BARUCH
§ The prayer of exiles
¤1 °1 These are
the words of the book written by Baruch, the son of Neriah, descended from
Massiah, from Sedekiah, from Hasadiah, from Hilkiah. °2 They were written in the fifth year, on the seventh
day of the month, at the time when the Chaldeans had taken Jerusalem and
burned it. °3 Baruch read the words of this book to Jeconiah, the
son of Joachim, the king of Judah, in the presence of all the people who had
come together to hear it read. °4 He read it in the hearing of the nobles
and the king’s sons, of the elders and all the people, from the smallest to
the greatest – that is, all those who were living in Babylon near the River
Sudi. °5 Then the people wept and fasted and prayed before
the Lord. °6 They also collected money according to
what each one could afford °7 and this they sent to Jerusalem, to the
priest Jehoiakim, son of Hilkiah, the son of Shallum, and to the other
priests and people who dwelt in Jerusalem with him. °8 This same Baruch had undertaken to carry back to
Judea, on the tenth day of the month of Sivan, the sacred vessels which had
been taken away from the Temple of the Lord. These were the silver vessels
made by Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah, °9 after
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried off Jeconiah, the artisans,
the nobles and the people of the land and had taken them captive to Babylon. °10 The letter said: Look, we are sending you money; buy
with it victims for the holocaust and for sin offerings and incense; prepare
oblations and offer them on the Altar of the Lord our God. °11 Pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar, king of
Babylon, and of Balthasar, his son, so that they may be successful in all
that they do. °12 Thus the Lord will give strength and
light to our eyes. We will live under the protection of Nebuchadnezzar, King
of Babylon, and of his son, Balthasar. We shall have a long life serving them
and we shall find favor before them. °13 Pray to the Lord our God for us also, for we have
sinned against the Lord our God, even to this day the anger of the Lord and
his fury have not been turned away from us. °14 Finally,
read this book which we are sending to you, so that you can read it publicly
in the House of the Lord on the day of the Feast and on other suitable days. °15 You will say: May everyone recognize the justice of
our God but, on this day, shame and confusion befit the men of Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem – °16 our kings and princes, our priests, our
prophets, and our fathers, °17 because we have sinned before the Lord. °18 We have disobeyed him and have not listened to the
voice of the Lord our God, nor have we followed the commandments which the
Lord had put before us. °19 From the day that the Lord brought our
ancestors out of the land of Egypt until this day, we have disobeyed the Lord
our God and we have rebelled against him instead of listening to his voice. °20 Because of this, from the day on which the Lord
brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt, so as to give them a land
flowing with milk and honey, the evils and the curse which the Lord
pronounced by Moses, his servant, have dogged our footsteps right down to the
present day. °21 We did not listen to the voice of the
Lord our God speaking through the words of the prophets whom he sent to us, °22 but each one of us followed his perverted heart,
serving false gods and doing what displeases the Lord our God. ¤2 °1 That is
why the Lord our God has carried out the word which he spoke against us,
against the judges who have governed Israel, against our kings, our princes
and the people of Israel and Judah. °2 No one under the sky has ever seen the like of what
happened in Jerusalem, according to what is written in the book of Moses. °3 For people among us came to eat their son’s and
daughter’s flesh. °4 And he handed them over into the power of
all the surrounding kingdoms, so that they were cursed and humiliated among
the neighboring peoples among whom the Lord had scattered them. °5 Submission and not command has been our lot, because
we have sinned against the Lord our God and have not listened to his voice. °6 Just is the Lord our God, whereas shame and
confusion befit us and our ancestors right down to this day. °7 All those evils which the Lord prophesied concerning
us have fallen upon us. °8 And we have not begged the Lord to make
each of us turn away from the thoughts of our evil hearts. °9 Then the Lord kept watch over the evils and allowed
them to come upon us, for the Lord is just in all that he has commanded us to
do. °10 We have not listened to his voice nor
followed the commands which the Lord has ordered us to keep. °11 And now, Lord God of Israel, you who brought your
people out of Egypt with a strong hand, with miracles and wonders and great
power, you who stretched out your arm and made for yourself a name such as
you have today, °12 we have sinned. We have been godless and
unjust, Lord, careless about all your commands. °13 May
your fury be turned away from us, for there are very few of us left among the
nations in which you have scattered us. °14 Hear our supplication and our prayer, O Lord,
deliver us for your own honor and let us find favor with those who deported
us. °15 Let all the earth know that you are the
Lord our God, because Israel and its people bear your name. °16 Lord, look down from your holy dwelling place and
