1 The message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. This was during the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah. This was the message from the Lord:
2 “Jeremiah, get a scroll and write on it all the messages I have spoken to you. I have spoken to you about the nations of Israel and Judah and all the other nations. Write all the words that I have spoken to you from the time that Josiah was king, until now.
3 Maybe the people of Judah will hear what I am planning to do to them and will stop doing bad things. If they will do that, I will forgive them for the terrible sins they have committed.”
4 So Jeremiah called a man named Baruch son of Neriah. Jeremiah spoke the messages the Lord had given him. While he spoke, Baruch wrote the messages on the scroll.
5 Then Jeremiah said to Baruch, “I cannot go to the Lord’S Temple. I am not allowed to go there.
6 So I want you to go to the Temple of the Lord. Go there on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll. Read to the people the messages from the Lord that you wrote on the scroll as I spoke them to you. Read them to all the people of Judah who come into Jerusalem from the towns where they live.
7 Perhaps they will ask the Lord to help them. Perhaps each person will stop doing bad things. The Lord has announced that he is very angry with them.”