{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_8330/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_8330","id":"gutenberg_8330","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8330","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Apocrypha. Baruch","Category: History - Ancient","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"This eBook was produced by David Widger\nfrom etext #1581 prepared by Dennis McCarthy, Atlanta, Georgia\nand Tad Book, student, Pontifical North American College, Rome.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE HOLY BIBLE\n\n\n\n\nTranslated from the Latin Vulgate\n\n\nDiligently Compared with the Hebrew, Greek,\nand Other Editions in Divers Languages\n\n\nTHE OLD TESTAMENT\nFirst Published by the English College at Douay\nA.D. 1609 & 1610\n\nand\n\nTHE NEW TESTAMENT\nFirst Published by the English College at Rheims\nA.D. 1582\n\n\nWith Annotations\n\n\nThe Whole Revised and Diligently Compared with\nthe Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner\nA.D. 1749-1752\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE PROPHECY OF BARUCH\n\nBARUCH was a man of noble extraction, and learned in the law, secretary\nand disciple to the prophet JEREMIAS, and a sharer in his labours and\npersecutions: which is the reason why the ancient fathers have\nconsidered this book as a part of the prophecy of JEREMIAS, and have\nusually quoted it under his name.\n\n\nBaruch Chapter 1\n\nThe Jews of Babylon send the book of Baruch with money to Jerusalem,\nrequesting their brethren there to offer sacrifice, and to pray for the\nking and for them, acknowledging their manifold sins.\n\n1:1. And these are the words of the book, which Baruch the son of\nNerias, the son of Maasias, the son of Sedecias, the son of Sedei, the\nson Helcias, wrote in Babylonia.\n\n1:2. In the fifth year, in the seventh day of the month, at the time\nthat the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, and burnt it with fire.\n\n1:3. And Baruch read the words of this book in the hearing of Jechonias\nthe son of Joakim king of Juda, and in the hearing of all the people\nthat came to hear the book.\n\n1:4. And in the hearing of the nobles, the sons of the kings, and in the\nhearing of the ancients, and in the hearing of the people, from the\nleast even to the greatest of them that dwelt in Babylonia, by the river\nSedi.\n\n1:5. And when they heard it they wept, and fasted, and prayed before the\nLord.\n\n1:6. And they made a collection of money according to every man's power.\n\n1:7. And they sent it to Jerusalem to Joakim the priest, the son of\nHelcias, the son of Salom, and to the priests, and to all the people,\nthat were found with him in Jerusalem:\n\n1:8. At the time when he received the vessels of the temple of the Lord,\nwhich had been taken away out of the temple, to return them into the\nland of Juda the tenth day of the month Sivan, the silver vessels, which\nSedecias the son of Josias king of Juda had made,\n\n1:9. After that Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon had carried away\nJechonias, and the princes, and all the powerful men, and the people of\nthe land from Jerusalem, and brought them bound to Babylon.\n\n1:10. And they said: Behold we have sent you money, buy with it\nholocausts, and frankincense, and make meat offerings, and offerings for\nsin at the altar of the Lord our God:\n\n1:11. And pray ye for the life of Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon,\nand for the life of Balthasar his son, that their days may be upon earth\nas the days of heaven:\n\n1:12. And that the Lord may give us strength, and enlighten our eyes,\nthat we may live under the shadow of Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon,\nand under the shadow of Balthasar his son, and may serve them many days,\nand may find favour in their sight.\n\n1:13. And pray ye for us to the Lord our God: for we have sinned against\nthe Lord our God, and his wrath is not turned away from us even to this\nday.\n\n1:14. And read ye this book, which we have sent to you to be read in the\ntemple of the Lord, on feasts, and proper days.\n\n1:15. And you shall say: To the Lord our God belongeth justice, but to\nus confusion of our face: as it is come to pass at this day to all Juda,\nand to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,\n\n1:16. To our kings, and to our princes, and to our priests, and to our\nprophets, and to our fathers.\n\n1:17. We have sinned before the Lord our God, and have not believed him,\nnor put our trust in him:\n\n1:18. And we were not obedient to him, and we have not hearkened to the\nvoice of the Lord our God, to walk in his commandments which he hath\ngiven us.