think of us; Lord, incline your ear and listen; °17 Lord,
open your eyes and consider: it is not the dead, lying in the netherworld,
who will praise your glory and justice, °18 since
their spirit has been taken from their breast. Grieving under his burden, and
walking bowed down and exhausted, the man with eyes sore from weeping and who
is hungry – these are they, who can give you glory and justice, O Lord. °19 For it is not on account of the merits of our
ancestors and of our kings that we pour out our cry for pity before you, O
Lord our God. °20 You have sent down on us your fury and
your anger as you announced through your servants, the prophets, saying, °21 “Thus says the Lord: Bend your shoulders and serve
the king of Babylon and you will dwell in the land that I gave to your
ancestors. °22 But if you do not listen to the voice of
the Lord your God and serve the king of Babylon, °23 I will
bring to an end in the towns of Judah and in Jerusalem the song of joy and
gladness, the song of the bridegroom and the bride, and the whole country
will become a desert without inhabitants. °24 We did
not listen to your invitation to serve the king of Babylon and so you carried
out what you had foretold by your servants, the prophets, that the bones of
our kings and our ancestors would be taken from their graves. °25 See, they have been exposed to the heat of the day
and the cold of the night; they died in cruel sufferings, by famine, by the
sword and by plagues. °26 And you have reduced the nation which
bears your name to the state in which it is today because of the wickedness
of the people of Judah. °27 However, you have acted towards us, O Lord our God,
indulgently and with great tenderness, °28 as you
foretold by your servant Moses, the day you ordered him to write down your
Law in the presence of the children of Israel saying: °29 If you do not listen to my voice, this great and
vast multitude will be reduced to a small remnant among the nations where I
shall scatter them; °30 for I know well that they will not listen
to me because they are a stiff-necked people. But in the land of their exile
their hearts will be converted °31
and they will know
that I am the Lord their God. °32 And I will give them a heart and
listening ears, that they may praise me in the land of their exile and
remember my name. °33 They will repent of their stiff-necked
obstinacy and their evil deeds, because they will remember what happened to
their ancestors who had sinned before the Lord. °34 And I
will lead them into the land which I have promised by oath to their
ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and they will take possession of it. I
will increase their number and it will no longer diminish. °35 I will make with them an everlasting covenant; I will
be their God and they shall be my people. I will no longer drive my people
Israel from the land which I have given them. ¤3 °1 Almighty
Lord, God of Israel, a soul in anguish and a discouraged spirit cries out to
you. °2 Listen, Lord, and have pity for we have
sinned against you; °3 for you reign forever while we perish
forever. °4 Lord, all-powerful God of Israel, listen
then to the prayers of the dead of Israel. We are the sons of those who
sinned against you, who did not listen to the voice of their God, and this is
why disgrace has come upon us. °5 Do not remember any longer the wrongdoing
of our fathers, but remember at this time your power and your name; °6 for you are the Lord, our God and we will praise
you, Lord. °7 That is why you have put your fear into
our hearts and we call upon your name. And we will praise you in our exile
for we have removed from our hearts all the wrong of our fathers who sinned
against you. °8 We are here today in our exile where you
have scattered us to be insulted, cursed and condemned for the wrongdoing of
our fathers, who separated themselves from the Lord our God. § Who has found wisdom?°9 Listen, Israel, to the commands of life,
give ear so as to learn prudence, °10 Why, Israel! Why are you in the land of
your foes? Why are you growing old in a foreign country, contaminated by
pagans, °11 counted among those who go to the pit? °12 You have abandoned the source of Wisdom. °13 If you had walked in the way of God,
peace would be your dwelling place forever. °14 Learn where is Wisdom, where is Strength
and Understanding, that
you may know, at the same time, where are length of days and life, light
of the eyes and Peace. °15 Who will find Wisdom’s dwelling? Who
will enter her storage rooms? °16 Where are the leaders of the nations,
those who commanded the beasts of the earth, °17 who played with the birds of the heavens, who
piled up silver and gold – in which people put their trust – and
who never tired of collecting it? °18 Amassing money was their only concern, their
business beyond measure. °19 But they have disappeared, they
have gone down to the dead and
others have risen in their place. °20 A younger generation is there on
the earth and enjoys the light, but
they have not known the ways of knowledge; they
have not seen his tracks nor have they met him, °21 and their children after them did not
leave their paths. °22 No one in Canaan has heard of Wisdom, no
one has seen her in Teman. °23 The sons of Agar, who seek knowledge of
the earth, the
traders of Madian and Teman, the
