{"collection":"chr","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/chr/apo/bar.htm","path":"chr/apo/bar.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/chr/apo/bar.htm","text":"Bar 1\nAnd these are the words of the book, which Baruch the son of\nNerias, the son of Maasias, the son of Sedecias, the son of\nAsadias, the son of Chelcias, wrote in Babylon,\n2\nIn the fifth year, and in the seventh day of the month, what\ntime as the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, and burnt it with fire.\n3\nAnd Baruch did read the words of this book in the hearing of\nJechonias the son of Joachim king of Juda, and in the ears of\nall the people that came to hear the book,\n4\nAnd in the hearing of the nobles, and of the king's sons, and\nin the hearing of the elders, and of all the people, from the\nlowest unto the highest, even of all them that dwelt at Babylon\nby the river Sud.\n5\nWhereupon they wept, fasted, and prayed before the Lord.\n6\nThey made also a collection of money according to every man's\npower:\n7\nAnd they sent it to Jerusalem unto Joachim the high priest,\nthe son of Chelcias, son of Salom, and to the priests, and to\nall the people which were found with him at Jerusalem,\n8\nAt the same time when he received the vessels of the house of\nthe Lord, that were carried out of the temple, to return them\ninto the land of Juda, the tenth day of the month Sivan, namely,\nsilver vessels, which Sedecias the son of Josias king of Jada\nhad made,\n9\nAfter that Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away\nJechonias, and the princes, and the captives, and the mighty\nmen, and the people of the land, from Jerusalem, and brought\nthem unto Babylon.\n10\nAnd they said, Behold, we have sent you money to buy you\nburnt offerings, and sin offerings, and incense, and prepare ye\nmanna, and offer upon the altar of the Lord our God;\n11\nAnd pray for the life of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and\nfor the life of Balthasar his son, that their days may be upon\nearth as the days of heaven:\n12\nAnd the Lord will give us strength, and lighten our eyes, and\nwe shall live under the shadow of Nabuchodonosor king of\nBabylon, and under the shadow of Balthasar his son, and we shall\nserve them many days, and find favour in their sight.\n13\nPray for us also unto the Lord our God, for we have sinned\nagainst the Lord our God; and unto this day the fury of the Lord\nand his wrath is not turned from us.\n14\nAnd ye shall read this book which we have sent unto you, to\nmake confession in the house of the Lord, upon the feasts and\nsolemn days.\n15\nAnd ye shall say, To the Lord our God belongeth\nrighteousness, but unto us the confusion of faces, as it is come\nto pass this day, unto them of Juda, and to the inhabitants of\nJerusalem,\n16\nAnd to our kings, and to our princes, and to our priests, and\nto our prophets, and to our fathers:\n17\nFor we have sinned before the Lord,\n18\nAnd disobeyed him, and have not hearkened unto the voice of\nthe Lord our God, to walk in the commandments that he gave us\nopenly:\n19\nSince the day that the Lord brought our forefathers out of\nthe land of Egypt, unto this present day, we have been\ndisobedient unto the Lord our God, and we have been negligent in\nnot hearing his voice.\n20\nWherefore the evils cleaved unto us, and the curse, which the\nLord appointed by Moses his servant at the time that he brought\nour fathers out of the land of Egypt, to give us a land that\nfloweth with milk and honey, like as it is to see this day.\n21\nNevertheless we have not hearkened unto the voice of the Lord\nour God, according unto all the words of the prophets, whom he\nsent unto us:\n22\nBut every man followed the imagination of his own wicked\nheart, to serve strange gods, and to do evil in the sight of the\nLord our God.\nBar 2\nTherefore the Lord hath made good his word, which he\npronounced against us, and against our judges that judged\nIsrael, and against our kings, and against our princes, and\nagainst the men of Israel and Juda,\n2\nTo bring upon us great plagues, such as never happened under\nthe whole heaven, as it came to pass in Jerusalem, according to\nthe things that were written in the law of Moses;\n3\nThat a man should eat the flesh of his own son, and the flesh\nof his own daughter.\n4\nMoreover he hath delivered them to be in subjection to all\nthe kingdoms that are round about us, to be as a reproach and\ndesolation among all the people round about, where the Lord hath\nscattered them.\n5\nThus we were cast down, and not exalted, because we have\nsinned against the Lord our God, and have not been obedient unto\nhis voice.\n6\nTo the Lord our God appertaineth righteousness: but unto us\nand to our fathers open shame, as appeareth this day.