Baruch
Bar.1
[1] These are the words of the book which Baruch the son of Neraiah,
son of Mahseiah, son of Zedekiah, son of Hasadiah, son of Hilkiah, wrote
in Babylon,
[2] in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month, at the
time when the Chaldeans took Jerusalem and burned it with fire.
[3] And Baruch read the words of this book in the hearing of
Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and in the hearing of all
the people who came to hear the book,
[4] and in the hearing of the mighty men and the princes, and
in the hearing of the elders, and in the hearing of all the people, small
and great, all who dwelt in Babylon by the river Sud.
[5] Then they wept, and fasted, and prayed before the Lord;
[6] and they collected money, each giving what he could;
[7] and they sent it to Jerusalem to Jehoiakim the high priest,
the son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, and to the priests, and to all the
people who were present with him in Jerusalem.
[8] At the same time, on the tenth day of Sivan, Baruch took
the vessels of the house of the Lord, which had been carried away from
the temple, to return them to the land of Judah -- the silver vessels which
Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, had made,
[9] after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away from
Jerusalem Jeconiah and the princes and the prisoners and the mighty men
and the people of the land, and brought them to Babylon.
[10] And they said: "Herewith we send you money; so buy with
the money burnt offerings and sin offerings and incense, and prepare a
cereal offering, and offer them upon the altar of the Lord our God;
[11] and pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,
and for the life of Belshazzar his son, that their days on earth may be
like the days of heaven.
[12] And the Lord will give us strength, and he will give light
to our eyes, and we shall live under the protection of Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon, and under the protection of Belshazzar his son, and we shall
serve them many days and find favor in their sight.
[13] And pray for us to the Lord our God, for we have sinned
against the Lord our God, and to this day the anger of the Lord and his
wrath have not turned away from us.
[14] And you shall read this book which we are sending you,
to make your confession in the house of the Lord on the days of the feasts
and at appointed seasons.
[15] "And you shall say: `Righteousness belongs to the Lord
our God, but confusion of face, as at this day, to us, to the men of Judah,
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
[16] and to our kings and our princes and our priests and our
prophets and our fathers,
[17] because we have sinned before the Lord,
[18] and have disobeyed him, and have not heeded the voice of
the Lord our God, to walk in the statutes of the Lord which he set before
us.
[19] From the day when the Lord brought our fathers out of the
land of Egypt until today, we have been disobedient to the Lord our God,
and we have been negligent, in not heeding his voice.
[20] So to this day there have clung to us the calamities and
the curse which the Lord declared through Moses his servant at the time
when he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt to give to us a land
flowing with milk and honey.
[21] We did not heed the voice of the Lord our God in all the
words of the prophets whom he sent to us, but we each followed the intent
of his own wicked heart by serving other gods and doing what is evil in
the sight of the Lord our God.
Bar.2
[1] "`So the Lord confirmed his word, which he spoke against us,
and against our judges who judged Israel, and against our kings and against
our princes and against the men of Israel and Judah.
[2] Under the whole heaven there has not been done the like
of what he has done in Jerusalem, in accordance with what is written in
the law of Moses,
[3] that we should eat, one the flesh of his son and another
the flesh of his daughter.
[4] And he gave them into subjection to all the kingdoms around
us, to be a reproach and a desolation among all the surrounding peoples,
where the Lord has scattered them.
[5] They were brought low and not raised up, because we sinned
against the Lord our God, in not heeding his voice.
[6] "`Righteousness belongs to the Lord our God, but confusion
of face to us and our fathers, as at this day.
[7] All those calamities with which the Lord threatened us have
come upon us.
[8] Yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord by turning
away, each of us, from the thoughts of his wicked heart.
[9] And the Lord has kept the calamities ready, and the Lord
has brought them upon us, for the Lord is righteous in all his works which
he has commanded us to do.
[10] Yet we have not obeyed his voice, to walk in the statutes
of the Lord which he set before us.
[11] "`And now, O Lord God of Israel, who didst bring thy people
out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and with signs and wonders
and with great power and outstretched arm, and hast made thee a name, as
at this day,
[12] we have sinned, we have been ungodly, we have done wrong,
O Lord our God, against all thy ordinances.
[13] Let thy anger turn away from us, for we are left, few in
number, among the nations where thou hast scattered us.
[14] Hear, O Lord, our prayer and our supplication, and for
thy own sake deliver us, and grant us favor in the sight of those who have
carried us into exile;
[15] that all the earth may know that thou art the Lord our
God, for Israel and his descendants are called by thy name.
[16] O Lord, look down from thy holy habitation, and consider
us. Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear;
[17] open thy eyes, O Lord, and see; for the dead who are in
Hades, whose spirit has been taken from their bodies, will not ascribe
glory or justice to the Lord,
[18] but the person that is greatly distressed, that goes about
bent over and feeble, and the eyes that are failing, and the person that
hungers, will ascribe to thee glory and righteousness, O Lord.
[19] For it is not because of any righteous deeds of our fathers
or our kings that we bring before thee our prayer for mercy, O Lord our
God.
[20] For thou hast sent thy anger and thy wrath upon us, as
thou didst declare by thy servants the prophets, saying:
[21] "Thus says the Lord: Bend your shoulders and serve the
king of Babylon, and you will remain in the land which I gave to your fathers.
[22] But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord and will
not serve the king of Babylon,
[23] I will make to cease from the cities of Judah and from
the region about Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness,
the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, and the whole land
will be a desolation without inhabitants."
[24] "`But we did not obey thy voice, to serve the king of Babylon;
and thou hast confirmed thy words, which thou didst speak by thy servants
the prophets, that the bones of our kings and the bones of our fathers
would be brought out of their graves;
[25] and behold, they have been cast out to the heat of day
and the frost of night. They perished in great misery, by famine and sword
and pestilence.
[26] And the house which is called by thy name thou hast made
as it is today, because of the wickedness of the house of Israel and the
house of Judah.
[27] "`Yet thou hast dealt with us, O Lord our God, in all thy
kindness and in all thy great compassion,
[28] as thou didst speak by thy servant Moses on the day when
thou didst command him to write thy law in the presence of the people of
Israel, saying,
[29] "If you will not obey my voice, this very great multitude
will surely turn into a small number among the nations, where I will scatter
them.
[30] For I know that they will not obey me, for they are a stiff-necked
people. But in the land of their exile they will come to themselves,
[31] and they will know that I am the Lord their God. I will
give them a heart that obeys and ears that hear;
[32] and they will praise me in the land of their exile, and
will remember my name,
[33] and will turn from their stubbornness and their wicked
deeds; for they will remember the ways of their fathers, who sinned before
the Lord.
[34] I will bring them again into the land which I swore to
give to their fathers, to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob, and they will
rule over it; and I will increase them, and they will not be diminished.
[35] I will make an everlasting covenant with them to be their
God and they shall be my people; and I will never again remove my people
Israel from the land which I have given them."
Bar.3
[1] "`O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the soul in anguish and the
wearied spirit cry out to thee.
[2] Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned before
thee.
[3] For thou art enthroned for ever, and we are perishing for
ever.
[4] O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the
dead of Israel and of the sons of those who sinned before thee, who did
not heed the voice of the Lord their God, so that calamities have clung
to us.
[5] Remember not the iniquities of our fathers, but in this
crisis remember thy power and thy name.
[6] For thou art the Lord our God, and thee, O Lord, will we
praise.
[7] For thou hast put the fear of thee in our hearts in order
that we should call upon thy name; and we will praise thee in our exile,
for we have put away from our hearts all the iniquity of our fathers who
sinned before thee.
[8] Behold, we are today in our exile where thou hast scattered
us, to be reproached and cursed and punished for all the iniquities of
our fathers who forsook the Lord our God.'"
[9] Hear the commandments of life, O Israel; give ear, and learn
wisdom!
[10] Why is it, O Israel, why is it that you are in the land
of your enemies, that you are growing old in a foreign country, that you
are defiled with the dead,
[11] that you are counted among those in Hades?
[12] You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom.
[13] If you had walked in the way of God, you would be dwelling
in peace for ever.
[14] Learn where there is wisdom, where there is strength, where
there is understanding, that you may at the same time discern where there
is length of days, and life, where there is light for the eyes, and peace.
[15] Who has found her place? And who has entered her storehouses?
[16] Where are the princes of the nations, and those who rule
over the beasts on earth;
[17] those who have sport with the birds of the air, and who
hoard up silver and gold, in which men trust, and there is no end to their
getting;
[18] those who scheme to get silver, and are anxious, whose
labors are beyond measure?
[19] They have vanished and gone down to Hades, and others have
arisen in their place.
[20] Young men have seen the light of day, and have dwelt upon
the earth; but they have not learned the way to knowledge, nor understood
her paths, nor laid hold of her.
[21] Their sons have strayed far from her way.
[22] She has not been heard of in Canaan, nor seen in Teman;
[23] the sons of Hagar, who seek for understanding on the earth,
the merchants of Merran and Teman, the story-tellers and the seekers for
understanding, have not learned the way to wisdom, nor given thought to
her paths.
[24] O Israel, how great is the house of God! And how vast the
territory that he possesses!
[25] It is great and has no bounds; it is high and immeasurable.
[26] The giants were born there, who were famous of old, great
in stature, expert in war.
[27] God did not choose them, nor give them the way to knowledge;
[28] so they perished because they had no wisdom, they perished
through their folly.
[29] Who has gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought
her down from the clouds?
[30] Who has gone over the sea, and found her, and will buy
her for pure gold?
[31] No one knows the way to her, or is concerned about the
path to her.
