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One-sentence summary: The Lord tells Jeremiah to have His words written on a scroll to be read to the king of Judah so that the people might repent, but when the king hears, he burns the scroll; Jeremiah is thrown in prison.
The Lord tells Jeremiah to go to the house of the Rechabites and bring them to the house of the Lord in one of the chambers and give them wine, so he does. He sets before them bowls of wine and cups and tells them to drink, but they say they will not, since their father commanded them never to drink wine or even plant vineyards or build houses, only dwell in tents in the land where they are sojourners. They tell Jeremiah that when Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up to the land, they said, "Let us go to Jerusalem," for fear of the armies, and so they dwelt in Jerusalem. The word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah, and the Lord tells him to tell Jerusalem and Judah to also not drink wine. He says they have not obeyed the Lord's voice through the prophets or amended their ways to dwell in the land He gave their fathers but have served other gods. Jeremiah says surely the sons of Rechab have obeyed, but this people have not. So the Lord says that on Judah and Jerusalem He will bring all the doom He has pronounced against them. Jeremiah says to the Rechabites that because they obeyed their father, the Lord says that their family will not lack a man to stand before Him forever.
When Jehoiakim is king, the word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah, and He tells him to take a scroll and write on it the words He spoke against Judah, Jerusalem, and all the nations. The Lord says perhaps Judah will hear the adversities the Lord plans to bring and turn from evil so He may forgive them. Jeremiah calls Baruch the scribe who writes on the scroll all the words of the Lord. Jeremiah tells him to go to the house of the Lord and read His words before the people on the day of fasting, since Jeremiah is confined in prison. He says the Lord's anger and fury against the people is great, but maybe they will hear and repent. So Baruch does this in the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house. When Micaiah, another prophet hears all the words, he goes down to the king's house to the scribes' chamber where the princes are sitting, and he declares Baruch's words from the Book to them. The princes send a man to Baruch, and tell him to take the scroll and come. They tell him to sit and read it in their hearing. When they hear the words, they look at each other in fear and say they will surely tell the king all these words. Micaiah asks how he wrote the words, and Baruch tells him that Jeremiah spoke, and he wrote them down. They tell him to go and hide with Jeremiah and not tell anyone. Then, he goes to the king in the court and tells him all the words; the king asks for the scroll and has it read before himself and the princes. He is in the winterhouse with a fire, and after having heard three or four columns, he cuts the scroll and throws it in the fire. He and the princes are not afraid at hearing them, nor do they tear their garments. His servants implore him not to burn the scroll, but he refuses. He tells men to seize Baruch and Jeremiah, "but the Lord [hides] them." After the king burns the scroll, the word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah, and He tells him to take another scroll and write the same words again which Jehoiakim the king has burned, and he is to say to him that he has burned it because it says the people will go into captivity in Babylon. Because of this, the Lord says he will have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body will be cast out; he and his household will all be punished. On them and on Jerusalem and Judah the Lord will bring all the doom He pronounced against them, because they did not listen, He says. So Jeremiah takes another scroll, and Baruch transcribes his words on it again, and also more words are added.
King Zedekiah of Judah reigns, but neither he nor his servants listen to the Lord's words through Jeremiah either. The king sends a man and a priest to Jeremiah, asking him to pray for them. It says Jeremiah is coming and going among the people, before he had been put in prison. Pharaoh's army comes up from Egypt, and when the Chaldeans hear, they depart from Jerusalem in fear. The word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah, telling him to tell King Zedekiah that Pharaoh's army who has come to help them will return, and the Chaldeans will return and fight against them and burn the city with fire, and not to be deceived. He says even if they were to defeat all the Chaldeans, they would still rise up and burn the city. When the Chaldeans have left for fear of Pharaoh's army, Jeremiah goes out of Jerusalem to Benjamin to claim his property among the people. When he is in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard is there, and he seizes him, saying he is defecting to the Chaldeans. Jeremiah says it is untrue, but he does not listen. The captain takes Jeremiah to the princes, and they are angry with him and strike him and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe. When he enters the cells and has remained many days, Zedekiah sends for him and takes him out. He asks him secretly in his house what the word of the Lord is. Jeremiah says that he will be delivered into the king of Babylon's hand. Jeremiah asks him what offense he has committed against him or the people that he has been put in prison and asks him to please hear and not put him back in prison, lest he die there. So Zedekiah commands that Jeremiah be put in another prison, in the court of his house, and for daily bread to be given him until all the bread in the city is gone. So Jeremiah remains in the court of the prison.
Thoughts/discussion questions:
The Lord gives so many chances to repent before a time of judgement (harsh consequences) comes. We should never take His mercy and grace for granted but should fear Him.