¹¹ Micaiah was the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan. Micaiah heard Baruch reading all the Lord’s words that were written on the scroll. ¹² Then he went down to the secretary’s room in the royal palace. All the officials were sitting there. They included the secretary Elishama and Delaiah, the son of Shemaiah. Elnathan, the son of Akbor, was also there. So was Gemariah, the son of Shaphan. Zedekiah, the son of Hananiah, was there too. And so were all the other officials. ¹³ Micaiah told all of them what he had heard. He told them everything Baruch had read to the people from the scroll. ¹⁴ All the officials sent Jehudi to speak to Baruch, the son of Neriah. Jehudi was the son of Nethaniah. Nethaniah was the son of Shelemiah. Shelemiah was the son of Cushi. Jehudi said to Baruch, “Come. Bring the scroll you have read to the people.” So Baruch went to them. He carried the scroll with him. ¹⁵ The officials said to him, “Please sit down. Read the scroll to us.”

So Baruch read it to them. ¹⁶ They heard all its words. Then they looked at one another in fear. They said to Baruch, “We must report all these words to the king.” ¹⁷ They said to Baruch, “Tell us. How did you happen to write all these things? Did Jeremiah tell you to do this?”

¹⁸ “Yes,” Baruch replied. “He told me to write down all these words. So I wrote them in ink on the scroll.”

¹⁹ Then the officials spoke to Baruch. They said, “You and Jeremiah must go and hide. Don’t let anyone know where you are.”