“Jeremiah ordered Baruch!
Saying!
‘I am prevented
From entering
The house of Yahweh.
So you go yourself!
On a fast day,
In the hearing
Of the people,
In Yahweh’s house,
You shall read
The words of Yahweh
From the scroll
That you have written
At my dictation.
You shall read them also
In the hearing
Of all the people of Judah
Who come up
From their towns.
It may be
That their plea
Will come before Yahweh.
It may be
That all of them
Will turn
From their evil ways.
Great is the anger.
Great is the wrath
That Yahweh
Has pronounced
Against this people.’”
Jeremiah told Baruch to go the Temple, since he was not allowed there. However, there was no reason given why Jeremiah could not go to the Temple. Baruch was to go there when they were fasting, probably to pray to stop King Nebuchadnezzar from advancing into the Judah territory. Jeremiah wanted Baruch to read the scroll that he had written from his dictation about the words that Yahweh had spoken to him. This is a glimpse on how some of the Bible was written. Thus, in the hearing of the people of Judah, who would have come from the various towns, Baruch was to read this scroll. The reading of the biblical scroll was to become a staple of later Jewish worship. Yahweh once again hoped, as earlier, that the people of Judah might turn from their evil ways. Thus they could avoid Yahweh’s anger and wrath that he had pronounced against them, his people.