22. It was the ninth month. The king was sitting in his winter apartment. A fire was burning in the fire pot in front of him.
23. Jehudi read three or four columns from the scroll. Then the king cut them off with a secretary's knife. He threw them into the fire pot. He did that until the entire scroll was burned up in the fire.
24. The king and some of his attendants heard all of those words. But they weren't afraid. They didn't tear their clothes.
25. Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the scroll. But he wouldn't listen to them.
26. Instead, the king commanded three men to arrest the secretary Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah. But the Lord had hidden them. The three were Jerahmeel, Seraiah and Shelemiah. Jerahmeel was a member of the royal court. Seraiah was the son of Azriel. And Shelemiah was the son of Abdeel.
27. A message came to me from the Lord. It came after the king burned the scroll that had the words Baruch had written down. I had told him to write them. The message said,
28. "Get another scroll. Write on it all of the words that were on the first one. King Jehoiakim burned that one up.
29. "Also tell King Jehoiakim, 'The Lord says, "You burned that scroll. You said to Baruch, 'Why did you write that the king of Babylonia would certainly come? Why did you write that he would destroy this land? Why did you write that he would cut off people and animals alike from it?' "
30. " 'So now the Lord has something to say about Jehoiakim, the king of Judah. He says, "No one from Jehoiakim's family line will sit on David's throne. Jehoiakim's body will be thrown out. It will lie outside in the heat by day and in the frost at night.
31. I will punish him and his children and his attendants. I will punish them for their sinful ways. I will bring on them all of the trouble I said I would. And I will bring it on the people of Jerusalem and Judah. They have not listened to me." ' "