\n\n1:19. From the day that he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt,\neven to this day, we were disobedient to the Lord our God: and going\nastray we turned away from hearing his voice.\n\n1:20. And many evils have cleaved to us, and the curses which the Lord\nforetold by Moses his servant: who brought our fathers out of the land\nof Egypt, to give us a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.\n\n1:21. And we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God\naccording to all the words of the prophets whom he sent to us:\n\n1:22. And we have gone away every man after the inclinations of his own\nwicked heart, to serve strange gods, and to do evil in the sight of the\nLord our God.\n\nBaruch Chapter 2\n\nA further confession of the sins of the people, and of the justice of\nGod.\n\n2:1. Wherefore the Lord our God hath made good his word, that he spoke\nto us, and to our judges that have judged Israel, and to our kings, and\nto our princes, and to all Israel and Juda:\n\n2:2. That the Lord would bring upon us great evils, such as never\nhappened under heaven, as they have come to pass in Jerusalem, according\nto the things that are written in the law of Moses:\n\n2:3. That a man should eat the flesh of his own son, and the flesh of\nhis own daughter.\n\n2:4. And he hath delivered them up to be under the hand of all the kings\nthat are round about us, to be a reproach, and desolation among all the\npeople, among whom the Lord hath scattered us.\n\n2:5. And we are brought under, and are not uppermost: because we have\nsinned against the Lord our God, by not obeying his voice.\n\n2:6. To the Lord our God belongeth justice: but to us, and to our\nfathers confusion of face, as at this day.\n\n2:7. For the Lord hath pronounced against us all these evils that are\ncome upon us:\n\n2:8. And we have not entreated the face of the Lord our God, that we\nmight return every one of us from our most wicked ways.\n\n2:9. And the Lord hath watched over us for evil, and hath brought it\nupon us: for the Lord is just in all his works which he hath commanded\nus:\n\n2:10. And we have not hearkened to his voice to walk in the commandments\nof the Lord which he hath set before us.\n\n2:11. And now, O Lord God of Israel, who hast brought thy people out of\nthe land of Egypt with a strong hand, and with signs, and with wonders,\nand with thy great power, and with a mighty arm, and hast made thee a\nname as at this day,\n\n2:12. We have sinned, we have done wickedly, we have acted unjustly, O\nLord our God, against all thy justices.\n\n2:13. Let thy wrath be turned away from us: for we are left a few among\nthe nations where thou hast scattered us.\n\n2:14. Hear, O Lord, our prayers, and our petitions, and deliver us for\nthy own sake: and grant that we may find favour in the sight of them\nthat have led us away:\n\n2:15. That all the earth may know that thou art the Lord our God, and\nthat thy name is called upon Israel, and upon his posterity.\n\n2:16. Look down upon us, O Lord, from thy holy house, and incline thy\near, and hear us.\n\n2:17. Open thy eyes, and behold: for the dead that are in hell, whose\nspirit is taken away from their bowels, shall not give glory and justice\nto the Lord:\n\nJustice, etc... They that are in hell shall not give justice to God;\nthat is, they shall not acknowledge and glorify his justice as penitent\nsinners do upon earth.\n\n2:18. But the soul that is sorrowful for the greatness of evil she hath\ndone, and goeth bowed down, and feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the\nhungry soul giveth glory and justice to thee the Lord.\n\n2:19. For it is not for the justices of our fathers that we pour out our\nprayers, and beg mercy in thy sight, O Lord our God:\n\n2:20. But because thou hast sent out thy wrath, and thy indignation upon\nus, as thou hast spoken by the hand of thy servants the prophets,\nsaying:\n\n2:21. Thus saith the Lord: Bow down your shoulder, and your neck, and\nserve the king of Babylon: and you shall remain in the land which I have\ngiven to your fathers.\n\n2:22. But if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, to\nserve the king of Babylon: I will cause you to depart out of the cities\nof Juda, and from without Jerusalem.\n\n2:23. And I will take away from you the voice of mirth, and the voice of\njoy, and the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, and\nall the land shall be without any footstep of inhabitants.