9. In the ninth month of the fifth year of Judah’s King Jehoiakim, Josiah’s son, all the people in Jerusalem and all those who had come from Judean towns observed a fast for the Lord in Jerusalem.
10. Then Baruch read Jeremiah’s words from the scroll to all the people in the Lord’s temple; he read them in the chamber of Gemariah, Shaphan the scribe’s son, in the upper courtyard near the entrance of the New Gate of the Lord’s temple.
11. When Micaiah, Gemariah’s son and Shaphan’s grandson, heard all the Lord’s words from the scroll,
12. he went down to the scribes’ chamber in the royal palace. There he found all the officials meeting together: Elishama the scribe; Delaiah, Shemaiah’s son; Elnathan, Achbor’s son; Gemariah, Shaphan’s son; Zedekiah, Hananiah’s son, and all the other officials.
13. Micaiah told them all the words he heard Baruch read from the scroll before the people.
14. Then all the officials sent Jehudi, Nethaniah’s son and Shelemiah’s grandson, and Cushi’s great-grandson, to Baruch: "Take the scroll you read to the people and come with me."So Baruch, Neriah’s son, took the scroll and went to the officials.
15. They said to him, "Sit down and read it to us." So Baruch read it to them.
16. When they heard all its words, they were alarmed and said to Baruch: "We must at once report all this to the king!"
17. Then they asked Baruch, "Tell us, how did you write all these words? Did they come from Jeremiah?"
18. Baruch replied, "He dictated all the words to me, and I wrote them with ink in the scroll."
19. The officials then said to Baruch, "You and Jeremiah had better go and hide. And don’t let anyone know where you are."
20. After leaving the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe, they went to the king’s court and told him everything.
21. The king sent Jehudi to take the scroll, and he retrieved it from the room of Elishama the scribe. Then Jehudi read it to the king and all his royal officials who were standing next to the king.
22. Now it was the ninth month, and the king was staying in the winterized part of the palace with the firepot burning near him.