Meeting in Babylon.

Following are the words of the book composed by Baruch, son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, son of Zedekiah, son of Hasadiah, son of Hilkiah, in Babylon, on the seventh day of the month, during the fifth year after the Chaldeans had captured Jerusalem and destroyed it by fire. Baruch read aloud the text of this book to Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and to all those who came to hear his words: to the nobles, the princes, the elders, and the entire populace of both exalted and lowly rank--that is, all the people who lived in Babylon by the River Sud.

       Then they wept and fasted and raised their voices in prayer before THE LORD. A collection was made, with all contributing as much money as they could. They sent the proceeds of this collection to Jerusalem, to the high priest Jehoiakim, son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, and to the priests and all the people who were with him in Jerusalem. At the same time, on the tenth day of the month Sivan, Baruch took the vessels of the house of THE LORD that had been stolen from the temple and returned them to the land of Judah. These were the silver vessels that Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, had ordered to be made, after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had deported Jeconiah from Jerusalem together with the princes, artisans, nobles, and the people, and brought them to Babylon as captives.

BARUCH: CHAPTER 1, VERSES 1 - 9

A Message to Jerusalem.

       This is the message they sent: "Use this money we are sending you to purchase burnt offerings, sin offerings, and frankincense, and to prepare grain offerings. Offer these on the altar of THE LORD, our GOD, along with prayers for Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and his son Belshazzar, that their lifetimes may continue as long as the heavens are above the earth. May THE LORD give us strength and wisdom as we live under the protection of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and that of his son Belshazzar, and serve them for many years and enjoy their favor.

       "Pray also to THE LORD, our GOD, for us, for we have sinned against THE LORD, our GOD, and HIS anger and wrath that we have incurred have not yet been withdrawn from us even to the present day. Finally, we exhort you to read publicly this book we are sending you in the house of THE LORD on the festival days and the days of assembly, and to proclaim:

BARUCH: CHAPTER 1, VERSES 10 - 15

Confession of Guilt.

       "Justice is the hallmark of THE LORD, our GOD, and we, the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem, are filled with shame this day, that we, together with our kings and rulers, our priests and prophets, and our ancestors, have sinned against THE LORD by refusing to obey HIM. We have not heeded the commands of THE LORD, our GOD, or obeyed the laws that THE LORD enjoined on us.

       "From the day THE LORD brought our forefathers out of Egypt until the present time, we have disobeyed THE LORD, our GOD, and paid no heed to HIS voice. Even today we continue to be afflicted with the evils and the curse pronounced by THE LORD through HIS servant Moses when he led forth our ancestors out of Egypt to bestow upon us a land flowing with milk and honey. We did not listen to the voice of THE LORD, our GOD, as HE spoke to us in the admonitions of the prophets whom HE sent to us, but instead followed our own wicked inclinations, choosing to serve other gods and to do what is evil in the sight of THE LORD, our GOD."

BARUCH: CHAPTER 1, VERSES 15 - 22

Punishment of Sin.

"Therefore, THE LORD carried out the penalty that HE threatened to inflict upon us: upon our judges who governed Israel, upon our kings and rulers, and upon the people of Israel and Judah. The evils HE permitted to afflict Jerusalem have been of such intensity that they have never been paralleled anywhere under the heavens, as was foretold in the law of Moses: that we would sink to the depravity of eating the flesh of our young sons and daughters. THE LORD made us subject to all the kingdoms that surround us. All the nations among which HE has scattered us regard us as an object of scorn, and our land is regarded as a wilderness. Instead of being raised up, we have been brought low, because in ignoring HIS precepts, we have sinned against THE LORD, our GOD.

       "Justice is the hallmark of THE LORD, our GOD, but we, like our fathers, are the object of shame even today. All of the evils that THE LORD threatened to inflict upon us we have experienced, yet we did not entreat THE LORD for relief and pledge to renounce the desires of our evil hearts. THE LORD did not ignore our misdeeds but inflicted evils upon us in recompense, for THE LORD is just in all the works HE has commanded us to do. Yet we did not heed the voice of THE LORD or obey the precepts that HE enjoined upon us."

