BARUCH 1 & 2

Baruch 1

2 Baruch wrote a book during the captivity of Babylon, which he read before Iechoniah and all the people. 14 The Jews sent the book with money unto Jerusalem to their other brethren, to the intent that they should pray for them.

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 Asadias, the son of Helcias wrote in at Babylon,

In the first 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, that Iechonias the son of Ioacim King of Juda might hear, and all the people that were come to hear the book,

And in the audience of the governor, and of the King’s sons, and before the Elders, and before the whole people, from the lowest unto the highest, before all them that dwelt at Babylon by the river Sud.

Which when they heard it, wept, fasted, and made prayers before the Lord.

They made a collection also of money, according to every man’s power,

And sent it to Jerusalem unto Ioacim the son of Helcias the son of Salom Priest, and unto the other Priests, and to all the people, which were with him at Jerusalem,

When he had received the vessels of the Temple of the Lord, that were taken away out of the Temple, to bring them again into the land of Juda, the tenth day of the month Siuan, to wit, silver vessels, which Sedecias the son of Iosias King of Juda had made,

After that Nabuchodonosor [Nebuchadnezzar]* King of Babylon had led away Iechonias from Jerusalem, and his princes, and his nobles, prisoners, and the people, and carried them to Babylon.

And they said, Behold, we have sent you money, wherewith ye shall buy burnt offerings for sin, and incense, and prepare a meat offering, and offer upon the altar of the Lord our God,

And pray for the life of Nabuchodonosor King of Babylon, and under the shadow of Baltasar his son, that we may long do them service, and find favor 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 fury of the Lord and his wrath is not turned from us.)

And read this book (which we have sent to you to e rehearsed in the Temple of the Lord) upon the feast days, and at time convenient.

Thus shall ye say, To the Lord our God belongeth righteousness, but unto us the confusion of our faces, as it is come to pass this day unto them of Juda, 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 father,s

Because we have sinned before the Lord our God,

And have not obeyed him, neither hearkened unto the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the commandments that he gave us openly.

From the day that the Lord brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, we have been disobedient unto the Lord our God, and we have been negligent to hear his voice.

Wherefore these plagues are come upon us, and the curse which the Lord appointed by Moses his servant at the time that he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, to give us a land that flows with milk and honey, as appeareth this day.

Nevertheless, we have not hearkened unto to the voice of the Lord our God, according to all the words of the Prophets, whom he sent unto us.

But every one of us followed the wicked imagination of his own heart, to serve strange gods, and to do evil in the sight of the Lord our God.

Baruch 2

2 The Jews confess that they suffer justly for their sins. The true confession of the Christians. 11 The Jews desire to have the wrath of God turned from them. 32 He promises that he will call again the people from captivity, and give them a new and everlasting testament.

THEREFORE the Lord our God hath performed his word, which he pronounced against us, and against our judges that governed Israel, and against our Kings, and against our princes, and against the men of Israel and Juda,

To bring upon us great plagues, such as never came to pass under the whole heaven, as they that were done in Jerusalem, according to things, that were written in the Law of Moses,

That some among us should eat the flesh of his own son, and some of the flesh of his own daughter.

Moreover, he hath delivered them to be in subjection to all the kingdoms, that are round about us, to be as a reproach and desolation among all the people round about where the Lord hath scattered them.

Thus they are brought beneath and not above, because we have sinned against the Lord our God, and have not heard his voice.

To the Lord our God appertaineth righteousness, but unto us and to our fathers open shame, as appeareth this day.

For all these plagues are come upon us, which the Lord hath pronounced against us.

Yet have we not prayed before the Lord, that we might turn everyone from the imaginations of his own wicked heart.

So the Lord hath watched 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 commandment of the Lord that he hath given unto us.

And now, o Lord God of Israel, that hast brought thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and an high arm, and with signs, and with wonders, and with great power, and hast gotten thyself a Name, as appeareth this day,

O Lord our God, we have sinned: we have done wickedly: we have offended 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 prayers, o Lord, and our petitions, and deliver us for thine own sake, and give us favor in the sight of them, which 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 their posterity.

Therefore look down from thine holy Temple, and think upon us: incline thine ear, o Lord, and hear us.

Open thine eyes, and behold: for the dead that are in the graves, and whose souls are out of their bodies, give unto the Lord, neither praise, nor righteousness.

But the soul that is vexed for the greatness of sin, and he that goes crookedly, and weak, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul will give thee praise and righteousness, o Lord.

For we do not require mercy in thy sight, o Lord our God, for the righteousness of our fathers, or of our Kings,

But because thou hast sent out thy wrath and indignation upon us, as thou hast spoken by thy servants the Prophets, saying,

Thus saith the Lord, Bow down your shoulders, and serve the King of Babylon: so shall ye 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 in the cities of Juda, and in Jerusalem, I will cause to cease the voice of mirth, and the voice of joy, and the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, and the land shall be desolate of inhabitants.

But we would not hearken unto thy voice, to serve the King of Babylon: therefore hast thou performed the words that thou spoke by thy servants the Prophets: namely, that the bones of our Kings, and the bones of our fathers should be carried out of their places.

And lo, they are cast out to the heat of the day, and to the cold of the night, and are dead in great misery with famine, and with the sword, and in banishment

And the Temple wherein thy Name was called upon, thou hast brought to the state, as appears this day, for the wickedness of the house of Israel, and the house of Juda.

O Lord our God, thou hast entreated us according to equity, and according to all thy great mercy.

As thou spoke by thy servant Moses, in the day when thou did command him to write thy Law before the children of Israel, saying,

If ye will not obey my voice, then shall this great swarm and multitude be turned into a very few among the nations where I will scatter them.

For I know that they will not hear me: for it is a stiff necked people: but in the land of their captivity they shall remember themselves,

And know that I am the Lord their God: then will I give them an heart to understand, and ears.

And they shall hear, and praise me in the land of their captivity, and think upon my Name.

Then shall they turn them from their hard backs, and from their evil works: 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 promised with an oath unto their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Iacob, 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, that I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and I will no more drive my people Israel out of the land that I have given them.