Jerusalem, 615 BCE: The scribe Baruch saves Yirmeyahu, Speaker for the god Yahweh, from assassination. Why then does the young prophet hold a knife to his rescuer's throat? Jeremiah is enraged at Baruch's complicity, years ago, in the stoning of Jeremiah's beloved Rivqah. He grants Baruch life--on condition that Baruch serve as the prophet's scribe, taking down the words of the war god Yahweh. The god's words, however, bring Jeremiah, Baruch,...