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Soon after Jehoiakim son of Josiah became king of Judah,
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the LORD said to me, "Stand in the court of the Temple and proclaim all I have commanded you to say to the people who come from the towns of Judah to worship there. Do not leave out anything.
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Perhaps the people will listen and give up their evil ways. If they do, then I will change my mind about the destruction I plan to bring on them for all their wicked deeds."
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The LORD told me to say to the people, "I, the LORD, have said that you must obey me by following the teaching that I gave you,
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and by paying attention to the words of my servants, the prophets, whom I have kept on sending to you. You have never obeyed what they said.
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If you continue to disobey, then I will do to this Temple what I did to Shiloh, and all the nations of the world will use the name of this city as a curse."
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The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard me saying these things in the Temple,
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and as soon as I had finished all that the LORD had commanded me to speak, they grabbed me and shouted, "You ought to be killed for this!
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Why have you said in the LORD's name that this Temple will become like Shiloh and that this city will be destroyed and no one will live in it?" Then the people crowded around me.
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When the leaders of Judah heard what had happened, they hurried from the royal palace to the Temple and took their places at the New Gate.
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Then the priests and the prophets said to the leaders and to the people, "This man deserves to be sentenced to death because he has spoken against our city. You heard him with your own ears."
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Then I said, "The LORD sent me to proclaim everything that you heard me say against this Temple and against this city.
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You must change the way you are living and the things you are doing, and must obey the LORD your God. If you do, he will change his mind about the destruction that he said he would bring on you.
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As for me, I am in your power! Do with me whatever you think is fair and right.
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But be sure of this: if you kill me, you and the people of this city will be guilty of killing an innocent man, because it is the LORD who sent me to give you this warning."
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Then the leaders and the people said to the priests and the prophets, "This man spoke to us in the name of the LORD our God; he should not be put to death."
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After that, some of the elders stood up and said to the people who had gathered,
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"When Hezekiah was king of Judah, the prophet Micah of Moresheth told all the people that the LORD Almighty had said, 'Zion will be plowed like a field; Jerusalem will become a pile of ruins, and the Temple hill will become a forest.'
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King Hezekiah and the people of Judah did not put Micah to death. Instead, Hezekiah honored the LORD and tried to win his favor. And the LORD changed his mind about the disaster that he said he would bring on them. Now we are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves."
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(There was another man, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim, who spoke in the name of the LORD against this city and nation just as Jeremiah did.
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When King Jehoiakim and his soldiers and officials heard what Uriah had said, the king tried to have him killed. But Uriah heard about it; so he fled in terror and escaped to Egypt.
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King Jehoiakim, however, sent Elnathan son of Achbor and some other men to Egypt to get Uriah.
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They brought him back to King Jehoiakim, who had him killed and his body thrown into the public burial ground.)
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But because I had the support of Ahikam son of Shaphan, I was not handed over to the people and killed.
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When Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, the LORD said to me,
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"Go to the members of the Rechabite clan and talk to them. Then bring them into one of the rooms in the Temple and offer them some wine."
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So I took the entire Rechabite clan---Jaazaniah (the son of another Jeremiah, who was Habazziniah's son) and all his brothers and sons---
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and brought them to the Temple. I took them into the room of the disciples of the prophet Hanan son of Igdaliah. This room was above the room of Maaseiah son of Shallum, an important official in the Temple, and near the rooms of the other officials.
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Then I placed cups and bowls full of wine before the Rechabites, and I said to them, "Have some wine."
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But they answered, "We do not drink wine. Our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab told us that neither we nor our descendants were ever to drink any wine.
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He also told us not to build houses or farm the land and not to plant vineyards or buy them. He commanded us always to live in tents, so that we might remain in this land where we live like strangers.
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We have obeyed all the instructions that Jonadab gave us. We ourselves never drink wine, and neither do our wives, our sons, or our daughters.
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We do not build houses for homes---we live in tents---and we own no vineyards, fields, or grain. We have fully obeyed everything that our ancestor Jonadab commanded us.
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But when King Nebuchadnezzar invaded the country, we decided to come to Jerusalem to get away from the Babylonian and Syrian armies. That is why we are living in Jerusalem."
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Then the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, told me to go and say to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, "I, the LORD, ask you why you refuse to listen to me and to obey my instructions.
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Jonadab's descendants have obeyed his command not to drink wine, and to this very day none of them drink any. But I have kept on speaking to you, and you have not obeyed me.
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I have continued to send you all my servants the prophets, and they have told you to give up your evil ways and to do what is right. They warned you not to worship and serve other gods, so that you could go on living in the land that I gave you and your ancestors. But you would not listen to me or pay any attention to me.
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Jonadab's descendants have obeyed the command that their ancestor gave them, but you people have not obeyed me.
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So now, I, the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, will bring on you people of Judah and of Jerusalem all the destruction that I promised. I will do this because you would not listen when I spoke to you, and you would not answer when I called you."
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Then I told the Rechabite clan that the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, had said, "You have obeyed the command that your ancestor Jonadab gave you; you have followed all his instructions, and you have done everything he commanded you.
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So I, the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, promise that Jonadab son of Rechab will always have a male descendant to serve me."
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In the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, the LORD said to me,
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"Get a scroll and write on it everything that I have told you about Israel and Judah and all the nations. Write everything that I have told you from the time I first spoke to you, when Josiah was king, up to the present.
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Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about all the destruction that I intend to bring on them, they will turn from their evil ways. Then I will forgive their wickedness and their sins."