\n7\nFor all these plagues are come upon us, which the Lord hath\npronounced against us\n8\nYet have we not prayed before the Lord, that we might turn\nevery one from the imaginations of his wicked heart.\n9\nWherefore the Lord watched over us for evil, and the Lord\nhath brought it upon us: for the Lord is righteous in all his\nworks which he hath commanded us.\n10\nYet we have not hearkened unto his voice, to walk in the\ncommandments of the Lord, that he hath set before us.\n11\nAnd now, O Lord God of Israel, that hast brought thy people\nout of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and high arm, and\nwith signs, and with wonders, and with great power, and hast\ngotten thyself a name, as appeareth this day:\n12\nO Lord our God, we have sinned, we have done ungodly, we have\ndealt unrighteously in all thine ordinances.\n13\nLet thy wrath turn from us: for we are but a few left among\nthe heathen, where thou hast scattered us.\n14\nHear our prayers, O Lord, and our petitions, and deliver us\nfor thine own sake, and give us favour in the sight of them\nwhich have led us away:\n15\nThat all the earth may know that thou art the Lord our God,\nbecause Israel and his posterity is called by thy name.\n16\nO Lord, look down from thine holy house, and consider us: bow\ndown thine ear, O Lord, to hear us.\n17\nOpen thine eyes, and behold; for the dead that are in the\ngraves, whose souls are taken from their bodies, will give unto\nthe Lord neither praise nor righteousness:\n18\nBut the soul that is greatly vexed, which goeth stooping and\nfeeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul, will give\nthee praise and righteousness, O Lord.\n19\nTherefore we do not make our humble supplication before thee,\nO Lord our God, for the righteousness of our fathers, and of our\nkings.\n20\nFor thou hast sent out thy wrath and indignation upon us, as\nthou hast spoken by thy servants the prophets, saying,\n21\nThus saith the Lord, Bow down your shoulders to serve the\nking of Babylon: so shall ye remain in the land that I gave unto\nyour fathers.\n22\nBut if ye will not hear the voice of the Lord, to serve the\nking of Babylon,\n23\nI will cause to cease out of the cites of Judah, and from\nwithout Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of joy, the\nvoice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: and the\nwhole land shall be desolate of inhabitants.\n24\nBut we would not hearken unto thy voice, to serve the king of\nBabylon: therefore hast thou made good the words that thou\nspakest by thy servants the prophets, namely, that the bones of\nour kings, and the bones of our fathers, should be taken out of\ntheir place.\n25\nAnd, lo, they are cast out to the heat of the day, and to the\nfrost of the night, and they died in great miseries by famine,\nby sword, and by pestilence.\n26\nAnd the house which is called by thy name hast thou laid\nwaste, as it is to be seen this day, for the wickedness of the\nhouse of Israel and the house of Juda.\n27\nO Lord our God, thou hast dealt with us after all thy\ngoodness, and according to all that great mercy of thine,\n28\nAs thou spakest by thy servant Moses in the day when thou\ndidst command him to write the law before the children of\nIsrael, saying,\n29\nIf ye will not hear my voice, surely this very great\nmultitude shall be turned into a small number among the nations,\nwhere I will scatter them.\n30\nFor I knew that they would not hear me, because it is a\nstiffnecked people: but in the land of their captivities they\nshall remember themselves.\n31\nAnd shall know that I am the Lord their God: for I will give\nthem an heart, and ears to hear:\n32\nAnd they shall praise me in the land of their captivity, and\nthink upon my name,\n33\nAnd return from their stiff neck, and from their wicked\ndeeds: for they shall remember the way of their fathers, which\nsinned before the Lord.\n34\nAnd I will bring them again into the land which I promised\nwith an oath unto their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and\nthey shall be lords of it: and I will increase them, and they\nshall not be diminished.\n35\nAnd I will make an everlasting covenant with them to be their\nGod, and they shall be my people: and I will no more drive my\npeople of Israel out of the land that I have given them.\nBar 3\nO Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the soul in anguish the\ntroubled spirit, crieth unto thee.\n2\nHear, O Lord, and have mercy; ar thou art merciful: and have\npity upon us, because we have sinned before thee.\n3\nFor thou endurest for ever, and we perish utterly.