The Book of Baruch

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- Chapter 1 -

The Jews of Babylon send the book of Baruch with money to Jerusalem, requesting their brethren there to offer sacrifice, and to pray for the king and for them, acknowledging their manifold sins.

And these are the words of the book, which Baruch the son of Neraiah, the son of Mahseiah, the son of Zedekiah, the son of Hasadiah, the son Hilkiah, wrote in Babylon,

in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month, since the time when the Chaldeans captured Jerusalem and set it on fire.(a)

And Baruch read the words of this book to the ears of Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and to the ears of the entire people, who came to the book:

even to the ears of the powerful sons of kings, and to the ears of the elders, and to the ears of the people, from the least to the greatest of them, of all those living in Babylon, near the river Sud.

And upon hearing it, they wept and fasted and prayed in the sight of the Lord.

And they collected money in accordance with whatever each one was able to handover.(b)

And they sent it to Jerusalem to Jehoiakim, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Shalum the priest, and to the priests, and to all the people, who were found with him in Jerusalem.(c)

At that time, he received the vessels of the temple of the Lord (which had been carried away from the temple) so as to return them to the land of Judah, on the tenth day of the month Sivan. These were the silver vessels, which Zedekiah, the son of Josiah king of Judah, had made.(d)

After this, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, captured Jeconiah, and the leaders, and all the powerful, and the people of the land, and led them captive from Jerusalem to Babylon.

And they said, “Behold we have sent you money with which to buy holocausts and frankincense. Therefore, make manna and offer it for sin at the altar of the Lord our God.(e)

And pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and for the life of Belshazzar his son, so that their days may be just like the days of the heaven above the earth,

and so that the Lord may give virtue to us, and enlighten our eyes, so that we may live under the shadow of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and under the shadow of Belshazzar his son, and so that we may serve them for many days and may find favor in their sight.

And pray for us also to the Lord our God, for we have sinned against the Lord our God, and the madness of our sin has not been driven away from us even to this day.(f)

And read this book, which we have sent to you to be recited in the temple of the Lord, on solemn days and on other suitable days.

And you will say, ‘To the Lord our God is justice, but to us is confusion of our face, just as it is this day for all of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

even for our kings, and our leaders, and our priests, and our prophets, and our fathers.(g)

We have sinned before the Lord our God and we have not believed, lacking confidence in him.

And we have not been submissive to him, and we have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God, so as to walk in his commandments, which he has given to us.

From the day that he led our fathers out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, we were unfaithful to the Lord our God, and, having been scattered, we fell away. We did not listen to his voice.

And we joined ourselves to many evils and to the curses which the Lord established through Moses, his servant, who led our fathers out of the land of Egypt, to give us a land flowing with milk and honey, just as it is in the present day.(h)

And we have not listened 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 astray, each one after the inclinations of his own malignant heart, serving strange gods and doing evil before the eyes of the Lord our God.

Footnotes

(a)1:2 Some translations have it as “at the time when....” But the events of this chapter do not occur at the time when the Chaldeans captured Jerusalem, but rather in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month since that time. The month is not specified because it is the same month.(Conte)

(b)1:6 Or, according to the ability of each one’s hand.(Conte)

(c)1:7 “Salom sacerdotem” refers to a particular ancestor of Jehoiakim who was a noted priest. Salom could also be rendered “Shalom” meaning ‘Peace.’(Conte)

(d)1:8 Here a long run-on sentence (Bar 1:7-9) in Latin has been broken into smaller sentences in English, making the text easier to understand, especially when it is read aloud. The explanatory text is what makes this sentence in Latin long and awkward, unlike the rest of the book. Therefore, this text was probably added to the book at a later date, to explain the history behind the vessels of the temple.(Conte)

(e)1:10 The manna here is not the miraculous manna of the Israelites in the desert, but a type of bread or grain offering patterned after manna.(Conte)

(f)1:13 Literally, “the madness of it....” Here furor does not refer to the anger of the Lord, but to the irrational fury of sin.(Conte)

(g)1:16 Our leaders could also be rendered our princes.(Conte)

(h)1:20 Or, we have brought upon ourselves many evils along with the curses (punishments) which the Lord established through Moses.(Conte)

The Jews of Babylon send the book of Baruch with money to Jerusalem, requesting their brethren there to offer sacrifice, and to pray for the king and for them, acknowledging their manifold sins.

These are the words of the book which Baruch the son of Nerias, the son of Maaseas, the son of Sedekias, the son of Asadias, the son of Helkias, wrote in Babylon,

in the fifth year, in the seventh day of the month, at the time when the Chaldeans took Jerusalem and burned it with fire.

Baruch read the words of this book in the hearing of Jechonias the son of Joakim king of Judah, and in the hearing of all the people who came to hear the book,

and in the hearing of the mighty men, and of the kings’ sons, and in the hearing of the elders, and in the hearing of all the people, from the least to the greatest, even of all those who lived at Babylon by the river Sud.

Then they wept, fasted,(a) and prayed before the Lord.

They also made a collection of money according to every man’s ability;

and they sent it to Jerusalem to Joakim the high priest, the son of Helkias, the son of Salom, and to the priests and to all the people who were found with him at Jerusalem,

at the same time when he took the vessels of the house of the Lord, that had been carried out of the temple, to return them into the land of Judah, the tenth day of Sivan—silver vessels which Sedekias the son of Josias king of Judah had made,

after Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away Jechonias, the princes, the captives, the mighty men, and the people of the land from Jerusalem, and brought them to Babylon.

And they said: Behold, we have sent you money; therefore buy with the money burnt offerings, sin offerings, and incense, and prepare an oblation, and offer upon the altar of the Lord our God;

and pray for the life of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and for the life of Baltasar his son, that their days may be(b) as the days of heaven above the earth.

The Lord will give us strength and light to our eyes. We will live under the shadow of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon and under the shadow of Baltasar his son, and we shall serve them many days, and find favor in their sight.

Pray for us also to the Lord our God, for we have sinned against the Lord our God. To this day the wrath of the Lord and his indignation is not turned from us.

You shall read this book which we have sent to you, to make confession in the house of the Lord upon the day of the feast and on the days of the solemn assembly.

You shall say: To the Lord our God belongs righteousness, but to us confusion of face, as at this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

to our kings, to our princes, to our priests, to our prophets, and to our fathers,

because we have sinned before the Lord.

We have disobeyed him and have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the commandments of the Lord that he has set before us.

Since the day that the Lord brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt to this present day, we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, and we have been negligent in not listening to his voice.

Therefore the plagues have clung to us, along with the curse which the Lord declared through Moses his servant in the day that he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt to give us a land that flows with milk and honey, as at this day.

Nevertheless we didn’t listen to the voice of the Lord our God, according to all the words of the prophets whom he sent to us,

but we each walked in the imagination of his own wicked heart, to serve strange gods and to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord our God.

Footnotes

(a)1:5 Another reading is, and vowed vows.

(b)1:11 See Deuteronomy 11:21 .