\n\n2:24. And they hearkened not to thy voice, to serve the king of Babylon:\nand thou hast made good thy words, which thou spokest by the hands of\nthy servants the prophets, that the bones of our kings, and the bones of\nour fathers should be removed out of their place:\n\n2:25. And behold they are cast out to the heat of the sun, and to the\nfrost of the night: and they have died in grievous pains, by famine, and\nby the sword, and in banishment.\n\n2:26. And thou hast made the temple, in which thy name was called upon,\nas it is at this day, for the iniquity of the house of Israel, and the\nhouse of Juda.\n\n2:27. And thou hast dealt with us, O Lord our God, according to all thy\ngoodness, and according to all that great mercy of thine:\n\n2:28. As thou spokest by the hand of thy servant Moses, in the day when\nthou didst command him to write thy law before the children of Israel,\n\n2:29. Saying: If you will not hear my voice, this great multitude shall\nbe turned into a very small number among the nations, where I will\nscatter them:\n\n2:30. For I know that the people will not hear me, for they are a people\nof a stiff neck: but they shall turn to their heart in the land of their\ncaptivity:\n\n2:31. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God: and I will give\nthem a heart, and they shall understand: and ears, and they shall hear.\n\n2:32. And they shall praise me in the land of their captivity, and shall\nbe mindful of my name.\n\n2:33. And they shall turn away themselves from their stiff neck, and\nfrom their wicked deeds: for they shall remember the way of their\nfathers, that sinned against me.\n\n2:34. And I will bring them back again into the land which I promised\nwith an oath to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they shall\nbe masters thereof: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be\ndiminished.\n\n2:35. And I will make with them another covenant that shall be\neverlasting, to be their God, and they shall be my people: and I will no\nmore remove my people, the children of Israel, out of the land that I\nhave given them.\n\nBaruch Chapter 3\n\nThey pray for mercy, acknowledging that they are justly punished for\nforsaking true wisdom. A prophecy of Christ.\n\n3:1. And now, O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, the soul in anguish,\nand the troubled spirit crieth to thee:\n\n3:2. Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for thou art a merciful God, and have\npity on us: for we have sinned before thee.\n\n3:3. For thou remainest for ever, and shall we perish everlastingly?\n\n3:4. O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the dead\nof Israel, and of their children, that have sinned before thee, and have\nnot hearkened to the voice of the Lord their God, wherefore evils have\ncleaved fast to us.\n\n3:5. Remember not the iniquities of our fathers, but think upon thy\nhand, and upon thy name at this time:\n\n3:6. For thou art the Lord our God, and we will praise thee, O Lord:\n\n3:7. Because for this end thou hast put thy fear in our hearts, to the\nintent that we should call upon thy name, and praise thee in our\ncaptivity, for we are converted from the iniquity of our fathers, who\nsinned before thee.\n\n3:8. And behold we are at this day in our captivity, whereby thou hast\nscattered us to be a reproach, and a curse, and an offence, according to\nall the iniquities of our fathers, who departed from thee, O Lord our\nGod.\n\n3:9. Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life: give ear, that thou mayst\nlearn wisdom.\n\n3:10. How happeneth it, O Israel, that thou art in thy enemies' land?\n\n3:11. Thou art grown old in a strange country, thou art defiled with the\ndead: thou art counted with them that go down into hell.\n\n3:12. Thou hast forsaken the fountain of wisdom:\n\n3:13. For if thou hadst walked in the way of God, thou hadst surely\ndwelt in peace for ever.\n\n3:14. Learn where is wisdom, where is strength, where is understanding:\nthat thou mayst know also where is length of days and life, where is the\nlight of the eyes, and peace.\n\n3:15. Who hath found out her place? and who hath gone in to her\ntreasures?\n\n3:16. Where are the princes of the nations, and they that rule over the\nbeasts that are upon the earth?\n\n3:17. That take their diversion with the birds of the air.\n\n3:18. That hoard up silver and gold, wherein men trust, and there is no\nend of their getting? who work in silver and are solicitous, and their\nworks are unsearchable.\n\n3:19. They are cut off, and are gone down to hell, and others are risen\nup in their place.\n\n3:20. Young men have seen the light, and dwelt upon the earth: but the\nway of knowledge they have not known,\n\n3:21. Nor have they understood the paths thereof, neither have their\nchildren received it, it is far from their face.\n\n3:22. It hath not been heard of in the land of Chanaan, neither hath it\nbeen seen in Theman.