BARUCH: CHAPTER 2, VERSES 1 - 10

Prayer for Deliverance.

       "And now, LORD, GOD of Israel, who delivered YOUR people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, with signs and wonders, and with great power and outstretched arm, winning for YOURSELF a great name that is revered even today, we admit that we have sinned by our godless actions and our violation of all YOUR precepts, O LORD, our GOD. Avert YOUR wrath from us, for only a scant portion of us still remains among the nations where YOU have scattered us. Pay heed, O LORD, to our prayers and requests. For YOUR own sake deliver us, and enable us to gain the approbation of those who have led us into exile, so that the entire world may acknowledge that YOU are THE LORD, our GOD, and that Israel and his descendants bear YOUR name.

       "Look down, O LORD, from YOUR holy dwelling, and keep us in YOUR thoughts. Turn YOUR ear toward us, O LORD, and listen to us. Look upon us, LORD, and see. It is not the dead in Hades, whose spirit no longer dwells in their bodies, who can render praise and vindication to YOU, O LORD. Rather, it is those who are living and deeply grieved, bent over and frail in their movements, with failing eyesight and hungering soul, who will praise YOUR glory and justice, O LORD.

       "It is not because of the righteous deeds of our ancestors and our kings that we make bold to approach YOU with our plea for mercy, O LORD, our GOD. YOU have rained down YOUR wrath and anger upon us, as YOU had announced through YOUR servants the prophets, saying: 'Thus says THE LORD: Bow your shoulders in the service of the king of Babylon, so that you can remain in the land that I gave to your fathers. But if you refuse to heed THE LORD's command to serve the king of Babylon, I will banish from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the shouts of joy and the sounds of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, and the whole land will be a desolate waste, without a single inhabitant.'

       "However, we disobeyed YOUR command to serve the king of Babylon, and therefore YOU carried out the warning YOU had issued through YOUR servants the prophets, that the bones of our kings and the bones of our ancestors would be uprooted from their burial sites. And indeed, those bones have been exposed to the daytime heat and the nighttime frost. They died in dreadful anguish, as a result of famine and sword and pestilence. Therefore, because of the wickedness of the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah, the house that bears YOUR name YOU have reduced to its present state."

BARUCH: CHAPTER 2, VERSES 11 - 26

GOD's Promises Recalled.

       "Yet, O LORD, our GOD, You have treated us with all YOUR goodness and all YOUR mercy, exactly as YOU promised through YOUR servant Moses, on the day YOU commanded him to write down YOUR law in the presence of the Israelites when YOU said: 'If you do not listen to MY voice, this huge and multitudinous people will be reduced to a tiny remnant among the nations where I will scatter them. I well realize that they will not heed ME, because they are a stiff-necked people. But in the land of their exile, they will return to themselves and come to realize that I AM THE LORD, their GOD. I will give them an obedient heart and attentive ears, and they will praise ME in the land of their exile as they invoke MY name. Remembering the fate of their ancestors who sinned against THE LORD, they will forsake their stubborn obstinacy and their evil deeds.

       " 'Then I will again lead them back to the land that I promised under oath to give to their fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they will rule over it. Their numbers will increase as I ordain; they will not diminish. And I will enter with them into an eternal covenant, that I will be their GOD and they will be MY people. Never again will I banish MY people Israel from the land I have given them.'

