The Apocryphal Book of Baruch.
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 Sedei, the son of Helcias, wrote in Babylonia.
In the fifth year, in the seventh day of the month, at the time that the Chaldeans took
Jerusalem, and burnt it with fire.
And Baruch read the words of this book in the hearing of Jechonias the son of Joakim
king of Juda, and in the hearing of all the people that came to hear the book.
And in the hearing of the nobles, the sons of the kings, and in the hearing of the ancients,
and in the hearing of the people, from the least even to the greatest of them that dwelt
in Babylonia, by the river Sedi.
And when they heard it they wept, and fasted, and prayed before the Lord.
And they made a collection of money, according to every man's power.
And they sent it to Jerusulem to Joakim the priest, the son of Helcias, the son of Salom,
and to the priests, and to all the people, that were found with him in Jerusalem: At
the time when he received the vessels of the temple of the Lord, which had been taken away
out of the temple, to return them into the land of Juda the tenth day of the month Sivan,
the silver vessels, which Sedecias the son of Josias king of Juda had made, After that
Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon had carried away Jechonias, and the princes, and all the
powerful men, and the people of the land from Jerusalem, and brought them bound to Babylon.
And they said: Behold we have sent you money, buy with it holocausts, and frankincense,
and make meat offerings, and offerings for sin at the altar of the Lord our God: And
pray ye for the life of Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon, and for the life of Balthasar
his son, that their days may be upon earth as the days of heaven: And that the Lord may
give us strength, and enlighten our eyes, that we may live under the shadow of Nabuchodonosor
the king of Babylon, and under the shadow of Balthasar his son, and may serve them many
days, and may find favour in their sight.
And pray ye for us to the Lord our God: for we have sinned against the Lord our God, and
his wrath is not turned away from us even to this day.
And read ye this book, which we have sent to you to be read in the temple of the Lord,
on feasts, and proper days.
And you shall say: To the Lord our God belongeth justice, but to us confusion of our face:
as it is come to pass at this day to all Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, To our
kings, and to our princes, and to our priests, and to our prophets, and to our fathers.
We have sinned before the Lord our God, and have not believed him, nor put our trust in
him: And we were not obedient to him, and we have not harkened to the voice of the Lord
our God, to walk in his commandments, which he hath given us.
From the day that he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, we
were disobedient to the Lord our God: and going astray we turned away from hearing his
voice.
And many evils have cleaved to us, and the curses which the Lord foretold by Moses his
servant: who brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, to give us a land flowing with
milk and honey, as at this day.
And we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God according to all the words
of the prophets whom he sent to us: And we have gone away every man afterthe inclinations
of his own wicked heart, to serve strange gods, and to do evil in the sight of the Lord
our God.
Wherefore the Lord our God hath made good his word, that he spoke to us, and to our
judges that have judged Israel, and to our kings, and to our princes, and to all Israel
and Juda: That the Lord would bring upon us great evils, such as never happened under
heaven, as they have come to pass in Jerusalem, according to the things that are written in
the law of Moses: That a man should eat the flesh of his own son, and the flesh of his
own daughter.
And he hath delivered them up to be under the hand of all the kings that are round about
us, to be a reproach, and desolation among all the people, among whom the Lord hath scattered
us.
And we are brought under, and are not uppermost: because we have sinned against the Lord our
God, by not obeying his voice.
To the Lord our God belongeth justice: but to us, and to our fathers confusion of face,
as at this day.
For the Lord hath pronounced against us all these evils that are come upon us: And we
have not entreated the face of the Lord our God, that we might return every one of us
from our most wicked ways.
And the Lord hath watched over us for evil, and hath brought it upon us: for the Lord
is just in all his works which he hath commanded us: And we have not hearkened to his voice
to walk in the commandments of the Lord which he hath set before us.
And now, O Lord God of Israel, who hast brought thy people out of the land of Egypt with a
strong hand, and with signs, and with wonders, and with thy great power, and with a mighty
arm, and hast made thee a name as at this day, We have sinned, we have done wickedly,
we have acted unjustly, O Lord our God, against all thy justices.
Let thy wrath be turned away from us: for we are left a few among the nations where
thou hast scattered us.
Hear, O Lord, our prayers, and our petitions, and deliver us for thy own sake: and grant
that we may find favour in the sight of them that have led us away: That all the earth
may know that thou art the Lord our God, and that thy name is called upon Israel, and upon
his posterity.
Look down upon us, O Lord, from thy holy house, and incline thy ear, and hear us.
Open thy eyes, and behold: for the dead that are in hell, whose spirit is taken away from
their bowels, shall not give glory and justice to the Lord: But the soul that is sorrowful
for the greatness of evil she hath done, and goeth bowed down, and feeble, and the eyes
that fail, and the hungry soul giveth glory and justice to thee the Lord.