tellers of fables and philosophers, they
have not known the path of Wisdom, they
have not discovered her ways. °24 O Israel, how great is the house of God,
how vast his dominion! °25 It is great and has no limits. It
is lofty, wide and immeasurable. °26 There were born the ancient and famous
giants of
high stature and skillful in war. °27 God did not choose them, he
did not teach them the ways of Wisdom, °28 and they perished because of their folly,
because they lacked knowledge. °29 Who has ascended to Heaven that he may
lay hold of her and
bring her down from the clouds? °30 Who has crossed seas and found her, and
bought her with the purest of gold? °31 There is no one who knows her path, no
one who thinks of her way. °32 But he who knows everything recognizes
her. He
has found her in his own intellect. He
who created the earth, for all time, and has filled it with four-footed
beings. °33 He who sends the light, and it goes, who
recalls it, and trembling it obeys. °34 The stars shine, full of joy, to keep
their night watches. He
calls them and they answer, “Here we are.” They
shine with joy for their Creator. °35 It is he who is our God, no other can be
compared with him. °36 He has found the way of understanding and
has given her to Jacob his servant and to Israel his well-beloved. °37 Then Wisdom was seen on earth and lived
among humans. ¤4 °1 She
herself is the book of the commands of God, the law which endures forever. All
who hold fast to her will have life but
those who abandon her will die. °2 Come back, Jacob, and embrace her, walk
towards brightness under her light. °3 Do not give up what is your glory or sell
your privileges to any strange nation. °4 We are fortunate, O Israel, for we know
what pleases the Lord! § Consolation for Jerusalem°5 Take courage, my people, you who preserve the memory
of Israel. °6 You have been sold to the nations but not
for your destruction; because you had aroused the anger of God, you were
delivered to your enemies. °7 For you displeased your Creator in
sacrificing to demons and not to God. °8 You
have forgotten the Eternal God, the one who nourished you. You have filled
Jerusalem with sadness, she who brought you up. °9 For she
saw the anger of God fall on you and she said, “Listen, you neighboring
cities of Zion, God has sent me a great sorrow. °10 I have
seen the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Eternal one brought on
them. °11 I had nurtured them in joy; with tears
and sadness I saw them leave. °12 Let no one rejoice on seeing me a widow
and abandoned by all. Because of the sins of my children I am now alone, because
they have turned away from the law of God. °13 They have not remembered its precepts; nor have they
walked in the ways of his commandments, and followed the discipline which
leads to uprightness. °14 Let them come, the neighbors of Zion, and remember
the captivity which the Eternal One laid on my sons and daughters. °15 For he caused a distant nation to come against them,
a ruthless nation with an unknown language. They
had no respect for the old, and no pity for the infant; °16 they took away the only son of the widow, as well as
her daughter, and left her alone. °17 But as for myself, how can I help you? °18 He who caused these evils to come upon you will
deliver you from the hands of your enemies. °19 Well, my children, go on your way; as for me, I am
left alone. °20 I have taken off the garment of peace and put on
again the sackcloth of penance and prayer. I will cry out to the Eternal One
all the rest of my days. °21 Come, take courage, my children, cry out to God. He
will deliver you from the violence of the enemy. °22 Because I hoped for your salvation from the Eternal
One, joy has come to me from the Holy One, because of the mercy that will
come to you soon from the Eternal One, our Savior. °23 In tears and mourning, I saw you leave, but in joy
and gladness God will bring you back to me forever. °24 As the neighbors of Zion have seen your captivity so
they will soon see your salvation from God, when he manifests to you the
great glory and the splendor of the Eternal God. °25 Children, bear patiently this punishment which came
on you from God. The enemy has persecuted you, but you will soon see his
downfall and you will trample him underfoot. °26 My well-beloved children have walked by difficult
paths, carried off like a herd stolen by enemies. °27 Take
courage, my children, cry out to God, for he who sent you into exile will
remember you. °28 Thus, as you distanced yourself from God, return to
him and seek him ten times more earnestly. °29 For he
who caused these evils to fall on you will bring you salvation and eternal
joy. °30 Take courage, Jerusalem. He who has named you will
console you. °31 Cursed be those who did evil to you and rejoiced in
your downfall. °32 Cursed be those cities in which your
children were slaves, cursed the nation in which they had to live. °33 Just as that nation rejoiced in your downfall and
took pleasure in your destruction so will she be afflicted and destroyed. °34 I will take from her the joy of being a numerous
people; her pride will be turned into mourning. °35 A fire will descend on her from the Eternal One and
burn for many days. She will be inhabited by demons for a long time. °36 Jerusalem, look towards the East, and see the joy
which is coming to you from God. °37 Look, your children who were scattered are returning.