"LORD ALMIGHTY, GOD OF ISRAEL, the anguished soul and the troubled spirit cry out to YOU. Listen to us, O LORD, and have mercy, for we have sinned against YOU. While we are perishing forever, YOU are enthroned forever. LORD ALMIGHTY, GOD of Israel, listen to the prayer of the people of Israel, the children of those who have sinned against YOU. They have not heeded the voice of THE LORD, their GOD, and therefore, evils continue to befall us. Do not call to mind the iniquity of our fathers, but during this time of calamity, remember instead YOUR power and YOUR name. For YOU are THE LORD, our GOD, and it is YOU, O LORD, whom we will praise. To effect this, YOU have put the fear of YOU into our hearts so that we will invoke YOUR name. We now praise YOU in exile, for we have cast away from our hearts all the iniquity of our fathers who sinned against YOU. Look upon us today in our exile, where YOU scattered us. We have become a reproach and a curse, to be condemned for all the iniquities of our fathers who turned away from THE LORD, our GOD."

BARUCH: CHAPTER 2, VERSES 27 - 35 & CHAPTER 3, VERSES 1 - 8

PRAISE OF WISDOM

       Pay heed, O Israel, to the commandments that

              offer life;

          lend an ear to obtain prudence.

       Why is it, O Israel, that you dwell in the land

              of your enemies,

          growing ever older in a foreign country?

       Why do you defile yourself with the dead,

          numbered among those who descend to the

              netherworld?

       You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom!

          If you had walked in the way of GOD, you

              would have dwelt in peace forever.

       Learn where there is prudence,

          where there is strength,

          where there is wisdom,

       so that you may also know

          where may be found length of days, and life,

          where there is light for the eyes, and peace.

       Who has discovered where wisdom dwells;

          who has entered her treasure house?

       Where now are those who ruled nations,

          those who had dominion over the animals of

              the earth

          and made sport of the birds of the heavens?

       Where are those who amassed hoards of silver

              and gold

          in which people place their trust,

          those whose greed knew no limit?

       Where are those silversmiths expert in their

              craft

          of whose work not a trace remains?

       They have all vanished, descending into the

              netherworld,

          and others have risen up to take their place.

       Succeeding generations have seen the light of

              day

          and have come to dwell in the land,

       but the way to knowledge they have not

              learned;

          they have not discerned her paths or

              embraced her.

       Not even their children have reached her;

          indeed, they have strayed far from her way.

       Wisdom has not been heard of in Canaan,

          nor has she been seen in Teman.

       The descendants of Hagar who seek after

              worldly wisdom,

          the merchants of Midian and Teman,

          the storytellers and the searchers for

              understanding--

       these have not discovered the way to wisdom

          or even remembered her paths.

       O Israel, how great is the house of GOD,

          how vast the region of HIS dominion.

       It is immense and without bounds,

          lofty and immeasurable.

       There were born the giants, renowned of old,

          mighty in stature, skilled in war.

       Yet these were not the ones chosen by GOD,

          nor did HE teach them the way of

              understanding.

       They perished because of their lack of

              prudence;

          they perished through their own folly.

       Who has ever gone up to heaven to get her

          and bring her down from the clouds?

       Who has ever traversed the oceans and found

              her,

          and will exchange the finest gold for her?

       No one knows the way to her,

          nor is anyone concerned with the path to

              her.

       However, HE who knows all things knows

              her;

          by HIS understanding HE has discovered

              her.

       HE it is who established the earth for all time

          and filled it with four-footed creatures.

       HE who sends forth the light and it takes

              flight,

          summons it and, trembling, it obeys.

       Before HIM the stars in their designated

              places shine and rejoice;

          HE summons them, and they reply, "Here

              we are,"

          and shine with delight for THE ONE who made them.

       This is our GOD;

          no other can compare to HIM.

       HE has discerned the entire path to wisdom

          and revealed her to Jacob, HIS servant,

          and to Israel, whom HE loved.

       After that, she appeared on earth

          and lived with humankind.

       She is the book of GOD's commandments,

          the law that endures forever.

       All who adhere to her will live,

          but those who forsake her will die.

       Return, O Jacob, and lay hold of her;

          approach the radiance of her light.

       Do not yield your glory to another

          or your privileges to a foreign people.

       Blessed are we, O Israel,

          for what is pleasing to GOD has been

              revealed to us.

