/Bar/ - Baruch

3O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the soul in anguish the troubled spirit, crieth unto thee.

2Hear, O Lord, and have mercy; ar thou art merciful: and have pity upon us, because we have sinned before thee.

3For thou endurest for ever, and we perish utterly.

4O Lord Almighty, thou God of Israel, hear now the prayers of the dead Israelites, and of their children, which have sinned before thee, and not hearkened unto the voice of thee their God: for the which cause these plagues cleave unto us.

5Remember not the iniquities of our forefathers: but think upon thy power and thy name now at this time.

6For thou art the Lord our God, and thee, O Lord, will we praise.

7And for this cause thou hast put thy fear in our hearts, to the intent that we should call upon thy name, and praise thee in our captivity: for we have called to mind all the iniquity of our forefathers, that sinned before thee.

8Behold, we are yet this day in our captivity, where thou hast scattered us, for a reproach and a curse, and to be subject to payments, according to all the iniquities of our fathers, which departed from the Lord our God.

9Hear, Israel, the commandments of life: give ear to understand wisdom.

10How happeneth it Israel, that thou art in thine enemies’ land, that thou art waxen old in a strange country, that thou art defiled with the dead,

11That thou art counted with them that go down into the grave?

12Thou hast forsaken the fountain of wisdom.

13For if thou hadst walked in the way of God, thou shouldest have dwelled in peace for ever.

14Learn where is wisdom, where is strength, where is understanding; that thou mayest know also where is length of days, and life, where is the light of the eyes, and peace.

15Who hath found out her place? or who hath come into her treasures?

16Where are the princes of the heathen become, and such as ruled the beasts upon the earth;

17They that had their pastime with the fowls of the air, and they that hoarded up silver and gold, wherein men trust, and made no end of their getting?

18For they that wrought in silver, and were so careful, and whose works are unsearchable,

19They are vanished and gone down to the grave, and others are come up in their steads.

20Young men have seen light, and dwelt upon the earth: but the way of knowledge have they not known,

21Nor understood the paths thereof, nor laid hold of it: their children were far off from that way.

22It hath not been heard of in Chanaan, neither hath it been seen in Theman.

23The Agarenes that seek wisdom upon earth, the merchants of Meran and of Theman, the authors of fables, and searchers out of understanding; none of these have known the way of wisdom, or remember her paths.

24O Israel, how great is the house of God! and how large is the place of his possession!

25Great, and hath none end; high, and unmeasurable.

26There were the giants famous from the beginning, that were of so great stature, and so expert in war.

27Those did not the Lord choose, neither gave he the way of knowledge unto them:

28But they were destroyed, because they had no wisdom, and perished through their own foolishness.

29Who hath gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her down from the clouds?

30Who hath gone over the sea, and found her, and will bring her for pure gold?

31No man knoweth her way, nor thinketh of her path.

32But he that knoweth all things knoweth her, and hath found her out with his understanding: he that prepared the earth for evermore hath filled it with fourfooted beasts:

33He that sendeth forth light, and it goeth, calleth it again, and it obeyeth him with fear.

34The stars shined in their watches, and rejoiced: when he calleth them, they say, Here we be; and so with cheerfulness they shewed light unto him that made them.

35This is our God, and there shall none other be accounted of in comparison of him

36He hath found out all the way of knowledge, and hath given it unto Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved.

37Afterward did he shew himself upon earth, and conversed with men.

4This is the book of the commandments of God, and the law that endureth for ever: all they that keep it shall come to life; but such as leave it shall die.

2Turn thee, O Jacob, and take hold of it: walk in the presence of the light thereof, that thou mayest be illuminated.

3Give not thine honour to another, nor the things that are profitable unto thee to a strange nation.

4O Israel, happy are we: for things that are pleasing to God are made known unto us.

5Be of good cheer, my people, the memorial of Israel.

6Ye were sold to the nations, not for your destruction: but because ye moved God to wrath, ye were delivered unto the enemies.

7For ye provoked him that made you by sacrificing unto devils, and not to God.

8Ye have forgotten the everlasting God, that brought you up; and ye have grieved Jerusalem, that nursed you.

9For when she saw the wrath of God coming upon you, she said, Hearken, O ye that dwell about Sion: God hath brought upon me great mourning;

10For I saw the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Everlasting brought upon them.

11With joy did I nourish them; but sent them away with weeping and mourning.

12Let no man rejoice over me, a widow, and forsaken of many, who for the sins of my children am left desolate; because they departed from the law of God.

13They knew not his statutes, nor walked in the ways of his commandments, nor trod in the paths of discipline in his righteousness.

14Let them that dwell about Sion come, and remember ye the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Everlasting hath brought upon them.

15For he hath brought a nation upon them from far, a shameless nation, and of a strange language, who neither reverenced old man, nor pitied child.

16These have carried away the dear beloved children of the widow, and left her that was alone desolate without daughters.

17But what can I help you?

18For he that brought these plagues upon you will deliver you from the hands of your enemies.

19Go your way, O my children, go your way: for I am left desolate.