\n\nTheman... The capital city of Edom.\n\n3:23. The children of Agar also, that search after the wisdom that is of\nthe earth, the merchants of Merrha, and of Theman, and the tellers of\nfables, and searchers of prudence and understanding: but the way of\nwisdom they have not known, neither have they remembered her paths.\n\nAgar... The mother of the Ismaelites.\n\n3:24. O Israel, how great is the house of God, and how vast is the place\nof his possession!\n\n3:25. It is great, and hath no end: it is high and immense.\n\n3:26. There were the giants, those renowned men that were from the\nbeginning, of great stature, expert in war.\n\n3:27. The Lord chose not them, neither did they find the way of\nknowledge: therefore did they perish.\n\n3:28. And because they had not wisdom, they perished through their\nfolly.\n\n3:29. Who hath gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her down\nfrom the clouds?\n\n3:30. Who hath passed over the sea, and found her, and brought her\npreferably to chosen gold?\n\n3:31. There is none that is able to know her ways, nor that can search\nout her paths:\n\n3:32. But he that knoweth all things, knoweth her, and hath found her\nout with his understanding: he that prepared the earth for evermore, and\nfilled it with cattle and fourfooted beasts:\n\n3:33. He that sendeth forth the light, and it goeth: and hath called it,\nand it obeyeth him with trembling.\n\n3:34. And the stars have given light in their watches, and rejoiced:\n\n3:35. They were called, and they said: Here we are: and with\ncheerfulness they have shined forth to him that made them.\n\n3:36. This is our God, and there shall no other be accounted of in\ncomparison of him.\n\n3:37. He found out all the way of knowledge, and gave it to Jacob his\nservant, and to Israel his beloved.\n\n3:38. Afterwards he was seen upon earth, and conversed with men.\n\nWas seen upon earth, etc... viz., by the mystery of the incarnation, by\nmeans of which the son of God came visibly amongst us, and conversed\nwith men. The prophets often speak of things to come as if they were\npast, to express the certainty of the event of the things foretold.\n\nBaruch Chapter 4\n\nThe prophet exhorts to the keeping of the law of wisdom, and encourages\nthe people to be patient, and to hope for their deliverance.\n\n4:1. This is the book of the commandments of God, and the law, that is\nfor ever: all they that keep it, shall come to life: but they that have\nforsaken it, to death.\n\n4:2. Return, O Jacob, and take hold of it, walk in the way by its\nbrightness, in the presence of the light thereof.\n\n4:3. Give not thy honour to another, nor thy dignity to a strange\nnation.\n\n4:4. We are happy, O Israel: because the things that are pleasing to\nGod, are made known to us.\n\n4:5. Be of good comfort, O people of God, the memorial of Israel:\n\n4:6. You have been sold to the Gentiles, not for your destruction: but\nbecause you provoked God to wrath, you are delivered to your\nadversaries.\n\n4:7. For you have provoked him who made you, the eternal God, offering\nsacrifice to devils, and not to God.\n\n4:8. For you have forgotten God, who brought you up, and you have\ngrieved Jerusalem that nursed you.\n\n4:9. For she saw the wrath of God coming upon you, and she said: Give\near, all you that dwell near Sion, for God hath brought upon me great\nmourning:\n\n4:10. For I have seen the captivity of my people, of my sons, and my\ndaughters, which the Eternal hath brought upon them.\n\n4:11. For I nourished them with joy: but I sent them away with weeping\nand mourning.\n\n4:12. Let no man rejoice over me, a widow, and desolate: I am forsaken\nof many for the sins of my children, because they departed from the law\nof God.\n\n4:13. And they have not known his justices, nor walked by the ways of\nGod's commandments, neither have they entered by the paths of his truth\nand justice.\n\n4:14. Let them that dwell about Sion come, and remember the captivity of\nmy sons and daughters, which the Eternal hath brought upon them.\n\n4:15. For he hath brought a nation upon them from afar, a wicked nation,\nand of a strange tongue:\n\n4:16. Who have neither reverenced the ancient, nor pitied children, and\nhave carried away the beloved of the widow, and have left me all alone\nwithout children.\n\n4:17. But as for me, what help can I give you?\n\n4:18. But he that hath brought the evils upon you, he will deliver you\nout of the hands of your enemies.\n\n4:19. Go your way, my children, go your way: for I am left alone.\n\n4:20. I have put off the robe of peace, and have put upon me the\nsackcloth of supplication, and I will cry to the most High in my days.