They are assembling, coming together, from the East and from the West, at the
voice of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God. ¤5 °1 Jerusalem,
put off your garment of mourning and unhappiness, put on the splendor and
glory of God forever. °2 Wrap yourself in the mantle of holiness that comes
from God, put on your head the crown of glory of the Eternal One. °3 For God will show your splendor to every being under
Heaven. °4 He will call your name forever, “Peace in Justice”
and “Glory in the Fear of the Lord.” °5 Rise up, Jerusalem, stand on the heights. Look
towards the East and see your children gathered together from the setting of
the sun to its rising, by the voice of the Holy One, rejoicing because God
has remembered them. °6 They left you on foot, taken away by the enemy. God
will lead them back, carried gloriously like royal princes. °7 For God has resolved to bring low every high
mountain and the everlasting hills, to fill up the valleys and level out the
ground, in order that Israel may walk in safety under the Glory of God. °8 Even the forests and the fragrant trees will give
shade to Israel at God’s command. °9
For God will lead
Israel with joy by the light of his Glory, escorting them with his mercy and
justice. § The Letter of JeremiahA
copy of the letter which Jeremiah sent to those who were to be taken captive
to Babylon by the king of the Babylonians, to let them know what God had
ordered him. ¤6 °1 “Because of the sins you have committed against God,
you will be led captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, king of the
Babylonians. °2 After your arrival in Babylon you will
remain there for a number of years – a long time, for seven generations; but
after that I shall bring you home in peace. °3 In Babylon you will see gods of silver, gold and
wood, carried on men’s shoulders and filling the people with fear. °4 Take care not to copy what foreigners do and not to
let yourselves be terrified by them °5 when
you see the crowds pressing in front and behind to adore them. °6 Say rather to yourselves: ‘Master, it is you we are
to adore.’ My angel is with you to take care of your lives. °7 Their tongues have been polished by a craftsman and
even if they are of gold and silver, they are false and are unable to speak. °8 As for a maiden conscious of her appearance, these
pagans make golden crowns for their gods. °9 Yet at
times the priests steal the gold and silver from their gods for their own use
and for the prostitutes in their temples. °10 They give clothes to these gods as if they were
people, but they are only things of gold, silver and wood, which cannot
defend themselves from rust or woodworm. °11 So,
after clothing them in purple, they wipe their faces because of the thick
dust of the temple that covers them. °12 The god has a scepter like a governor of a province,
but he cannot destroy the person who has wronged him. °13 He carries sword and axe in his right hand, but he
is helpless both in war and against thieves. °14 This
clearly proves they are not gods; have no fear of them. °15 A broken pot is useless for anyone. So are those
gods enshrined in their temples. °16
Their eyes are full
of the dust raised by those who enter. °17 Just
as doors are carefully closed on a man who has offended the king or on a
convict sentenced to death, in the same way the priests lock and bolt the
doors of the temple for fear of thieves. °18 They
light lamps, far more numerous than what they need for themselves, and yet
the god sees no one. °19 He is no more than any of the beams of
the temple and some whisper that the inner part is gnawed by termites; worms
out of the ground devour both the god and his clothes, but he feels nothing. °20 Their faces have become black because of the smoke
of the temple. °21 Owls alight on their heads and shoulders,
swallows and other birds perch on them and cats prowl around them. °22 This tells you they are not gods, so have no fear of
them. °23 If the rust on the gold that adorns them is not
removed, they cannot shine. Yet what does it matter? Even when they were cast
they felt nothing. °24 They may be bought at a high price but
there is not a breath of life in them. °25 As
they are without feet, they are carried on men’s shoulders, showing publicly
their shame. What a confusion for their worshipers if the god falls! They
must lift him up. °26 Once he has been stood up, he does not
move. If tilted, he is helpless to straighten up. So you make offerings to
these gods as you make to dead people. °27 The priests collect what has been offered for
sacrifice, selling it, while the wives salt some of it but give nothing to
the poor and helpless. Do you think these are true offerings? Even women
giving birth or who are ritually unclean touch them. °28 See that they are not gods and have no fear of them. °29 How can they be called gods? Women carry offerings
