;

⁴and I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the room of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was by the room of the princes, which was above the room of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold.

⁵I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, "Drink wine!"

⁶But they said, "We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, 'You shall drink no wine, neither you, nor your sons, forever:

⁷neither shall you build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any; but all your days you shall dwell in tents; that you may live many days in the land in which you live.'

⁸We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters;

⁹nor to build houses for us to dwell in; neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:

¹⁰but we have lived in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

¹¹But it happened, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, 'Come, and let us 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."

¹²Then 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 receive instruction to listen to my words?" says the Lord.

¹⁴"The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they drink none, for they obey their father's commandment: but I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; and you have not listened to me.

¹⁵I have sent also to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, 'Return now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and you shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers': but you have not inclined your ear, nor listened to me.

¹⁶Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to me;

¹⁷therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them, but they have not listened; and I have called to them, but they have not answered.'"'"

¹⁸Jeremiah 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';

¹⁹therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me forever.'"

¹It happened in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

²"Take a scroll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, and 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 purpose to do to them; that they may return every man 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 words of the Lord, which he had spoken to him, on a scroll of a book.

⁵Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, "I am shut up; I can't go into the house of the Lord:

⁶therefore you go, and read in the scroll, which you have written from my mouth, the words of the Lord in the ears of the people in the Lord's house on the fast day; and 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 return everyone from his evil way; for great is the anger and the wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people."

⁸Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the Lord in the Lord's house.

⁹Now it happened in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that 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 read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, 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 words of the Lord,

¹²he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's room: and behold, all the princes were sitting there, Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and 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.

¹⁵They said to him, "Sit down now, and read it in our ears." So Baruch read it in their ears.

¹⁶Now it happened, 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 pronounced all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book."

¹⁹Then the princes said to Baruch, "Go, hide, you and Jeremiah; and let no man 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; and they told all the words in the ears 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 ears of the king, and in the ears 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.

²³It happened, when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, that 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.

²⁴They were not afraid, nor tore their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants who heard all these words.

²⁵Moreover Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the scroll; but he would not hear them.

²⁶The king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but the Lord hid them.

²⁷Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the scroll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,

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, 'Thus says the Lord: "You have burned this scroll, saying, 'Why have you written therein, saying, "The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from there man and animal?"'"

³⁰Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: "He shall have none to sit on the throne of David; and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.

³¹I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but they did not listen."'"

³²Then took Jeremiah 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 there were added besides to them many like words.

¹Praise Yah! Praise God in his sanctuary! Praise him in his heavens for his acts of power!

²Praise him for his mighty acts! Praise him according to his excellent greatness!

³Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet! Praise him with harp and lyre!

⁴Praise him with tambourine and dancing! Praise him with stringed instruments and flute!

⁵Praise him with loud cymbals! Praise him with resounding cymbals!

⁶Let everything that has breath praise Yah! Praise Yah!

¹The king's heart is in the Lord's hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires.

²Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts.

³To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

⁴A high look, and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, is sin.

⁵The plans of the diligent surely lead to profit; and everyone who is hasty surely rushes to poverty.

⁶Getting treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor for those who seek death.

⁷The violence of the wicked will drive them away, because they refuse to do what is right.

⁸The way of the guilty is devious, but the conduct of the innocent is upright.

⁹It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than to share a house with a contentious woman.

¹⁰The soul of the wicked desires evil; his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes.

¹¹When the mocker is punished, the simple gains wisdom. When the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge.

¹²The Righteous One considers the house of the wicked, and brings the wicked to ruin.

¹³Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard.

¹⁴A gift in secret pacifies anger; and a bribe in the cloak, strong wrath.

¹⁵It is joy to the righteous to do justice; but it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.

¹⁶The man who wanders out of the way of understanding shall rest in the assembly of the dead.

¹⁷He who loves pleasure shall be a poor man. He who loves wine and oil shall not be rich.

¹⁸The wicked is a ransom for the righteous; the treacherous for the upright.

¹⁹It is better to dwell in a desert land, than with a contentious and fretful woman.

²⁰There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man swallows it up.

²¹He who follows after righteousness and kindness finds life, righteousness, and honor.

²²A wise man scales the city of the mighty, and brings down the strength of its confidence.

²³Whoever guards his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles.

²⁴The proud and haughty man, "scoffer" is his name; he works in the arrogance of pride.

²⁵The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor.

²⁶There are those who covet greedily all day long; but the righteous give and do not withhold.

²⁷The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination: how much more, when he brings it with a wicked mind!

²⁸A false witness will perish, and a man who listens speaks to eternity.

²⁹A wicked man hardens his face; but as for the upright, he establishes his ways.

³⁰There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord.

³¹The horse is prepared for the day of battle; but victory is with the Lord.