\n\n4:21. Be of good comfort, my children, cry to the Lord, and he will\ndeliver you out of the hand of the princes your enemies.\n\n4:22. For my hope is in the Eternal that he will save you: and joy is\ncome upon me from the Holy One, because of the mercy which shall come to\nyou from our everlasting Saviour.\n\n4:23. For I sent you forth with mourning and weeping: but the Lord will\nbring you back to me with joy and gladness for ever.\n\n4:24. For as the neighbours of Sion have now seen your captivity from\nGod: so shall they also shortly see your salvation from God, which shall\ncome upon you with great honour, and everlasting glory.\n\n4:25. My children, suffer patiently the wrath that is come upon you: for\nthy enemy hath persecuted thee, but thou shalt quickly see his\ndestruction: and thou shalt get up upon his neck.\n\n4:26. My delicate ones have walked rough ways, for they were taken away\nas a flock made a prey by the enemies.\n\n4:27. Be of good comfort, my children, and cry to the Lord: for you\nshall be remembered by him that hath led you away.\n\n4:28. For as it was your mind to go astray from God; so when you return\nagain you shall seek him ten times as much.\n\n4:29. For he that hath brought evils upon you, shall bring you\neverlasting joy again with your salvation.\n\n4:30. Be of good heart, O Jerusalem: for he exhorteth thee, that named\nthee.\n\n4:31. The wicked that have afflicted thee, shall perish: and they that\nhave rejoiced at thy ruin, shall be punished.\n\n4:32. The cities which thy children have served, shall be punished: and\nshe that received thy sons.\n\nShe that received, etc... viz., Babylon.\n\n4:33. For as she rejoiced at thy ruin, and was glad of thy fall: so\nshall she be grieved for her own desolation.\n\n4:34. And the joy of her multitude shall be cut off: and her gladness\nshall be turned to mourning.\n\n4:35. For fire shall come upon her from the Eternal, long to endure, and\nshe shall be inhabited by devils for a great time.\n\n4:36. Look about thee, O Jerusalem, towards the east, and behold the joy\nthat cometh to thee from God.\n\n4:37. For behold thy children come, whom thou sentest away scattered,\nthey come gathered together from the east even to the west, at the word\nof the Holy One rejoicing for the honour of God.\n\nBaruch Chapter 5\n\nJerusalem is invited to rejoice and behold the return of her children\nout of their captivity.\n\n5:1. Put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of thy mourning, and affliction:\nand put on the beauty, and honour of that everlasting glory which thou\nhast from God.\n\n5:2. God will clothe thee with the double garment of justice, and will\nset a crown on thy head of everlasting honour.\n\n5:3. For God will shew his brightness in thee, to every one under\nheaven.\n\n5:4. For thy name shall be named to thee by God for ever: the peace of\njustice, and honour of piety.\n\n5:5. Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand on high: and look about towards the\neast, and behold thy children gathered together from the rising to the\nsetting sun, by the word of the Holy One rejoicing in the remembrance of\nGod.\n\n5:6. For they went out from thee on foot, led by the enemies: but the\nLord will bring them to thee exalted with honour as children of the\nkingdom.\n\n5:7. For God hath appointed to bring down every high mountain, and the\neverlasting rocks, and to fill up the valleys to make them even with the\nground: that Israel may walk diligently to the honour of God.\n\n5:8. Moreover the woods, and every sweetsmelling tree have overshadowed\nIsrael by the commandment of God.\n\n5:9. For God will bring Israel with joy in the light of his majesty,\nwith mercy, and justice, that cometh from him.\n\nBaruch Chapter 6\n\nThe epistle of Jeremias to the captives, as a preservative against\nidolatry.\n\nA copy of the epistle that Jeremias sent to them that were to be led\naway captives into Babylon, by the king of Babylon, to declare to them\naccording to what was commanded him by God.\n\n6:1. For the sins that you have committed before God, you shall be\ncarried away captives into Babylon by Nabuchodonosor the king of\nBabylon.\n\n6:2. And when you are come into Babylon, you shall be there many years,\nand for a long time, even to seven generations: and after that I will\nbring you away from thence with peace.\n\nSeven generations... That is, seventy years.\n\n6:3. But now, you shall see in Babylon gods of gold, and of silver, and\nof stone, and of wood borne upon shoulders, causing fear to the\nGentiles.\n\n6:4. Beware therefore that you imitate not the doings of others, and be\nafraid, and the fear of them should seize upon you.