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So I called Baruch son of Neriah and dictated to him everything that the LORD had said to me. And Baruch wrote it all down on a scroll.
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Then I gave Baruch the following instructions: "I am no longer allowed to go into the Temple.
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But I want you to go there the next time the people are fasting. You are to read the scroll aloud, so that they will hear everything that the LORD has said to me and that I have dictated to you. Do this where everyone can hear you, including the people of Judah who have come in from their towns.
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Perhaps they will pray to the LORD and turn from their evil ways, because the LORD has threatened this people with his terrible anger and fury."
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So Baruch read the LORD's words in the Temple exactly as I had told him to do.
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In the ninth month of the fifth year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah, the people fasted to gain the LORD's favor. The fast was kept by all who lived in Jerusalem and by all who came there from the towns of Judah.
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Then, while all the people were listening, Baruch read from the scroll everything that I had said. He did this in the Temple, from the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan, the court secretary. His room was in the upper court near the entrance of the New Gate of the Temple.
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Micaiah, the son of Gemariah and grandson of Shaphan, heard Baruch read from the scroll what the LORD had said.
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Then he went to the royal palace, to the room of the court secretary, where all the officials were in session. Elishama, the court secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials were there.
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Micaiah told them everything that he had heard Baruch read to the people.
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Then the officials sent Jehudi (the son of Nethaniah, grandson of Shelemiah, and great-grandson of Cushi) to tell Baruch to bring the scroll that he had read to the people. Baruch brought them the scroll.
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"Sit down," they said, "and read the scroll to us." So Baruch did.
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After he had read it, they turned to one another in alarm and said to Baruch, "We must report this to the king."
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Then they asked him, "Tell us, now, how did you come to write all this? Did Jeremiah dictate it to you?"
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Baruch answered, "Jeremiah dictated every word of it to me, and I wrote it down in ink on this scroll."
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Then they told him, "You and Jeremiah must go and hide. Don't let anyone know where you are."
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The officials put the scroll in the room of Elishama, the court secretary, and went to the king's court, where they reported everything to the king.
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Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. He took it from the room of Elishama and read it to the king and all the officials who were standing around him.
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It was winter and the king was sitting in his winter palace in front of the fire.
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As soon as Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king cut them off with a small knife and threw them into the fire. He kept doing this until the entire scroll was burned up.
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But neither the king nor any of his officials who heard all this was afraid or showed any sign of sorrow.
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Although Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the scroll, he paid no attention to them.
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Then he ordered Prince Jerahmeel, together with Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to arrest me and my secretary Baruch. But the LORD had hidden us.
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After King Jehoiakim had burned the scroll that I had dictated to Baruch, the LORD told me
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to take another scroll and write on it everything that had been on the first one.
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The LORD told me to say to the king, "You have burned the scroll, and you have asked Jeremiah why he wrote that the king of Babylonia would come and destroy this land and kill its people and its animals.
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So now, I, the LORD, say to you, King Jehoiakim, that no descendant of yours will ever rule over David's kingdom. Your corpse will be thrown out where it will be exposed to the sun during the day and to the frost at night.
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I will punish you, your descendants, and your officials because of the sins all of you commit. Neither you nor the people of Jerusalem and of Judah have paid any attention to my warnings, and so I will bring on all of you the disaster that I have threatened."
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Then I took another scroll and gave it to my secretary Baruch, and he wrote down everything that I dictated. He wrote everything that had been on the first scroll and similar messages that I dictated to him.
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Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away from the entrance.
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She went running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and told them, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
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Then Peter and the other disciple went to the tomb.
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The two of them were running, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first.
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He bent over and saw the linen cloths, but he did not go in.
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Behind him came Simon Peter, and he went straight into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there
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and the cloth which had been around Jesus' head. It was not lying with the linen cloths but was rolled up by itself.
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Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in; he saw and believed.
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(They still did not understand the scripture which said that he must rise from death.)
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Then the disciples went back home.
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Mary stood crying outside the tomb. While she was still crying, she bent over and looked in the tomb
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and saw two angels there dressed in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and the other at the feet.
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"Woman, why are you crying?" they asked her. She answered, "They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have put him!"
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Then she turned around and saw Jesus standing there; but she did not know that it was Jesus.
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"Woman, why are you crying?" Jesus asked her. "Who is it that you are looking for?" She thought he was the gardener, so she said to him, "If you took him away, sir, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him."
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Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned toward him and said in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (This means "Teacher.")
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"Do not hold on to me," Jesus told her, "because I have not yet gone back up to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that I am returning to him who is my Father and their Father, my God and their God."
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So Mary Magdalene went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and related to them what he had told her.
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It was late that Sunday evening, and the disciples were gathered together behind locked doors, because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities. Then Jesus came and stood among them. "Peace be with you," he said.
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After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord.
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Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you."
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Then he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
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If you forgive people's sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
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One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (called the Twin), was not with them when Jesus came.
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So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" Thomas said to them, "Unless I see the scars of the nails in his hands and put my finger on those scars and my hand in his side, I will not believe."
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A week later the disciples were together again indoors, and Thomas was with them. The doors were locked, but Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."
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Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and look at my hands; then reach out your hand and put it in my side. Stop your doubting, and believe!"
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Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"
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Jesus said to him, "Do you believe because you see me? How happy are those who believe without seeing me!"
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In his disciples' presence Jesus performed many other miracles which are not written down in this book.
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But these have been written in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through your faith in him you may have life.
