1The word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,
2Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, unto thee, O Baruch;
3Thou didst say, Woe is me now! for the Lord hath added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.
4Thus shalt thou say unto him, The Lord saith thus; Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even this whole land.
5And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.
📖 Chapter study
Summary
A short, personal chapter dedicated to Baruch, Jeremiah's scribe, who was exhausted and distressed over his own suffering. God promises to preserve his life amid the general collapse.
Explanation
This brief chapter functions almost like an emotional parenthesis within the book, giving special attention to Jeremiah's closest collaborator, who carried the emotional weight of writing down and witnessing all these harsh prophecies for decades. God's gentle rebuke ('do you seek great things for yourself? do not seek them') reminds us that in times of widespread national crisis, seeking personal security or prominence is not a wise priority. The final promise that Baruch would have 'his life as a prize' (that is, would survive) wherever he went is a direct, personal comfort within a book dominated by collective judgments.
Fun facts
- This chapter, though short, is dated to the same period as chapter 36 (the fourth year of Jehoiakim), making it chronologically one of the earliest events in the book, even though it is placed near the end of the final text.
- The expression 'his life as a prize' (having one's life as the only thing saved, but still saved) appears in almost identical form in Jeremiah 21:9, 38:2, and 39:18, forming a recurring theme of survival amid catastrophe.