20I have put off the clothing of peace, and put upon me the sackcloth of my prayer: I will cry unto the Everlasting in my days.

21Be of good cheer, O my children, cry unto the Lord, and he will deliver you from the power and hand of the enemies.

22For my hope is in the Everlasting, that he will save you; and joy is come unto me from the Holy One, because of the mercy which shall soon come unto you from the Everlasting our Saviour.

23For I sent you out with mourning and weeping: but God will give you to me again with joy and gladness for ever.

24Like as now the neighbours of Sion have seen your captivity: so shall they see shortly your salvation from our God which shall come upon you with great glory, and brightness of the Everlasting.

25My children, suffer patiently the wrath that is come upon you from God: for thine enemy hath persecuted thee; but shortly thou shalt see his destruction, and shalt tread upon his neck.

26My delicate ones have gone rough ways, and were taken away as a flock caught of the enemies.

27Be of good comfort, O my children, and cry unto God: for ye shall be remembered of him that brought these things upon you.

28For as it was your mind to go astray from God: so, being returned, seek him ten times more.

29For he that hath brought these plagues upon you shall bring you everlasting joy with your salvation.

30Take a good heart, O Jerusalem: for he that gave thee that name will comfort thee.

31Miserable are they that afflicted thee, and rejoiced at thy fall.

32Miserable are the cities which thy children served: miserable is she that received thy sons.

33For as she rejoiced at thy ruin, and was glad of thy fall: so shall she be grieved for her own desolation.

34For I will take away the rejoicing of her great multitude, and her pride shall be turned into mourning.

35For fire shall come upon her from the Everlasting, long to endure; and she shall be inhabited of devils for a great time.

36O Jerusalem, look about thee toward the east, and behold the joy that cometh unto thee from God.

37Lo, thy sons come, whom thou sentest away, they come gathered together from the east to the west by the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God.

5Put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of mourning and affliction, and put on the comeliness of the glory that cometh from God for ever.

2Cast about thee a double garment of the righteousness which cometh from God; and set a diadem on thine head of the glory of the Everlasting.

3For God will shew thy brightness unto every country under heaven.

4For thy name shall be called of God for ever The peace of righteousness, and The glory of God’s worship.

5Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand on high, and look about toward the east, and behold thy children gathered from the west unto the east by the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the remembrance of God.

6For they departed from thee on foot, and were led away of their enemies: but God bringeth them unto thee exalted with glory, as children of the kingdom.

7For God hath appointed that every high hill, and banks of long continuance, should be cast down, and valleys filled up, to make even the ground, that Israel may go safely in the glory of God,

8Moreover even the woods and every sweetsmelling tree shall overshadow Israel by the commandment of God.

9For God shall lead Israel with joy in the light of his glory with the mercy and righteousness that cometh from him.

6A copy of an epistle, which Jeremy sent unto them which were to be led captives into Babylon by the king of the Babylonians, to certify them, as it was commanded him of God.

2Because of the sins which ye have committed before God, ye shall be led away captives into Babylon by Nabuchodonosor king of the Babylonians.

3So when ye be come unto Babylon, ye shall remain there many years, and for a long season, namely, seven generations: and after that I will bring you away peaceably from thence.

4Now shall ye see in Babylon gods of silver, and of gold, and of wood, borne upon shoulders, which cause the nations to fear.

5Beware therefore that ye in no wise be like to strangers, neither be ye and of them, when ye see the multitude before them and behind them, worshipping them.

6But say ye in your hearts, O Lord, we must worship thee.

7For mine angel is with you, and I myself caring for your souls.

8As for their tongue, it is polished by the workman, and they themselves are gilded and laid over with silver; yet are they but false, and cannot speak.

9And taking gold, as it were for a virgin that loveth to go gay, they make crowns for the heads of their gods.

10Sometimes also the priests convey from their gods gold and silver, and bestow it upon themselves.

11Yea, they will give thereof to the common harlots, and deck them as men with garments, being gods of silver, and gods of gold, and wood.

12Yet cannot these gods save themselves from rust and moth, though they be covered with purple raiment.

13They wipe their faces because of the dust of the temple, when there is much upon them.

14And he that cannot put to death one that offendeth him holdeth a sceptre, as though he were a judge of the country.

15He hath also in his right hand a dagger and an ax: but cannot deliver himself from war and thieves.

16Whereby they are known not to be gods: therefore fear them not.

17For like as a vessel that a man useth is nothing worth when it is broken; even so it is with their gods: when they be set up in the temple, their eyes be full of dust through the feet of them that come in.

18And as the doors are made sure on every side upon him that offendeth the king, as being committed to suffer death: even so the priests make fast their temples with doors, with locks, and bars, lest their gods be spoiled with robbers.

19They light them candles, yea, more than for themselves, whereof they cannot see one.

20They are as one of the beams of the temple, yet they say their hearts are gnawed upon by things creeping out of the earth; and when they eat them and their clothes, they feel it not.

21Their faces are blacked through the smoke that cometh out of the temple.

22Upon their bodies and heads sit bats, swallows, and birds, and the cats also.

