Baruch 1–5

1And 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, and in the seventh day of the month, what time as the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, and burnt it with fire. And Baruch did 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 that 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 unto the greatest, even of all them that dwelt at Babylon by the river Sud. And they wept, and fasted, and prayed before the Lord; they made also a collection of money according to every man’s power: and they sent it to Jerusalem unto Joakim the high priest, the son of Helkias, the son of Salom, and to the priests, and to all the people which 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 the month Sivan, namely, silver vessels, which Sedekias the son of Josias king of Judah had made, 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. And they said, Behold, we have sent you money; buy you therefore with the money burnt offerings, and 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 as the days of heaven above the earth: 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 Baltasar his son, and we shall serve them many days, and find favour in their sight. Pray for us also unto the Lord our God, for we have sinned against the Lord our God; and unto this day the wrath of the Lord and his indignation is not turned from us. And ye shall read this book which we have sent unto you, to make confession in the house of the Lord, upon the day of the feast and on the days of the solemn assembly.

And ye shall say, To the Lord our God belongeth righteousness, but unto us confusion of face, as at this day, unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to our kings, and to our princes, and to our priests, and to our prophets, and to our fathers: for that we have sinned before the Lord, and disobeyed him, and have not hearkened unto the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the commandments of the Lord that he hath set before us: since the day that the Lord brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, unto this present day, we have been disobedient unto the Lord our God, and we have dealt unadvisedly in not hearkening unto his voice. Wherefore the plagues clave unto us, and the curse, which the Lord commanded Moses his servant to pronounce in the day that he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, to give us a land that floweth with milk and honey, as at this day. Nevertheless we hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord our God, according unto all the words of the prophets, whom he sent unto us: but we walked every man in the imagination of his own wicked heart, to serve strange gods, and to do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord our God.

2Therefore 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 Judah, 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 are written in the law of Moses; that we should eat every man the flesh of his own son, and every man the flesh of his own daughter. Moreover he hath given them to be in subjection to all the kingdoms that are round about us, to be a reproach and a desolation among all the people round about, where the Lord hath scattered them. Thus were they cast down, and not exalted, because we sinned against the Lord our God, in not hearkening unto his voice. To the Lord our God belongeth righteousness: but unto us and to our fathers confusion of face, as at this day. For all these plagues are come upon us, which the Lord hath pronounced against us. Yet have we not intreated the favour of the Lord, in turning every one from the thoughts of his wicked heart. Therefore hath the Lord kept watch over the plagues, and the Lord hath brought them upon us; for the Lord is righteous in all his works which he hath commanded us. Yet we have not hearkened unto his voice, to walk in the commandments of the Lord that he hath set before us.

And now, O Lord, thou God of Israel, that hast brought thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with signs, and with wonders, and with great power, and with a high arm, and hast gotten thyself a name, as at this day: O Lord our God, we have sinned, we have done ungodly, we have dealt unrighteously in all thine ordinances. Let thy wrath turn from us: for we are but a few left among the heathen, where thou hast scattered us. Hear our prayer, O Lord, and our petition, and deliver us for thine own sake, and give us favour in the sight of them which have led us away captive: that all the earth may know that thou art the Lord our God, because Israel and his posterity is called by thy name. O Lord, look down from thine holy house, and consider us: incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear: open thine eyes, and behold: for the dead that are in the grave, whose breath is taken from their bodies, will give unto the Lord neither glory nor righteousness: but the soul that is greatly vexed, which goeth stooping and feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul, will give thee glory and righteousness, O Lord. For we do not present our supplication before thee, O Lord our God, for the righteousness of our fathers, and of our kings. For thou hast sent thy wrath and thine indignation upon us, as thou hast spoken by thy servants the prophets, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Bow your shoulders to serve the king of Babylon, and remain in the land that I gave unto your fathers. But if ye will not hear the voice of the Lord, to serve the king of Babylon, I will cause to cease out of the cities of Judah, and from without Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: and the whole land shall be desolate without inhabitant. But we would not hearken unto thy voice, to serve the king of Babylon: therefore hast thou made good thy 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 places. And, lo, they are cast out to the heat by day, and to the frost by night, and they died in great miseries by famine, by sword, and by pestilence. And the house which is called by thy name hast thou laid waste, as at this day, for the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Yet, O Lord our God, thou hast dealt with us after all thy kindness, and according to all that great mercy of thine, as thou spakest by thy servant Moses in the day when thou didst command him to write thy law before the children of Israel, saying, 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. For I know that they will not hear me, because it is a stiffnecked people: but in the land of their captivity they shall lay it to heart, and shall know that I am the Lord their God: and I will give them a heart, and ears to hear: and they shall praise me in the land of their captivity, and think upon my name, and shall return from their stiff neck, and from their wicked deeds: for they shall remember the way of their fathers, which sinned before the Lord. And I will bring them again into the land which I sware unto their fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and they shall be lords of it: and I will increase them, and they shall not be diminished. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them to be their God, and they shall be my people: and I will no more remove my people of Israel out of the land that I have given them.

3O Lord Almighty, thou God of Israel, the soul in anguish, the troubled spirit, crieth unto thee. Hear, O Lord, and have mercy; for thou art a merciful God: yea, have mercy upon us, because we have sinned before thee. For thou sittest as king for ever, and we perish evermore. O Lord Almighty, thou God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the dead Israelites, and of the children of them which were sinners before thee, that hearkened not unto the voice of thee their God: for the which cause these plagues clave unto us. Remember not the iniquities of our fathers: but remember thy power and thy name now at this time. For thou art the Lord our God, and thee, O Lord, will we praise. For for this cause thou hast put thy fear in our hearts, to the intent that we should call upon thy name: and we will praise thee in our captivity, for we have called to mind all the iniquity of our fathers, that sinned before thee. 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 penalty, according to all the iniquities of our fathers, which departed from the Lord our God.

Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life:

Give ear to understand wisdom.

How happeneth it, O Israel, that thou art in thine enemies’ land,

That thou art waxen old in a strange country,

That thou art defiled with the dead,

That thou art counted with them that go down into the grave?

Thou hast forsaken the…