For it is not for the justices of our fathers that we pour out our prayers, and beg mercy
in thy sight, O Lord our God: But because thou hast sent out thy wrath, and thy indignation
upon us, as thou hast spoken by the hand of thy servants the prophets, saying: Thus saith
the Lord: Bow down your shoulder, and your neck, and serve the king of Babylon: and you
shall remain in the land which I have given to your fathers.
But if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, to serve the king of Babylon:
I will cause you to depart out of the cities of Juda, and from without Jerusalem.
And I will take away from you the voice of mirth, and the voice of joy, and the voice
of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, and all the land shall be without any footstep
of inhabitants.
And they hearkened not to thy voice, to serve the king of Babylon: and thou hast made good
thy words, which thou spokest by the hands of thy servants the prophets, that the bones
of our kings, and the bones of our fathers should be removed out of their place: And
behold they are cast out to the heat of the sun, and to the frost of the night: and they
have died in grievous pains, by famine, and by the sword, and in banishment.
And thou hast made the temple, in which thy name was called upon, as it is at this day,
for the iniquity of the house of Israel, and the house of Juda.
And thou hast dealt with us, O Lord our God, according to all thy goodness, and according
to all that great mercy of thine: As thou spokest by the hand of thy servant Moses,
in the day when thou didst command him to write thy law before the children of Israel,
Saying: If you will not hear my voice, this great multitude shall be turned into a very
small number among the nations, where I will scatter them: For I know that the people will
not hear me, for they are a people of a stiff neck: but they shall turn to their heart in
the land of their captivity: And they shall know that I am the Lord their God: and I will
give them a heart, and they shall understand: and ears, and they shall hear.
And they shall praise me in the land of their captivity, and shall be mindful of my name.
And they shall turn away themselves from their stiff neck, and from their wicked deeds: for
they shall remember the way of their fathers, that sinned against me.
And I will bring them back again into the land which I promised with an oath to their
fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they shall be masters thereof: and I will multiply
them, and they shall not be diminished.
And I will make with them another covenant that shall be everlasting, to be their God,
and they shall be my people: and I will no more remove my people, the children of Israel,
out of the land that I have given them.
And now, O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, the soul in anguish, and the troubled spirit
crieth to thee: Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for thou art a merciful God, and have pity
on us: for we have sinned before thee.
For thou remainest for ever, and shall we perish everlastingly?
O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the dead of Israel, and of their
children, that have sinned before thee, and have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord
their God, wherefore evils have cleaved fast to us.
Remember not the iniquities of our fathers, but think upon thy hand, and upon thy name
at this time: For thou art the Lord our God, and we will praise thee, O Lord: Because for
this end 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 are converted from the iniquity of our
fathers, who sinned before thee.
And behold we are at this day in our captivity, whereby thou hast scattered us to be a reproach,
and a curse, and an offence, according to all the iniquities of our fathers, who departed
from thee, O Lord our God.
Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life: give ear, that thou mayst learn wisdom.
How happeneth it, O Israel, that thou art in thy enemies' land?
Thou art grown old in a strange country, thou art defiled with the dead: thou art counted
with them that go down into hell.
Thou hast forsaken the fountain of wisdom: For if thou hadst walked in the way of God,
thou hadst surely dwelt in peace for ever.
Learn where is wisdom, where is strength, where is understanding: that thou mayst know
also where is length of days and life, where is the light of the eyes, and peace.
Who hath found out her place? and who hath gone in to her treasures?
Where are the princes of the nations, and they that rule over the beasts that are upon
the earth?
That take their diversion with the birds of the air.
That hoard up silver and gold, wherein men trust, and there is no end of their getting?
who work in silver and are solicitous, and their works are unsearchable.
They are cut off, and are gone down to hell, and others are risen up in their place.
Young men have seen the light, and dwelt upon the earth: but the way of knowledge they have
not known, Nor have they understood the paths thereof, neither have their children received
it, it is far from their face.
It hath not been heard of in the land of Chanaan, neither hath it been seen in Theman.
The children of Agar also, that search after the wisdom that is of the earth, the merchants
of Merrha, and of Theman, and the tellers of fables, and searchers of prudence and understanding:
but the way of wisdom they have not known, neither have they remembered her paths.
O Israel, how great is the house of God, and how vast is the place of his possession!
It is great, and hath no end: it is high and immense.
There were the giants, those renowned men that were from the beginning, of great stature,
expert in war.
The Lord chose not them, neither did they find the way of knowledge: therefore did they
perish.
And because they had not wisdom, they perished through their folly.
Who hath gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her down from the clouds?
Who hath passed over the sea, and found her, and brought her preferably to chosen gold?
There is none that is able to know her ways, nor that can search out her paths: But he
that knoweth all things, knoweth her, and hath found her out with his understanding:
he that prepared the earth for evermore, and filled it with cattle and four footed beasts:
He that sendeth forth light, and it goeth: and hath called it, and it obeyeth him with
trembling.