to things made of silver, wood and gold. °30 The
priests remain seated in the temple, their garments torn, head and beard
shaved, and no covering on their heads. °31 They
roar and cry in the presence of their gods as do certain people during
funeral meals. °32 With the garments taken from the gods the
priests clothe their wives and their children. °33 Whether
they are treated well or shabbily, the gods can make no return, neither can
they make or unmake a king. °34 They are incapable of bestowing riches or
money. If someone fails to keep a vow, he is not called to account. °35 They can neither save anyone from death nor rescue a
helpless person from the clutch of the powerful. °36 They
cannot restore sight to the blind or save someone in distress. °37 They will show no compassion to the widow nor do
good to the orphan. °38 These pieces of wood plated with gold and silver are
no more worthy than rocks hewn out of a mountain and their worshipers shall
be humiliated. °39 How then can anyone believe they are
gods? How can they be called gods? °40 The Chaldeans themselves have put them to shame. If
they see someone who is dumb, unable to speak, they bring him before Bel,
entreating him to make him speak, as if the god could hear them! °41 And yet these thinking people are unable to abandon
gods that are completely devoid of sense. °42 Women
with cord round their waists sit in the street burning bran. °43 When one of them has been picked up by a passerby
and has slept with him, she taunts her companion for not having been so
highly regarded as herself and for failing to have her cord broken. °44 All that goes on anywhere near these gods is false.
How can they be considered or declared to be gods? °45 They have been fashioned by craftsmen and
goldsmiths; they are nothing more than what the artisans decided they were to
be. °46 Those who made them haven’t long to live;
so how could the work of their hands be gods? °47 What
they leave to their descendants is nothing more than illusion and shame. °48 For when war or other disasters come upon them, they
discuss among themselves where they, with their gods, will hide. °49 How could anyone fail to be convinced that what
cannot save from war and disaster is not a god? °50 Later
on, these pieces of wood plated with silver and gold will be known to be
false. It will be plain to all kings and nations that they are not gods, but
merely the work of human hands and God does nothing through them. °51 Is there anyone unconvinced that these are not gods? °52 They are incapable of establishing a king in a
country or of sending rain to people. °53 They
are unable to discern what is just or to rescue a person who has been
wronged. They are as helpless as crows between the sky and the ground. °54 When fire breaks out in the temple of these wooden
gods plated with silver and gold, the priests flee to safety but their gods
are burnt with the beams in the midst of the flames. °55 They can neither resist a king nor a hostile army. °56 How can it be admitted or believed that they are
gods? °57 These gods cannot escape either from thieves or
brigands. These are more powerful and despoil them of their gold, their
silver and their robes. Such gods are unable to defend themselves. °58 Better to be a king with a show of power, or even a
household pot that is of some use to its owner than to be a false god; better
even to be the door of a house that guards what is within, or a wooden column
in a royal palace than to be a false god. °59 The
sun, moon and stars that shine and serve us are obedient to God; °60 likewise the lightning that is beautiful to see, and
the wind that blows over the country °61 and
the clouds passing over the earth at God’s command, fire sent from on high to
consume mountain and forest – all do what is commanded. °62 But these wooden objects can in no way compare with
them, °63 that is why it must not be either
believed or said that these are gods, since they are powerless to administer
justice or benefit anyone in any way. °64 Since
you know they are not gods, have no fear of them. °65 They can neither curse °66 nor
bless kings, nor bring about signs in the heavens for the nations to see.
They can neither shine like the sun nor give light like the moon. °67 Animals are of more worth, since by taking cover
they can look after themselves. °68
So in no way whatever
is it evident to us that these are gods; for that reason have no fear of
them. °69 For like a scarecrow in a field of melons, these
gods plated with silver and gold protect nothing. °70 Again
these wooden gods may be compared to a thornbush in a garden where any bird
can perch, or to a corpse thrown into a dark place. °71 You know by the purple and scarlet robes rotting on
them that they are not gods. They end up by being eaten away and become a
disgrace to the country. °72 Better then a just man who has no idols,
he will not be dishonored. The End. |