Limitless Word
“Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you during the reign of Josiah until today.
Jeremiah 36:2 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB “Take a scroll of a book, and write in it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.
  • KJV Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.
  • NKJV “Take a scroll of a book and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah even to this day.
  • NASB “Take a scroll and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.
  • NLT “Get a scroll, and write down all my messages against Israel, Judah, and the other nations. Begin with the first message back in the days of Josiah, and write down every message, right up to the present time.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God tells Jeremiah to write all his prophecies against Israel, Judah, and the nations on a scroll. The full message is to be preserved in writing.

Overview

The LORD commands a comprehensive record of every word spoken from Josiah's days onward. Putting the prophecies in writing ensures their permanence and wider reach. This concern to preserve God's word in a fixed form anticipates the formation of Scripture, through which God still speaks today.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 30

  • Jer 30:2“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you.
  • Jer 36:6so you are to go to the house of the LORD on a day of fasting, and in the hearing of the people you are to read the words of the LORD from the scroll you have written at my dictation. Read them in the hearing of all the people of Judah who are coming from their cities.
  • Exod 17:14Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua, because I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
  • Jer 1:10See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.”
  • Jer 25:3“From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—twenty-three years—the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.
  • Jer 51:60Jeremiah had written on a single scroll about all the disaster that would come upon Babylon—all these words that had been written concerning Babylon.
  • Ps 40:7Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—it is written about me in the scroll:
  • Jer 25:9–29behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
  • Ezek 2:9Then I looked and saw a hand reaching out to me, and in it was a scroll,
  • Jer 36:23And as soon as Jehudi had read three or four columns, Jehoiakim would cut them off with a scribe’s knife and throw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll had been consumed by the fire.
  • Ezra 6:2And a scroll was found in the fortress of Ecbatana, in the province of Media, with the following written on it: Memorandum:
  • Isa 8:1Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary stylus: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
  • Hos 8:12Though I wrote for them the great things of My law, they regarded them as something strange.
  • Deut 31:24When Moses had finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end,
  • Zech 5:1–4Again I lifted up my eyes and saw before me a flying scroll.
  • Rev 5:1–9Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One seated on the throne. It had writing on both sides and was sealed with seven seals.
  • Isa 30:8–9Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the days to come, a witness forever and ever.
  • Jer 32:30–35For the children of Israel and of Judah have done nothing but evil in My sight from their youth; indeed, they have done nothing but provoke Me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the LORD.
  • Job 31:35(Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment.
  • Jer 23:13–14“Among the prophets of Samaria I saw an offensive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray.
  • Jer 45:1This is the word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch son of Neriah when he wrote these words on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:
  • Jer 36:29You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah that this is what the LORD says: You have burned the scroll and said, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon would surely come and destroy this land and deprive it of man and beast?’
  • Ezek 3:1–3“Son of man,” He said to me, “eat what you find here. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel.”
  • Hab 2:2–3Then the LORD answered me: “Write down this vision and clearly inscribe it on tablets, so that a herald may run with it.
  • Jer 1:2–3The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah,
  • Jer 1:5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
  • Jer 3:3–10Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to be ashamed.
  • Jer 47:1–7This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the Philistines before Pharaoh struck down Gaza.
  • Jer 2:4Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all you families of the house of Israel.
  • 2 Kgs 17:18–20So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Jeremiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Jeremiah 36:2YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JeremiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.

How Jeremiah 36:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.