And the stars have given light in their watches, and rejoiced: They were called, and they said:
Here we are: and with cheerfulness they have shined forth to him that made them.
This is our God, and there shall no other be accounted of in comparison of him.
He found out all the way of knowledge, and gave it to Jacob his servant, and to Israel
his beloved.
Afterwards he was seen upon earth, and conversed with men.
This is the book of the commandments of God, and the law, that is for ever: all they that
keep it, shall come to life: but they that have forsaken it, to death.
Return, O Jacob, and take hold of it, walk in the way by its brightness, in the presence
of the light thereof.
Give not thy honour to another, nor thy dignity to a strange nation.
We are happy, O Israel: because the things that are pleasing to God, are made known to
us.
Be of good comfort, O people of God, the memorial of Israel: You have been sold to the Gentiles,
not for your destruction: but because you provoked God to wrath, you are delivered to
your adversaries.
For you have provoked him who made you, the eternal God, offering sacrifice to devils,
and not to God.
For you have forgotten God, who brought you up, and you have grieved Jerusalem that nursed
you.
For she saw the wrath of God coming upon you, and she said: Give ear, all you that dwell
near Sion, for God hath brought upon me great mourning: For I have seen the captivity of
my people, of my sons, and my daughters, which the Eternal hath brought upon them.
For I nourished them with joy: but I sent them away with weeping and mourning.
Let no man rejoice over me, a widow, and desolate: I am forsaken of many for the sins of my children,
because they departed from the law of God.
And they have not known his justices, nor walked by the ways of God's commandments,
neither have they entered by the paths of his truth and justice.
Let them that dwell about Sion come, and remember the captivity of my sons and daughters, which
the Eternal hath brought upon them.
For he hath brought a nation upon them from afar, a wicked nation, and of a strange tongue:
Who have neither reverenced the ancient, nor pitied children, and have carried away the
beloved of the widow, and have left me all alone without children.
But as for me, what help can I give you?
But he that hath brought the evils upon you, he will deliver you out of the hands of your
enemies.
Go your way, my children, go your way: for I am left alone.
I have put off the robe of peace, and have put upon me the sackcloth of supplication,
and I will cry to the most High in my days.
Be of good comfort, my children, cry to the Lord, and he will deliver you out of the hand
of the princes your enemies.
For my hope is in the Eternal that he will save you: and joy is come upon me from the
Holy One, because of the mercy which shall come to you from our everlasting Saviour.
For I sent you forth with mourning and weeping: but the Lord will bring you back to me with
joy and gladness for ever.
For as the neighbours of Sion have now seen your captivity from God: so shall they also
shortly see your salvation from God, which shall come upon you with great honour, and
everlasting glory.
My children, suffer patiently the wrath that is come upon you: for thy enemy hath persecuted
thee, but thou shalt quickly see his destruction: and thou shalt get up upon his neck.
My delicate ones have walked rough ways, for they were taken away as a flock made a prey
by the enemies.
Be of good comfort, my children, and cry to the Lord: for you shall be remembered by him
that hath led you away.
For as it was your mind to go astray from God; so when you return again you shall seek
him ten times as much.
For he that hath brought evils upon you, shall bring you everlasting joy again with your
salvation.
Be of good heart, O Jerusalem: for he exhorteth thee, that named thee.
The wicked that have afflicted thee, shall perish: and they that have rejoiced at thy
ruin, shall be punished.
The cities which thy children have served, shall be punished: and she that received thy
sons.
For as she rejoiced at thy ruin, and was glad of thy fall: so shall she be grieved for her
own desolation.
And the joy of her multitude shall be cut off: and her gladness shall be turned to mourning.
For fire shall come upon her from the Eternal, long to endure, and she shall be inhabited
by devils for a great time.
Look about thee, O Jerusalem, towards the east, and behold the joy that cometh to thee
from God.
For behold thy children come, whom thou sentest away scattered, they come gathered together
from the east even to the west, at the word of the Holy One rejoicing for the honour of
God.
Put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of thy mourning, and affliction: and put on the beauty, and
honour of that everlasting glory which thou hast from God.
God will clothe thee with the double garment of justice, and will set a crown on thy head
of everlasting honour.
For God will shew his brightness in thee, to every one under heaven.
For thy name shall be named to thee by God for ever: the peace of justice, and honour
of piety.
Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand on high: and look about towards the east, and behold thy
children gathered together from the rising to the setting sun, by the word of the Holy
One rejoicing in the remembrance of God.
For they went out from thee on foot, led by the enemies: but the Lord will bring them
to thee exalted with honour as children of the kingdom.
For God hath appointed to bring down every high mountain, and the everlasting rocks,
and to fill up the valleys to make them even with the ground: that Israel may walk diligently
to the honour of God.
Moreover the woods, and every sweet-smelling tree have overshadowed Israel by the commandment
of God.
For God will bring Israel with joy in the light of his majesty, with mercy, and justice,
that cometh from him.
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