"Blasphemy! Blasphemy!" shouted others. And still others demanded, "He must die! He must die!" When a semblance of quiet was restored, Jeremiah stepped forward from between the two guards who had him in charge, faced the accusing people, and said, very calmly and humbly: "It was the Lord who sent me to prophesy against this Temple and against this city all the words that you have heard." "Bah!" jeered the leaders of the opposition, and many took up the signal and joined in the jeering. Jeremiah did not permit the jeers to interrupt him: "Now therefore reform your ways and your acts and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will repent of the evil that he has pronounced upon you." "Hear him! Hear him!" arose from all directions. "He blasphemes! He blasphemes!" Jeremiah paid no attention to these outcries, but turned to the judges and concluded his defense: "But as for me, see, I am in your hand; do with me as appears to you to be good and right. "Only be assured that, if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and upon its inhabitants, for verily the Lord hath sent me to you to speak all these things in your ears." Jeremiah ceased. He walked back to his place between the two guards to await his sentence. The mob was rather taken by surprise at the prisoner's defense. He made no arguments for release, no pleas for his life, but stated his belief in his work and his faith in God, trusting for the rest in the justness of his cause. From out among the princes arose Ahikam, the eldest son of Shaphan, who was the Royal Scribe for Jehoiakim, as his father had been for Josiah. Ahikam and Jeremiah had been close friends as young men, even as their fathers had been all their lives. Recently, however, they had not seen much of each other. Jeremiah was busy about his business and Ahikam was permanently stationed in Jerusalem, at the palace. Jeremiah hardly recognized Ahikam when he began to address the judges. His interest in the speaker was greatly stirred, however, when he heard Ahikam say that he had no apology to offer for the position he was taking, nor for his friendship and love for the man who was accused of the crime of blasphemy. He said that he believed that his and Jeremiah's fathers were of the greatest service to King Josiah in the prosperity that attended his reign, and that, though the priests and prophets of Jerusalem might not understand it, Jeremiah wanted the peace and prosperity of the nation and of the capital, not their doom. Then, rising to a pitch of oratorical flight, he cried: "This man is not worthy of death, for he hath spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God." Up jumped Pashhur, the chief officer of the Temple, and told the story of Uriah, the son of Shemaiah, who also had prophesied in the Temple in the name of God. Pashhur continued: