Baruch 1
1 And these are the words of the book,
which Baruch the son of Nerias, the son of Maasias, the son of Sedecias,
the son of Asadias, the son of Chelcias, wrote in Babylon,
2 In the fifth year, and in the seventh
day of the month, what time as the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, and burnt
it with fire.
3 And Baruch did read the words of this
book in the hearing of Jechonias the son of Joachim king of Juda, and in
the ears of all the people that came to hear the book,
4 And in the hearing of the nobles, and
of the king's sons, and in the hearing of the elders, and of all the people,
from the lowest unto the highest, even of all them that dwelt at Babylon
by the river Sud.
5 Whereupon they wept, fasted, and prayed
before the Lord.
6 They made also a collection of money
according to every man's power:
7 And they sent it to Jerusalem unto Joachim
the high priest, the son of Chelcias, son of Salom, and to the priests,
and to all the people which were found with him at Jerusalem,
8 At the same time when he received the
vessels of the house of the Lord, that were carried out of the temple,
to return them into the land of Juda, the tenth day of the month Sivan,
namely, silver vessels, which Sedecias the son of Josias king of Jada had
made,
9 After that Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon
had carried away Jechonias, and the princes, and the captives, and the
mighty men, and the people of the land, from Jerusalem, and brought them
unto Babylon.
10 And they said, Behold, we have sent
you money to buy you burnt offerings, and sin offerings, and incense, and
prepare ye manna, and offer upon the altar of the Lord our God;
11 And pray for the life of Nabuchodonosor
king of Babylon, and for the life of Balthasar his son, that their days
may be upon earth as the days of heaven:
12 And the Lord will give us strength,
and lighten our eyes, and we shall live under the shadow of Nabuchodonosor
king of Babylon, and under the shadow of Balthasar his son, and we shall
serve them many days, and find favour in their sight.
13 Pray for us also unto the Lord our
God, for we have sinned against the Lord our God; and unto this day the
fury of the Lord and his wrath is not turned from us.
14 And ye shall read this book which we
have sent unto you, to make confession in the house of the Lord, upon the
feasts and solemn days.
15 And ye shall say, To the Lord our God
belongeth righteousness, but unto us the confusion of faces, as it is come
to pass this day, unto them of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
16 And to our kings, and to our princes,
and to our priests, and to our prophets, and to our fathers:
17 For we have sinned before the Lord,
18 And disobeyed him, and have not hearkened
unto the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the commandments that he
gave us openly:
19 Since the day that the Lord brought
our forefathers out of the land of Egypt, unto this present day, we have
been disobedient unto the Lord our God, and we have been negligent in not
hearing his voice.
20 Wherefore the evils cleaved unto us,
and the curse, which the Lord appointed by Moses his servant at the time
that he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, to give us a land
that floweth with milk and honey, like as it is to see this day.
21 Nevertheless we have not hearkened
unto the voice of the Lord our God, according unto all the words of the
prophets, whom he sent unto us:
22 But every man followed the imagination
of his own wicked heart, to serve strange gods, and to do evil in the sight
of the Lord our God.
Baruch 2
1 Therefore the Lord hath made good his
word, which he pronounced against us, and against our judges that judged
Israel, and against our kings, and against our princes, and against the
men of Israel and Juda,
2 To bring upon us great plagues, such
as never happened under the whole heaven, as it came to pass in Jerusalem,
according to the things that were written in the law of Moses;
3 That a man should eat the flesh of his
own son, and the flesh of his own daughter.
4 Moreover he hath delivered them to be
in subjection to all the kingdoms that are round about us, to be as a reproach
and desolation among all the people round about, where the Lord hath scattered
them.
5 Thus we were cast down, and not exalted,
because we have sinned against the Lord our God, and have not been obedient
unto his voice.
6 To the Lord our God appertaineth righteousness:
but unto us and to our fathers open shame, as appeareth this day.
7 For all these plagues are come upon
us, which the Lord hath pronounced against us
8 Yet have we not prayed before the Lord,
that we might turn every one from the imaginations of his wicked heart.
9 Wherefore the Lord watched over us for
evil, and the Lord hath brought it upon us: for the Lord is righteous in
all his works which he hath commanded us.
10 Yet we have not hearkened unto his
voice, to walk in the commandments of the Lord, that he hath set before
us.
11 And now, O Lord God of Israel, that
hast brought thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and
high arm, and with signs, and with wonders, and with great power, and hast
gotten thyself a name, as appeareth this day:
12 O Lord our God, we have sinned, we
have done ungodly, we have dealt unrighteously in all thine ordinances.
13 Let thy wrath turn from us: for we
are but a few left among the heathen, where thou hast scattered us.
14 Hear our prayers, O Lord, and our petitions,
and deliver us for thine own sake, and give us favour in the sight of them
which have led us away:
15 That all the earth may know that thou
art the Lord our God, because Israel and his posterity is called by thy
name.
16 O Lord, look down from thine holy house,
and consider us: bow down thine ear, O Lord, to hear us.
17 Open thine eyes, and behold; for the
dead that are in the graves, whose souls are taken from their bodies, will
give unto the Lord neither praise nor righteousness:
18 But the soul that is greatly vexed,
which goeth stooping and feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry
soul, will give thee praise and righteousness, O Lord.
19 Therefore we do not make our humble
supplication before thee, O Lord our God, for the righteousness of our
fathers, and of our kings.
20 For thou hast sent out thy wrath and
indignation upon us, as thou hast spoken by thy servants the prophets,
saying,
21 Thus saith the Lord, Bow down your
shoulders to serve the king of Babylon: so shall ye remain in the land
that I gave unto your fathers.
22 But if ye will not hear the voice of
the Lord, to serve the king of Babylon,
23 I will cause to cease out of the cites
of Judah, and from without Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice
of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: and the
whole land shall be desolate of inhabitants.
24 But we would not hearken unto thy voice,
to serve the king of Babylon: therefore hast thou made good the words that
thou spakest by thy servants the prophets, namely, that the bones of our
kings, and the bones of our fathers, should be taken out of their place.
25 And, lo, they are cast out to the heat
of the day, and to the frost of the night, and they died in great miseries
by famine, by sword, and by pestilence.
26 And the house which is called by thy
name hast thou laid waste, as it is to be seen this day, for the wickedness
of the house of Israel and the house of Juda.
27 O Lord our God, thou hast dealt with
us after all thy goodness, and according to all that great mercy of thine,
28 As thou spakest by thy servant Moses
in the day when thou didst command him to write the law before the children
of Israel, saying,
29 If ye will not hear my voice, surely
this very great multitude shall be turned into a small number among the
nations, where I will scatter them.
30 For I knew that they would not hear
me, because it is a stiffnecked people: but in the land of their captivities
they shall remember themselves.
31 And shall know that I am the Lord their
God: for I will give them an heart, and ears to hear:
32 And they shall praise me in the land
of their captivity, and think upon my name,
33 And return from their stiff neck, and
from their wicked deeds: for they shall remember the way of their fathers,
which sinned before the Lord.
34 And I will bring them again into the
land which I promised with an oath unto their fathers, Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, and they shall be lords of it: and I will increase them, and
they shall not be diminished.
35 And I will make an everlasting covenant
with them to be their God, and they shall be my people: and I will no more
drive my people of Israel out of the land that I have given them.
Baruch 3
1 O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the soul
in anguish the troubled spirit, crieth unto thee.
2 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy; ar thou
art merciful: and have pity upon us, because we have sinned before thee.
3 For thou endurest for ever, and we perish
utterly.
4 O Lord Almighty, thou God of Israel,
hear now the prayers of the dead Israelites, and of their children, which
have sinned before thee, and not hearkened unto the voice of thee their
God: for the which cause these plagues cleave unto us.
5 Remember not the iniquities of our forefathers:
but think upon thy power and thy name now at this time.
6 For thou art the Lord our God, and thee,
O Lord, will we praise.
7 And for this cause thou hast put thy
fear in our hearts, to the intent that we should call upon thy name, and
praise thee in our captivity: for we have called to mind all the iniquity
of our forefathers, that sinned before thee.
8 Behold, we are yet this day in our captivity,
where thou hast scattered us, for a reproach and a curse, and to be subject
to payments, according to all the iniquities of our fathers, which departed
from the Lord our God.
9 Hear, Israel, the commandments of life:
give ear to understand wisdom.
10 How happeneth it Israel, that thou
art in thine enemies' land, that thou art waxen old in a strange country,
that thou art defiled with the dead,
11 That thou art counted with them that
go down into the grave?
12 Thou hast forsaken the fountain of
wisdom.
13 For if thou hadst walked in the way
of God, thou shouldest have dwelled in peace for ever.
14 Learn where is wisdom, where is strength,
where is understanding; that thou mayest know also where is length of days,
and life, where is the light of the eyes, and peace.
15 Who hath found out her place? or who
hath come into her treasures ?
16 Where are the princes of the heathen
become, and such as ruled the beasts upon the earth;
17 They that had their pastime with the
fowls of the air, and they that hoarded up silver and gold, wherein men
trust, and made no end of their getting?
18 For they that wrought in silver, and
were so careful, and whose works are unsearchable,
19 They are vanished and gone down to
the grave, and others are come up in their steads.
20 Young men have seen light, and dwelt
upon the earth: but the way of knowledge have they not known,
21 Nor understood the paths thereof, nor
laid hold of it: their children were far off from that way.
22 It hath not been heard of in Chanaan,
neither hath it been seen in Theman.
23 The Agarenes that seek wisdom upon
earth, the merchants of Meran and of Theman, the authors of fables, and
searchers out of understanding; none of these have known the way of wisdom,
or remember her paths.
24 O Israel, how great is the house of
God! and how large is the place of his possession!
25 Great, and hath none end; high, and
unmeasurable.
26 There were the giants famous from the
beginning, that were of so great stature, and so expert in war.
27 Those did not the Lord choose, neither
gave he the way of knowledge unto them:
28 But they were destroyed, because they
had no wisdom, and perished through their own foolishness.
29 Who hath gone up into heaven, and taken
her, and brought her down from the clouds?
30 Who hath gone over the sea, and found
her, and will bring her for pure gold?
31 No man knoweth her way, nor thinketh
of her path.
32 But he that knoweth all things knoweth
her, and hath found her out with his understanding: he that prepared the
earth for evermore hath filled it with fourfooted beasts:
33 He that sendeth forth light, and it
goeth, calleth it again, and it obeyeth him with fear.
34 The stars shined in their watches,
and rejoiced: when he calleth them, they say, Here we be; and so with cheerfulness
they shewed light unto him that made them.
35 This is our God, and there shall none
other be accounted of in comparison of him
36 He hath found out all the way of knowledge,
and hath given it unto Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved.
37 Afterward did he shew himself upon
earth, and conversed with men.
Baruch 4
1 This is the book of the commandments
of God, and the law that endureth for ever: all they that keep it shall
come to life; but such as leave it shall die.
2 Turn thee, O Jacob, and take hold of
it: walk in the presence of the light thereof, that thou mayest be illuminated.
3 Give not thine honour to another, nor
the things that are profitable unto thee to a strange nation.
4 O Israel, happy are we: for things that
are pleasing to God are made known unto us.
5 Be of good cheer, my people, the memorial
of Israel.
6 Ye were sold to the nations, not for
[your] destruction: but because ye moved God to wrath, ye were delivered
unto the enemies.
7 For ye provoked him that made you by
sacrificing unto devils, and not to God.
8 Ye have forgotten the everlasting God,
that brought you up; and ye have grieved Jerusalem, that nursed you.
9 For when she saw the wrath of God coming
upon you, she said, Hearken, O ye that dwell about Sion: God hath brought
upon me great mourning;
10 For I saw the captivity of my sons
and daughters, which the Everlasting brought upon them.
11 With joy did I nourish them; but sent
them away with weeping and mourning.
12 Let no man rejoice over me, a widow,
and forsaken of many, who for the sins of my children am left desolate;
because they departed from the law of God.
13 They knew not his statutes, nor walked
in the ways of his commandments, nor trod in the paths of discipline in
his righteousness.
14 Let them that dwell about Sion come,
and remember ye the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Everlasting
hath brought upon them.
15 For he hath brought a nation upon them
from far, a shameless nation, and of a strange language, who neither reverenced
old man, nor pitied child.
16 These have carried away the dear beloved
children of the widow, and left her that was alone desolate without daughters.
17 But what can I help you?
18 For he that brought these plagues upon
you will deliver you from the hands of your enemies.
19 Go your way, O my children, go your
way: for I am left desolate.
20 I have put off the clothing of peace,
and put upon me the sackcloth of my prayer: I will cry unto the Everlasting
in my days.
21 Be of good cheer, O my children, cry
unto the Lord, and he will deliver you from the power and hand of the enemies.
22 For my hope is in the Everlasting,
that he will save you; and joy is come unto me from the Holy One, because
of the mercy which shall soon come unto you from the Everlasting our Saviour.
23 For I sent you out with mourning and
weeping: but God will give you to me again with joy and gladness for ever.
24 Like as now the neighbours of Sion
have seen your captivity: so shall they see shortly your salvation from
our God which shall come upon you with great glory, and brightness of the
Everlasting.
25 My children, suffer patiently the wrath
that is come upon you from God: for thine enemy hath persecuted thee; but
shortly thou shalt see his destruction, and shalt tread upon his neck.
26 My delicate ones have gone rough ways,
and were taken away as a flock caught of the enemies.
27 Be of good comfort, O my children,
and cry unto God: for ye shall be remembered of him that brought these
things upon you.
28 For as it was your mind to go astray
from God: so, being returned, seek him ten times more.
29 For he that hath brought these plagues
upon you shall bring you everlasting joy with your salvation.
30 Take a good heart, O Jerusalem: for
he that gave thee that name will comfort thee.
31 Miserable are they that afflicted thee,
and rejoiced at thy fall.
32 Miserable are the cities which thy
children served: miserable is she that received thy sons.
33 For as she rejoiced at thy ruin, and
was glad of thy fall: so shall she be grieved for her own desolation.
34 For I will take away the rejoicing
of her great multitude, and her pride shall be turned into mourning.
35 For fire shall come upon her from the
Everlasting, long to endure; and she shall be inhabited of devils for a
great time.
36 O Jerusalem, look about thee toward
the east, and behold the joy that cometh unto thee from God.
37 Lo, thy sons come, whom thou sentest
away, they come gathered together from the east to the west by the word
of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God.
Baruch 5
1 Put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of
mourning and affliction, and put on the comeliness of the glory that cometh
from God for ever.
2 Cast about thee a double garment of
the righteousness which cometh from God; and set a diadem on thine head
of the glory of the Everlasting.
3 For God will shew thy brightness unto
every country under heaven.
4 For thy name shall be called of God
for ever The peace of righteousness, and The glory of God's worship.
5 Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand on high,
and look about toward the east, and behold thy children gathered from the
west unto the east by the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the remembrance
of God.
6 For they departed from thee on foot,
and were led away of their enemies: but God bringeth them unto thee exalted
with glory, as children of the kingdom.
7 For God hath appointed that every high
hill, and banks of long continuance, should be cast down, and valleys filled
up, to make even the ground, that Israel may go safely in the glory of
God,
8 Moreover even the woods and every sweetsmelling
tree shall overshadow Israel by the commandment of God.
9 For God shall lead Israel with joy in
the light of his glory with the mercy and righteousness that cometh from
him.