23By this ye may know that they are no gods: therefore fear them not.

24Notwithstanding the gold that is about them to make them beautiful, except they wipe off the rust, they will not shine: for neither when they were molten did they feel it.

25The things wherein there is no breath are bought for a most high price.

26They are borne upon shoulders, having no feet whereby they declare unto men that they be nothing worth.

27They also that serve them are ashamed: for if they fall to the ground at any time, they cannot rise up again of themselves: neither, if one set them upright, can they move of themselves: neither, if they be bowed down, can they make themselves straight: but they set gifts before them as unto dead men.

28As for the things that are sacrificed unto them, their priests sell and abuse; in like manner their wives lay up part thereof in salt; but unto the poor and impotent they give nothing of it.

29Menstruous women and women in childbed eat their sacrifices: by these things ye may know that they are no gods: fear them not.

30For how can they be called gods? because women set meat before the gods of silver, gold, and wood.

31And the priests sit in their temples, having their clothes rent, and their heads and beards shaven, and nothing upon their heads.

32They roar and cry before their gods, as men do at the feast when one is dead.

33The priests also take off their garments, and clothe their wives and children.

34Whether it be evil that one doeth unto them, or good, they are not able to recompense it: they can neither set up a king, nor put him down.

35In like manner, they can neither give riches nor money: though a man make a vow unto them, and keep it not, they will not require it.

36They can save no man from death, neither deliver the weak from the mighty.

37They cannot restore a blind man to his sight, nor help any man in his distress.

38They can shew no mercy to the widow, nor do good to the fatherless.

39Their gods of wood, and which are overlaid with gold and silver, are like the stones that be hewn out of the mountain: they that worship them shall be confounded.

40How should a man then think and say that they are gods, when even the Chaldeans themselves dishonour them?

41Who if they shall see one dumb that cannot speak, they bring him, and intreat Bel that he may speak, as though he were able to understand.

42Yet they cannot understand this themselves, and leave them: for they have no knowledge.

43The women also with cords about them, sitting in the ways, burn bran for perfume: but if any of them, drawn by some that passeth by, lie with him, she reproacheth her fellow, that she was not thought as worthy as herself, nor her cord broken.

44Whatsoever is done among them is false: how may it then be thought or said that they are gods?

45They are made of carpenters and goldsmiths: they can be nothing else than the workmen will have them to be.

46And they themselves that made them can never continue long; how should then the things that are made of them be gods?

47For they left lies and reproaches to them that come after.

48For when there cometh any war or plague upon them, the priests consult with themselves, where they may be hidden with them.

49How then cannot men perceive that they be no gods, which can neither save themselves from war, nor from plague?

50For seeing they be but of wood, and overlaid with silver and gold, it shall be known hereafter that they are false:

51And it shall manifestly appear to all nations and kings that they are no gods, but the works of men’s hands, and that there is no work of God in them.

52Who then may not know that they are no gods?

53For neither can they set up a king in the land, nor give rain unto men.

54Neither can they judge their own cause, nor redress a wrong, being unable: for they are as crows between heaven and earth.

55Whereupon when fire falleth upon the house of gods of wood, or laid over with gold or silver, their priests will flee away, and escape; but they themselves shall be burned asunder like beams.

56Moreover they cannot withstand any king or enemies: how can it then be thought or said that they be gods?

57Neither are those gods of wood, and laid over with silver or gold, able to escape either from thieves or robbers.

58Whose gold, and silver, and garments wherewith they are clothed, they that are strong take, and go away withal: neither are they able to help themselves.

59Therefore it is better to be a king that sheweth his power, or else a profitable vessel in an house, which the owner shall have use of, than such false gods; or to be a door in an house, to keep such things therein, than such false gods. or a pillar of wood in a a palace, than such false gods.

60For sun, moon, and stars, being bright and sent to do their offices, are obedient.

61In like manner the lightning when it breaketh forth is easy to be seen; and after the same manner the wind bloweth in every country.

62And when God commandeth the clouds to go over the whole world, they do as they are bidden.

63And the fire sent from above to consume hills and woods doeth as it is commanded: but these are like unto them neither in shew nor power.

64Wherefore it is neither to be supposed nor said that they are gods, seeing, they are able neither to judge causes, nor to do good unto men.

65Knowing therefore that they are no gods, fear them not,

66For they can neither curse nor bless kings:

67Neither can they shew signs in the heavens among the heathen, nor shine as the sun, nor give light as the moon.

68The beasts are better than they: for they can get under a cover and help themselves.

69It is then by no means manifest unto us that they are gods: therefore fear them not.

70For as a scarecrow in a garden of cucumbers keepeth nothing: so are their gods of wood, and laid over with silver and gold.

71And likewise their gods of wood, and laid over with silver and gold, are like to a white thorn in an orchard, that every bird sitteth upon; as also to a dead body, that is east into the dark.

72And ye shall know them to be no gods by the bright purple that rotteth upon them: and they themselves afterward shall be eaten, and shall be a reproach in the country.

73Better therefore is the just man that hath none idols: for he shall be far from reproach.