[32] But he who knows all things knows her, he found her by
his understanding. He who prepared the earth for all time filled it with
four-footed creatures;
[33] he who sends forth the light, and it goes, called it, and
it obeyed him in fear;
[34] the stars shone in their watches, and were glad; he called
them, and they said, "Here we are!" They shone with gladness for him who
made them.
[35] This is our God; no other can be compared to him!
[36] He found the whole way to knowledge, and gave her to Jacob
his servant and to Israel whom he loved.
[37] Afterward she appeared upon earth and lived among men.
Bar.4
[1] She is the book of the commandments of God, and the law that
endures for ever. All who hold her fast will live, and those who forsake
her will die.
[2] Turn, O Jacob, and take her; walk toward the shining of
her light.
[3] Do not give your glory to another, or your advantages to
an alien people.
[4] Happy are we, O Israel, for we know what is pleasing to
God.
[5] Take courage, my people, O memorial of Israel!
[6] It was not for destruction that you were sold to the nations,
but you were handed over to your enemies because you angered God.
[7] For you provoked him who made you, by sacrificing to demons
and not to God.
[8] You forgot the everlasting God, who brought you up, and
you grieved Jerusalem, who reared you.
[9] For she saw the wrath that came upon you from God, and she
said: "Hearken, you neighbors of Zion, God has brought great sorrow upon
me;
[10] for I have seen the captivity of my sons and daughters,
which the Everlasting brought upon them.
[11] With joy I nurtured them, but I sent them away with weeping
and sorrow.
[12] Let no one rejoice over me, a widow and bereaved of many;
I was left desolate because of the sins of my children, because they turned
away from the law of God.
[13] They had no regard for his statutes; they did not walk
in the ways of God's commandments, nor tread the paths of discipline in
his righteousness.
[14] Let the neighbors of Zion come; remember the capture of
my sons and daughters, which the Everlasting brought upon them.
[15] For he brought against them a nation from afar, a shameless
nation, of a strange language, who had no respect for an old man, and had
no pity for a child.
[16] They led away the widow's beloved sons, and bereaved the
lonely woman of her daughters.
[17] "But I, how can I help you?
[18] For he who brought these calamities upon you will deliver
you from the hand of your enemies.
[19] Go, my children, go; for I have been left desolate.
[20] I have taken off the robe of peace and put on the sackcloth
of my supplication; I will cry to the Everlasting all my days.
[21] "Take courage, my children, cry to God, and he will deliver
you from the power and hand of the enemy.
[22] For I have put my hope in the Everlasting to save you,
and joy has come to me from the Holy One, because of the mercy which soon
will come to you from your everlasting Savior.
[23] For I sent you out with sorrow and weeping, but God will
give you back to me with joy and gladness for ever.
[24] For as the neighbors of Zion have now seen your capture,
so they soon will see your salvation by God, which will come to you with
great glory and with the splendor of the Everlasting.
[25] My children, endure with patience the wrath that has come
upon you from God. Your enemy has overtaken you, but you will soon see
their destruction and will tread upon their necks.
[26] My tender sons have traveled rough roads; they were taken
away like a flock carried off by the enemy.
[27] "Take courage, my children, and cry to God, for you will
be remembered by him who brought this upon you.
[28] For just as you purposed to go astray from God, return
with tenfold zeal to seek him.
[29] For he who brought these calamities upon you will bring
you everlasting joy with your salvation."
[30] Take courage, O Jerusalem, for he who named you will comfort
you.
[31] Wretched will be those who afflicted you and rejoiced at
your fall.
[32] Wretched will be the cities which your children served
as slaves; wretched will be the city which received your sons.
[33] For just as she rejoiced at your fall and was glad for
your ruin, so she will be grieved at her own desolation.
[34] And I will take away her pride in her great population,
and her insolence will be turned to grief.
[35] For fire will come upon her from the Everlasting for many
days, and for a long time she will be inhabited by demons.
[36] Look toward the east, O Jerusalem, and see the joy that
is coming to you from God!
[37] Behold, your sons are coming, whom you sent away; they
are coming, gathered from east and west, at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing
in the glory of God.
Bar.5
[1] Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem,
and put on for ever the beauty of the glory from God.
[2] Put on the robe of the righteousness from God; put on your
head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting.
[3] For God will show your splendor everywhere under heaven.
[4] For your name will for ever be called by God, "Peace of
righteousness and glory of godliness."
[5] Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height and look toward
the east, and see your children gathered from west and east, at the word
of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them.
[6] For they went forth from you on foot, led away by their
enemies; but God will bring them back to you, carried in glory, as on a
royal throne.
[7] For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting
hills be made low and the valleys filled up, to make level ground, so that
Israel may walk safely in the glory of God.
[8] The woods and every fragrant tree have shaded Israel at
God's command.
[9] For God will lead Israel with joy, in the light of his glory,
with the mercy and righteousness that come from him.