\n4\nO Lord Almighty, thou God of Israel, hear now the prayers of\nthe dead Israelites, and of their children, which have sinned\nbefore thee, and not hearkened unto the voice of thee their God:\nfor the which cause these plagues cleave unto us.\n5\nRemember not the iniquities of our forefathers: but think\nupon thy power and thy name now at this time.\n6\nFor thou art the Lord our God, and thee, O Lord, will we\npraise.\n7\nAnd for this cause thou hast put thy fear in our hearts, to\nthe intent that we should call upon thy name, and praise thee in\nour captivity: for we have called to mind all the iniquity of\nour forefathers, that sinned before thee.\n8\nBehold, we are yet this day in our captivity, where thou hast\nscattered us, for a reproach and a curse, and to be subject to\npayments, according to all the iniquities of our fathers, which\ndeparted from the Lord our God.\n9\nHear, Israel, the commandments of life: give ear to\nunderstand wisdom.\n10\nHow happeneth it Israel, that thou art in thine enemies'\nland, that thou art waxen old in a strange country, that thou\nart defiled with the dead,\n11\nThat thou art counted with them that go down into the grave?\n12\nThou hast forsaken the fountain of wisdom.\n13\nFor if thou hadst walked in the way of God, thou shouldest\nhave dwelled in peace for ever.\n14\nLearn where is wisdom, where is strength, where is\nunderstanding; that thou mayest know also where is length of\ndays, and life, where is the light of the eyes, and peace.\n15\nWho hath found out her place? or who hath come into her\ntreasures ?\n16\nWhere are the princes of the heathen become, and such as\nruled the beasts upon the earth;\n17\nThey that had their pastime with the fowls of the air, and\nthey that hoarded up silver and gold, wherein men trust, and\nmade no end of their getting?\n18\nFor they that wrought in silver, and were so careful, and\nwhose works are unsearchable,\n19\nThey are vanished and gone down to the grave, and others are\ncome up in their steads.\n20\nYoung men have seen light, and dwelt upon the earth: but the\nway of knowledge have they not known,\n21\nNor understood the paths thereof, nor laid hold of it: their\nchildren were far off from that way.\n22\nIt hath not been heard of in Chanaan, neither hath it been\nseen in Theman.\n23\nThe Agarenes that seek wisdom upon earth, the merchants of\nMeran and of Theman, the authors of fables, and searchers out of\nunderstanding; none of these have known the way of wisdom, or\nremember her paths.\n24\nO Israel, how great is the house of God! and how large is the\nplace of his possession!\n25\nGreat, and hath none end; high, and unmeasurable.\n26\nThere were the giants famous from the beginning, that were of\nso great stature, and so expert in war.\n27\nThose did not the Lord choose, neither gave he the way of\nknowledge unto them:\n28\nBut they were destroyed, because they had no wisdom, and\nperished through their own foolishness.\n29\nWho hath gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her\ndown from the clouds?\n30\nWho hath gone over the sea, and found her, and will bring her\nfor pure gold?\n31\nNo man knoweth her way, nor thinketh of her path.\n32\nBut he that knoweth all things knoweth her, and hath found\nher out with his understanding: he that prepared the earth for\nevermore hath filled it with fourfooted beasts:\n33\nHe that sendeth forth light, and it goeth, calleth it again,\nand it obeyeth him with fear.\n34\nThe stars shined in their watches, and rejoiced: when he\ncalleth them, they say, Here we be; and so with cheerfulness\nthey shewed light unto him that made them.\n35\nThis is our God, and there shall none other be accounted of\nin comparison of him\n36\nHe hath found out all the way of knowledge, and hath given it\nunto Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved.\n37\nAfterward did he shew himself upon earth, and conversed with\nmen.\nBar 4\nThis is the book of the commandments of God, and the law that\nendureth for ever: all they that keep it shall come to life; but\nsuch as leave it shall die.\n2\nTurn thee, O Jacob, and take hold of it: walk in the presence\nof the light thereof, that thou mayest be illuminated.\n3\nGive not thine honour to another, nor the things that are\nprofitable unto thee to a strange nation.\n4\nO Israel, happy are we: for things that are pleasing to God\nare made known unto us.\n5\nBe of good cheer, my people, the memorial of Israel.\n6\nYe were sold to the nations, not for [your] destruction: but\nbecause ye moved God to wrath, ye were delivered unto the\nenemies.\n7\nFor ye provoked him that made you by sacrificing unto devils,\nand not to God.\n8\nYe have forgotten the everlasting God, that brought you up;\nand ye have grieved Jerusalem, that nursed you.