21 So the king sent Jehudi to bring the scroll, and he took it from Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king.
22 Now the king was sitting in athe winter house in the ninth month, with afire burning on the hearth before him.
23 And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four columns, thattheking cut it with the scribe’s knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
24 Yet they were anot afraid, nor did they btear their garments, the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words.
25 Nevertheless Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah implored the king not to burn the scroll; but he would not listen to them.
26 And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.
Jeremiah Rewrites the Scroll
27 Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words which Baruch had written at the instruction of Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying:
28 “Take yet another scroll, and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned.
The destruction of the scroll is emblematic of the king's arrogant rejection of its message. Verse 24 tells us the Jewish leaders “were not afraid, nor did they tear their garments.” To add insult to injury, the king orders the arrest of Jeremiah and Baruch, a command that is never executed because God has hidden them (verse 26).
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