Limitless Word
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.
Jeremiah 36:2 · King James Version
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.
  • BSB “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.
  • 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 30:2Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
  • Jer 36:6Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the LORD in the ears of the people in the LORD’s house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities.
  • Exod 17:14And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
  • Jer 1:10See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
  • Jer 25:3From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.
  • Jer 51:60So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.
  • Ps 40:7Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
  • Jer 25:9–29Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
  • Ezek 2:9And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;
  • Jer 36:23And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
  • Ezra 6:2And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a record thus written:
  • Isa 8:1Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man’s pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.
  • Hos 8:12I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.
  • Deut 31:24And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,
  • Zech 5:1–4Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll.
  • Rev 5:1–9And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
  • Isa 30:8–9Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
  • Jer 32:30–35For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD.
  • Job 31:35Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.
  • Jer 23:13–14And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
  • Jer 45:1The 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,
  • Jer 36:29And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?
  • Ezek 3:1–3Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.
  • Hab 2:2–3And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
  • Jer 1:2–3To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
  • Jer 1:5Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
  • Jer 3:3–10Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore’s forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.
  • Jer 47:1–7The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
  • Jer 2:4Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:
  • 2 Kgs 17:18–20Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.

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.