\n\n6:5. But when you see the multitude behind, and before, adoring them,\nsay you in your hearts: Thou oughtest to be adored, O Lord.\n\n6:6. For my angel is with you: And I myself will demand an account of\nyour souls.\n\n6:7. For their tongue that is polished by the craftsman, and themselves\nlaid over with gold and silver, are false things, and they cannot speak.\n\n6:8. And as if it were for a maiden that loveth to go gay: so do they\ntake gold and make them up.\n\n6:9. Their gods have golden crowns upon their heads: whereof the priests\nsecretly convey away from them gold, and silver, and bestow it on\nthemselves.\n\n6:10. Yea and they give thereof to prostitutes, and they dress out\nharlots: and again when they receive it of the harlots, they adorn their\ngods.\n\n6:11. And these gods cannot defend themselves from the rust, and the\nmoth.\n\n6:12. But when they have covered them with a purple garment, they wipe\ntheir face because of the dust of the house, which is very much among\nthem.\n\n6:13. This holdeth a sceptre as a man, as a judge of the country, but\ncannot put to death one that offendeth him.\n\n6:14. And this hath in his hand a sword, or an axe, but cannot save\nhimself from war, or from robbers, whereby be it known to you, that they\nare not gods.\n\n6:15. Therefore fear them not. For as a vessel that a man uses when it\nis broken becometh useless, even so are their gods:\n\n6:16. When they are placed in the house, their eyes are full of dust by\nthe feet of them that go in.\n\n6:17. And as the gates are made sure on every side upon one that hath\noffended the king, or like a dead man carried to the grave, so do the\npriests secure the doors with bars and locks, lest they be stripped by\nthieves.\n\n6:18. They light candles to them, and in great number, of which they\ncannot see one: but they are like beams in the house.\n\n6:19. And they say that the creeping things which are of the earth, gnaw\ntheir hearts, while they eat them and their garments, and they feel it\nnot.\n\n6:20. Their faces are black with the smoke that is made in the house.\n\n6:21. Owls, and swallows, and other birds fly upon their bodies, and\nupon their heads, and cats in like manner.\n\n6:22. Whereby you may know that they are no gods. Therefore fear them\nnot.\n\n6:23. The gold also which they have, is for shew, but except a man wipe\noff the rust, they will not shine: for neither when they were molten,\ndid they feel it.\n\n6:24. Men buy them at a high price, whereas there is no breath in them.\n\n6:25. And having not the use of feet they are carried upon shoulders,\ndeclaring to men how vile they are. Be they confounded also that worship\nthem.\n\n6:26. Therefore if they fall to the ground, they rise not up again of\nthemselves, nor if a man set them upright, will they stand by\nthemselves, but their gifts shall be set before them, as to the dead.\n\n6:27. The things that are sacrificed to them, their priests sell and\nabuse: in like manner also their wives take part of them, but give\nnothing of it either to the sick, or to the poor.\n\n6:28. The childbearing and menstruous women touch their sacrifices:\nknowing, therefore, by these things that they are not gods, fear them\nnot.\n\n6:29. For how can they be called gods? because women set offerings\nbefore the gods of silver, and of gold, and of wood:\n\n6:30. And priests sit in their temples, having their garments rent, and\ntheir heads and beards shaven, and nothing upon their heads.\n\n6:31. And they roar and cry before their gods, as men do at the feast\nwhen one is dead.\n\n6:32. The priests take away their garments, and clothe their wives and\ntheir children.\n\n6:33. And whether it be evil that one doth unto them, or good, they are\nnot able to recompense it: neither can they set up a king, nor put him\ndown:\n\n6:34. In like manner they can neither give riches, nor requite evil. If\na man make a vow to them, and perform it not: they cannot require it.\n\n6:35. They cannot deliver a man from death, nor save the weak from the\nmighty.\n\n6:36. They cannot restore the blind man to his sight: nor deliver a man\nfrom distress.\n\n6:37. They shall not pity the widow, nor do good to the fatherless.\n\n6:38. Their gods, of wood, and of stone, and of gold, and of silver, are\nlike the stones that are hewn out of the mountains: and they that\nworship them shall be confounded.\n\n6:39. How then is it to be supposed, or to be said, that they are gods?\n\n6:40. Even the Chaldeans themselves dishonor them: who when they here of\none dumb that cannot speak, they present him to Bel, entreating him,\nthat he may speak.\n\n6:41. As though they could be sensible that have no motion themselves:\nand they, when they shall perceive this, will leave them: for their gods\nthemselves have no sense.