\n9\nFor when she saw the wrath of God coming upon you, she said,\nHearken, O ye that dwell about Sion: God hath brought upon me\ngreat mourning;\n10\nFor I saw the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the\nEverlasting brought upon them.\n11\nWith joy did I nourish them; but sent them away with weeping\nand mourning.\n12\nLet no man rejoice over me, a widow, and forsaken of many,\nwho for the sins of my children am left desolate; because they\ndeparted from the law of God.\n13\nThey knew not his statutes, nor walked in the ways of his\ncommandments, nor trod in the paths of discipline in his\nrighteousness.\n14\nLet them that dwell about Sion come, and remember ye the\ncaptivity of my sons and daughters, which the Everlasting hath\nbrought upon them.\n15\nFor he hath brought a nation upon them from far, a shameless\nnation, and of a strange language, who neither reverenced old\nman, nor pitied child.\n16\nThese have carried away the dear beloved children of the\nwidow, and left her that was alone desolate without daughters.\n17\nBut what can I help you?\n18\nFor he that brought these plagues upon you will deliver you\nfrom the hands of your enemies.\n19\nGo your way, O my children, go your way: for I am left\ndesolate.\n20\nI have put off the clothing of peace, and put upon me the\nsackcloth of my prayer: I will cry unto the Everlasting in my\ndays.\n21\nBe of good cheer, O my children, cry unto the Lord, and he\nwill deliver you from the power and hand of the enemies.\n22\nFor my hope is in the Everlasting, that he will save you; and\njoy is come unto me from the Holy One, because of the mercy\nwhich shall soon come unto you from the Everlasting our Saviour.\n23\nFor I sent you out with mourning and weeping: but God will\ngive you to me again with joy and gladness for ever.\n24\nLike as now the neighbours of Sion have seen your captivity:\nso shall they see shortly your salvation from our God which\nshall come upon you with great glory, and brightness of the\nEverlasting.\n25\nMy children, suffer patiently the wrath that is come upon you\nfrom God: for thine enemy hath persecuted thee; but shortly thou\nshalt see his destruction, and shalt tread upon his neck.\n26\nMy delicate ones have gone rough ways, and were taken away as\na flock caught of the enemies.\n27\nBe of good comfort, O my children, and cry unto God: for ye\nshall be remembered of him that brought these things upon you.\n28\nFor as it was your mind to go astray from God: so, being\nreturned, seek him ten times more.\n29\nFor he that hath brought these plagues upon you shall bring\nyou everlasting joy with your salvation.\n30\nTake a good heart, O Jerusalem: for he that gave thee that\nname will comfort thee.\n31\nMiserable are they that afflicted thee, and rejoiced at thy\nfall.\n32\nMiserable are the cities which thy children served: miserable\nis she that received thy sons.\n33\nFor as she rejoiced at thy ruin, and was glad of thy fall: so\nshall she be grieved for her own desolation.\n34\nFor I will take away the rejoicing of her great multitude,\nand her pride shall be turned into mourning.\n35\nFor fire shall come upon her from the Everlasting, long to\nendure; and she shall be inhabited of devils for a great time.\n36\nO Jerusalem, look about thee toward the east, and behold the\njoy that cometh unto thee from God.\n37\nLo, thy sons come, whom thou sentest away, they come gathered\ntogether from the east to the west by the word of the Holy One,\nrejoicing in the glory of God.\nBar 5\nPut off, O Jerusalem, the garment of mourning and\naffliction, and put on the comeliness of the glory that cometh\nfrom God for ever.\n2\nCast about thee a double garment of the righteousness which\ncometh from God; and set a diadem on thine head of the glory of\nthe Everlasting.\n3\nFor God will shew thy brightness unto every country under\nheaven.\n4\nFor thy name shall be called of God for ever The peace of\nrighteousness, and The glory of God's worship.\n5\nArise, O Jerusalem, and stand on high, and look about toward\nthe east, and behold thy children gathered from the west unto\nthe east by the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the\nremembrance of God.\n6\nFor they departed from thee on foot, and were led away of\ntheir enemies: but God bringeth them unto thee exalted with\nglory, as children of the kingdom.\n7\nFor God hath appointed that every high hill, and banks of\nlong continuance, should be cast down, and valleys filled up, to\nmake even the ground, that Israel may go safely in the glory of\nGod,\n8\nMoreover even the woods and every sweetsmelling tree shall\novershadow Israel by the commandment of God.\n9\nFor God shall lead Israel with joy in the light of his glory\nwith the mercy and righteousness that cometh from him.","title":"The Book of Baruch","type":"page"}