BARUCH: CHAPTER 3, VERSES 9 - 38 & CHAPTER 4, VERSES 1 - 4

The Exile

       Rouse your courage, my people,

          you who keep alive the memory of Israel.

       You were sold to the nations

          but not for the purpose of your destruction.

       You were handed over to your enemies

          because you provoked GOD's indignation.

       You offended THE ONE who made you

          by offering sacrifices to demons and not to

              GOD.

       You turned your back on

              THE EVERLASTING who nourished

              you,

          and caused sorrow for Jerusalem who

              reared you.

       She saw the wrath of GOD descending upon

              you,

          and she exclaimed:

       "Listen, you neighbors of Zion.

          GOD has afflicted me with great sorrow.

       For I have beheld the exile of my sons and

              daughters

          that THE EVERLASTING has brought

              upon them.

       Joyfully I raised them,

          but with tears and lamenting I had to watch

              them depart.

       Let not one of you rejoice over my fate,

          a widow who has lost so many of her own;

       I have been left desolate because of the sins of

              my children

          who deviated from the law of GOD.

       They refused to obey his statutes,

          and did not walk in the ways of GOD's

              commandments

          or follow the paths of discipline that his

              justice required.

       Let Zion's neighbors come

          to observe the captivity of my sons and

              daughters

          that THE EVERLASTING has inflicted

              upon them.

       HE caused a faraway nation to war against

              them,

          a ruthless nation speaking a foreign tongue,

          that showed neither respect for the aged

          nor pity for the young.

       They have led into exile the widow's beloved

              sons

          and left her alone, without a solitary

              surviving daughter.

BARUCH: CHAPTER 4, VERSES 5 - 16

The Deliverance

       "How can I possibly be of help to you?

       THE ONE who afflicted you with these

              disasters

          will deliver you from the power of your

              enemies.

       Go, my children, go,

          for I have been left desolate.

       I have removed my robes of peace

          and donned sackcloth for prayers of

              supplication;

          throughout my life I will cry out to

              THE Everlasting.

       "Take courage, my children; call out to GOD,

          and HE will deliver you from oppression

          and from the hands of your enemies.

       I place my trust in THE EVERLASTING for

              your deliverance,

          and joy has come to me from THE HOLY

              ONE,

       because of the mercy that will soon come to

              you

          from THE EVERLASTING, your Savior.

       With mourning and laments I watched you

              depart,

          but GOD will give you back to me with

              everlasting joy and gladness.

       For as the neighbors of Zion have witnessed

              your captivity,

          they will soon behold your deliverance by

              your GOD,

          which will come to you with the great glory

              and splendor of THE EVERLASTING.

       "My children, endure with patience the

              wrath

          that has come upon you from GOD.

       Your enemy has persecuted you,

          but shortly you will witness his destruction

          and trample upon his neck with your foot.

       My delicate children have had to traverse

              rocky paths,

          taken away like sheep carried off by the

              enemy.

       Have courage, my children, and cry out to

              GOD;

          HE who has thus afflicted you will not

              forget you.

       As the thought once came to you to go astray

              from GOD,

          now you must increase your efforts tenfold

              to seek HIM.

       HE who afflicted you with these disasters will

              bring you everlasting joy with your

              deliverance."

BARUCH: CHAPTER 4, VERSES 17 - 29

Jerusalem Assured of Help

       Take courage, Jerusalem!

          THE ONE who gave you your name will

              comfort you.

       Great will be the terror of those who

              harmed you

          and rejoiced over your ill-fortune.

       Disaster awaits those cities where your

              children were slaves,

          wretched the city that received your

              offspring.

       Just as that city rejoiced at your downfall

          and was exultant to witness your ruin,

          so shall she grieve over her own devastation.

       I shall despoil her of the multitudes in

              which she took such joy,

          and her insolent pride shall be turned

              to mourning.

       Fire from THE EVERLASTING will besiege

              her for many days,

          and demons will inhabit her for a lengthy

              period of time.

BARUCH: CHAPTER 4, VERSES 30 - 35