\n\n6:42. The women also, with cords about them, sit in the ways, burning\nolive-stones.\n\n6:43. And when any one of them, drawn away by some passenger, lieth with\nhim, she upbraideth her neighbor, that she was not thought as worthy as\nherself, nor her cord broken.\n\n6:44. But all things that are done about them, are false: how is it then\nto be thought, or to be said, that they are gods?\n\n6:45. And they are made by workmen, and by goldsmiths. They shall be\nnothing else but what the priests will have them to be.\n\n6:46. For the artificers themselves that make them, are of no long\ncontinuance. Can those things then that are made by them, be gods?\n\n6:47. But they have left false things and reproach to them that come\nafter.\n\n6:48. For when war cometh upon them, or evils: the priests consult with\nthemselves, where they may hide themselves with them.\n\n6:49. How then can they be thought to be gods, that can neither deliver\nthemselves from war, nor save themselves from evils?\n\n6:50. For seeing they are but of wood, and laid over with gold, and with\nsilver, it shall be known hereafter that they are false things, by all\nnations, and kings: and it shall be manifest that they are no gods, but\nthe work of men's hands, and that there is no work of God in them.\n\n6:51. Whence, therefore, is it known that they are not gods, but the\nwork of men's hands, and no work of God is in them?\n\n6:52. They cannot set up a king over the land, nor give rain to men.\n\n6:53. They determine no causes, nor deliver countries from oppression:\nbecause they can do nothing, and are as daws between heaven and earth.\n\n6:54. For when fire shall fall upon the house of these gods of wood, and\nof silver, and of gold, their priests indeed will flee away, and be\nsaved: but they themselves shall be burnt in the midst like beams.\n\n6:55. And they cannot withstand a king and war. How then can it be\nsupposed, or admitted, that they are gods?\n\n6:56. Neither are these gods of wood, and of stone, and laid over with\ngold, and with silver, able to deliver themselves from thieves or\nrobbers: they that are stronger than them,\n\nThey that are stronger than them... That is, robbers and thieves are\nstronger than these idols, being things without life or motion.\n\n6:57. Shall take from them the gold, and silver, and the raiment\nwherewith they are clothed, and shall go their way, neither shall they\nhelp themselves.\n\n6:58. Therefore it is better to be a king that sheweth his power: or\nelse a profitable vessel in the house, with which the owner thereof will\nbe well satisfied: or a door in the house, to keep things safe that are\ntherein, than such false gods.\n\n6:59. The sun, and the moon, and the stars being bright, and sent forth\nfor profitable uses, are obedient.\n\n6:60. In like manner the lightning, when it breaketh forth, is easy to\nbe seen: and after the same manner the wind bloweth in every country.\n\n6:61. And the clouds, when God commandeth them to go over the whole\nworld, do that which is commanded them.\n\n6:62. The fire also being sent from above to consume mountains, and\nwoods, doth as it is commanded. But these neither in shew, nor in power,\nare alike to any one of them.\n\n6:63. Wherefore it is neither to be thought, nor to be said, that they\nare gods: since they are neither able to judge causes, nor to do any\ngood to men.\n\n6:64. Knowing, therefore, that they are not gods, fear them not.\n\n6:65. For neither can they curse kings, nor bless them.\n\n6:66. Neither do they shew signs in the heaven to the nations, nor shine\nas the sun, nor give light as the moon.\n\n6:67. Beasts are better than they, which can fly under a covert, and\nhelp themselves.\n\n6:68. Therefore there is no manner of appearance that they are gods: so\nfear them not.\n\n6:69. For as a scarecrow in a garden of cucumbers keepeth nothing, so\nare their gods of wood, and of silver, and laid over with gold.\n\n6:70. They are no better than a white thorn in a garden, upon which\nevery bird sitteth. In like manner also their gods of wood, and laid\nover with gold, and with silver, are like to a dead body cast forth in\nthe dark.\n\n6:71. By the purple also and the scarlet which are motheaten upon them,\nyou shall know that they are not gods. And they themselves at last are\nconsumed, and shall be a reproach in the country.\n\n6:72. Better, therefore, is the just man that hath no idols: for he\nshall be far from reproach.","title":"The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Book 30: Baruch: The Challoner Revision","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":5895}