Gemariah laughed affectionately, slapped the young man heartily on the shoulder and asked whether it was some new poem or tale of adventure that he had written. Baruch replied simply that it was something he desired to read in the hearing of the assembled people. Gemariah laughed again and very generously offered him one of the chambers above the new gate for his purpose. Then he actually sent out a crier to assemble a crowd for the young author. With expressions of good wishes Gemariah left Baruch and proceeded to the place of the king, where, in the chambers of the chief scribe, a meeting of the king's counselors had been called to discuss Jehoiakim's proposed revolt from Nebuchadrezzar. Before long, Gemariah's chamber was overflowing and Baruch was reading from the scroll. His voice was clear and strong. He was evidently very well acquainted with his text, for he emphasized and enthused over particular passages with all the power of an orator: Thus saith the Lord: "Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited. "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose trust the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreadeth out its roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat cometh, but its leaf shall be green; and shall not be anxious in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." Then Baruch turned to a passage of a different character. He was following a pre-arranged program. He aimed at interesting his audience first with selections of poetic charm and beauty. So he read: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doing. As the partridge that sitteth on eggs that she hath not laid, so is he that getteth riches, and not by right; in the midst of his days they shall leave him, and at his end he shall be a fool." These beautiful figures of speech brought Baruch a round of applause. He now had his audience; so he proceeded, and, with the fire and fervor of a Jeremiah, delivered the following: "The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: It is graven upon the tablet of your heart, and upon the horns of your altar. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts: