Edits, corrections and cross references by The Firmament
The Book of Baruch is contained in a group of books called Apocrypha (hidden or secret), which were once in the canonical Bible between the old and new testaments. In order to distinguish it from the other books accredited to Baruch (second, third and fourth Baruch) this book is sometimes referred to as First Baruch. Although the earliest known manuscripts of Baruch are in Greek, linguistic features of the first parts of Baruch (1:1–3:8) have been proposed as indicating a translation from Aramaic or Hebrew. As the first verse states, this is the book of Baruch ben Neriah, Jeremiah’s well-known scribe, writing from Babylon during the captivity.
Chapter 1
Baruch 1:1 “And these are the words of the book that Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, the son of Zedekiah, the son of Hasadiah, the son of Hilkiah, wrote in Babylon,”
Baruch 1:2 “In the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month, at the time when the Chaldeans took Jerusalem and burned it with fire.”
Baruch 1:3 “And Baruch read the words of this book in the hearing of Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, in the hearing of all the people who came to hear the book read,”
Baruch 1:4 “And in the hearing of the nobles, and the princes, and in the hearing of the elders, and in the hearing of all the people, small and great in fact, of all who lived in Babylon, by the River Sud.”
Baruch 1:5 “Then they wept, and fasted, and prayed before the Lord;”
Baruch 1:6 “And they raised money, each one giving what he could,”
Baruch 1:7 “And they sent it to Jerusalem, to Jehoiakim the high priest, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Shallum, and to the priests, and to all the people that were found with him in Jerusalem,”
Baruch 1:8 “When he took the plate of the house of the Lord that had been carried away from the temple, to return it to the land of Judah, the silver dishes which Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, had made,”
Baruch 1:9 “After Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had carried off Jeconiah and the officers and captives and nobles and the common people from Jerusalem, and taken him to Babylon.”
Baruch 1:10 “And they said, “Here we send you money, to buy with the money burnt offerings and sin offerings and incense and prepare a grain offering, and offer them upon the altar of the Lord our God,”
Baruch 1:11 “And pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and for the life of Belshazzar his son, that their days may be like the days of heaven, upon the earth.”
Baruch 1:12 “And the Lord will give us strength, and he will give sight to our eyes, and we will live under the shadow of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and under the shadow of Belshazzar his son, and we will serve them for a long time and find favor in their sight.”
Baruch 1:13 “Pray for us to the Lord our God, for we have sinned against the Lord our God, and to this day the anger of the Lord and his wrath have not turned away from us.”
Baruch 1:14 “So read this scroll, which we send to you, to make your confession in the house of the Lord, on festival days and on days of assembly.”
Baruch 1:15 “And you shall say, Uprightness belongs to the Lord our God, but confusion of face, as on this day, befits us, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem,”
Baruch 1:16 “And our kings and our officials, and our priests and our prophets, and our forefathers;”
Baruch 1:17 “For we have sinned before the Lord,”
Baruch 1:18 “And disobeyed him, and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, so as to follow the commands of the Lord which he set before us.”
Baruch 1:19 “From the day when the Lord brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, until today, we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, and we have been neglectful, in not obeying his voice.”
Baruch 1:20 “And misfortunes have attended us, and the curse has come upon us which the Lord agreed upon with Moses his servant, on the day when he brought our forefathers out of the land of Egypt, to give us a land that ran with milk and honey, as they have this day.”
Baruch 1:21 “And we did not obey the voice of the Lord our God, expressed in all the words of the prophets whom he sent to us,”
Baruch 1:22 “But we followed each one the design of his own wicked heart so as to serve other gods, and do what was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God.”
Chapter 2
Baruch 2:1 “So the Lord made good his word which he uttered against us, and against our judges who judged Israel, and against our kings and against our officials and against the men of Israel and Judah.”
Baruch 2:2 “Nowhere under heaven have such calamities occurred as he has brought upon Jerusalem, as it was written in the Law of Moses,”
Baruch 2:3 “So that one of us ate the flesh of his son, and another of us ate the flesh of his daughter.”
Baruch 2:4 “He has made us subject to all the kingdoms around us, to be a reproach and a desolation among all the peoples about us, where the Lord has scattered them.”
Baruch 2:5 “They were brought low and not raised up, because we had sinned against the Lord our God, in not obeying his voice.”
Baruch 2:6 “Uprightness belongs to the Lord our God, but confusion of face befits us and our forefathers, as it does this day.”
Baruch 2:7 “All the calamities with which the Lord threatened us have overtaken us.”
Baruch 2:8 “Yet we have not besought the Lord by turning away, each of us, from the designs of his wicked heart.”
Baruch 2:9 “And the Lord has watched for these calamities and has brought them upon us, for the Lord is upright in all his doings which he has commanded us to imitate.”
Baruch 2:10 “Yet we have not obeyed his voice and followed the Lord’s commands, which he has set before us.”
Baruch 2:11 “And now, Lord God of Israel, who brought your people out of Egypt with a strong hand and with portents and wonders, and with great power and an uplifted arm, and made yourself such a name as yours is today,”
Baruch 2:12 “We have sinned, we have been ungodly, we have done wrong, Lord our God, in the face of all your ordinances.”
Baruch 2:13 “Let your anger be turned away from us, for few of us are left, among the heathen, where you have scattered us.”
Baruch 2:14 “Listen, Lord, to our prayer and our petition, and for your sake deliver us, and grant us favor in the eyes of those who have led us into captivity,”
Baruch 2:15 “So that the whole earth may know that you are the Lord our God, for Israel and his descendants are called by your name.”
Baruch 2:16 “Lord, look down from your holy dwelling, and think about us. Turn your ear to us, Lord, and hear us;”
Baruch 2:17 “Open your eyes and see; for the dead, who are in Hades, whose breath has been taken from their bodies, cannot ascribe glory and uprightness to the Lord,”
Baruch 2:18 “But the soul that grieves greatly, that goes about bent over and sick, with failing sight, the soul that hungers will ascribe glory and uprightness to you, Lord.”
Baruch 2:19 “For it is not for the upright acts of our forefathers and of our kings that we present our prayer for pity before you, O Lord our God.”
Baruch 2:20 “For you have inflicted your anger and your wrath upon us, just as you promised through your servants the prophets to do, when you said,”
Baruch 2:21 “Thus says the Lord: Bow your shoulders and work for the king of Babylon, and stay in the land which I gave to your forefathers.”
Baruch 2:22 “But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, and serve the king of Babylon,”
Baruch 2:23 “I will put an end to the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the voice of bridegroom and the voice of bride, in the towns of Judah and in Jerusalem, and the whole country will become untrodden and uninhabited.”
Baruch 2:24 “But we did not obey your voice and serve the king of Babylon, and you made good your words that you had spoken through your servants the prophets, that the bones of our kings and the bones of our forefathers should be taken out of their places,”
Baruch 2:25 “And behold they are thrown out to the heat by day and to the frost by night; and they perished in great misery, by famine and the sword and pestilence.”
Baruch 2:26 “And the house that was called by your name you have laid waste, as it is to be seen this day, because of the wickedness of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah.”
Baruch 2:27 “Yet you have dealt with us, O Lord our God, with all your forbearance and all your great compassion,”
Baruch 2:28 “As you promised through your servant Moses to do, when you commanded him to write the Law before the sins of Israel, and said,”
Baruch 2:29 “Unless you obey my voice, this great buzzing multitude will surely turn into a small number among the heathen where I will scatter them.”
Baruch 2:30 “For I know that they will not listen to me, for they are a stiff-necked people. But in the land to which they are carried away they will come to remember themselves,”
Baruch 2:31 “And they will know that I am the Lord their God, for I will give them an heart and ears to hear,”
Baruch 2:32 “And they will praise me in the land to which they are carried away, and they will remember my name,”
Baruch 2:33 “And they will turn from their obstinacy and their wicked doings, for they will remember what befell their forefathers who sinned in the sight of the Lord.”
Baruch 2:34 “Then I will restore them to the land that I swore to give to their forefathers, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and they will possess it; and I will multiply them, and they will not be despised.”
Baruch 2:35 “And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I shall be their God and they shall be my people. And I will never again remove my people Israel from the land which I have given them.”
Chapter 3
Baruch 3:1 “O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the soul in anguish and the wearied spirit cry out to you.
Baruch 3:2 “Listen, Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned in your sight.”
Baruch 3:3 “For you abide forever, and we perish forever.”
Baruch 3:4 “O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, hear the prayer of the dead in Israel, and of the sons of those who sinned in your sight, who did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, so that calamities have pursued us.”
Baruch 3:5 “Do not remember the iniquities of our forefathers, but remember your power and your name at this time,”
Baruch 3:6 “For you are the Lord our God, and we will praise you, O Lord.”
Baruch 3:7 “For you have put your fear into our hearts for this reason, that we should call upon your name, and we will praise you in our exile, for we have put out of our hearts all the iniquity of our forefathers, who sinned in your sight.”
Baruch 3:8 “Here we are today in exile, where you have scattered us, to be reproached and cursed and condemned for all the iniquities of our forefathers who rebelled against the Lord our God.”
Baruch 3:9 “Hear the commandments of life, O Israel; Listen, and learn wisdom.”
Baruch 3:10 “Why is it, Israel, that you are in the land of your enemies, that you have grown old in a strange land, that you have been polluted with the dead?,”
Baruch 3:11 “That you are counted among those in Hades?”
Baruch 3:12 “You have forsaken the spring of wisdom.”
Baruch 3:13 “If you had walked in the way of God, you would have lived in peace forever.”
Baruch 3:14 “Learn where wisdom is, where strength is, where understanding is, so that you may at the same time learn where length of days and life are, where there is light for the eyes, and peace.”
Baruch 3:15 “Who can find her location?, and who can get into her storehouses?”
Baruch 3:16 “Where are the rulers of the heathen, and those who master the beasts of the earth,”
Baruch 3:17 “Who have their sport with the wild birds, and lay up silver and gold, in which men trust, and have property without end;”
Baruch 3:18 “Who work in silver with anxious care, and whose works defy investigation?”
Baruch 3:19 “They have vanished and gone to Hades, and others have taken their places.”
Baruch 3:20 “A younger generation has seen light, and settled on the earth, but they have not learned the way to knowledge,”
Baruch 3:21 “Nor understood its paths, nor laid hold of it. Their sons have strayed far out of their way;”
Baruch 3:22 “It was never heard of in Canaan, or seen in Teman;”
Baruch 3:23 “The sons of Hagar, who seek for understanding on the earth, the merchants of Merran and Teman, the story-tellers and the searchers for understanding have not found the way to wisdom, or remembered its paths.”
Baruch 3:24 “O Israel, how great is the house of God! And how vast the region that he possesses!”
Baruch 3:25 “It is great, it has no end; It is immeasurably high.”
Baruch 3:26 “There were born the giants, famous of old, tall in stature, expert in war.”
Baruch 3:27 “God did not choose them or give them the way of knowledge.”
Baruch 3:28 “So they perished, because they had no understanding; They perished through their own foolishness.”
Baruch 3:29 “Who ever went up to heaven and got her, and brought her down from the clouds?”
Baruch 3:30 “Who ever crossed the sea and found her, and will buy her with fine gold?”
Baruch 3:31 “No one knows the way to her, Or concerns himself with the path to her.”
Baruch 3:32 “But he who knows all things knows her, he has discovered her through his understanding. He who created the earth forever has filled it with four-footed creatures;”
Baruch 3:33 “He who sends forth the light, and it goes; He called it, and it obeyed him in fear.”
Baruch 3:34 “The stars shone in their watches, and were glad; He called them, and they said, “Here we are!” They shone with gladness for him who made them.”
Baruch 3:35 “He is our God, no other can be compared with him!”
Baruch 3:36 “He found out the whole way to knowledge, and has given it to Jacob his servant and to Israel, whom he loved.”
Baruch 3:37 “After that, she appeared on the earth and mingled with men.”
Chapter 4
Baruch 4:1 “This is the book of the commandments of God, and the Law, that will endure forever. All those who hold fast to it will live, but those who forsake it will die.”
Baruch 4:2 “Come back, Jacob, and take hold of it; approach the radiance from her light.”
Baruch 4:3 “Do not give your glory to another, and your benefits to an alien people.”
Baruch 4:4 “Blessed are we, Israel, because we know the things that please God.”
Baruch 4:5 “Have no fear, my people, for the memorial of Israel;”
Baruch 4:6 “You have been sold to the heathen, not to be destroyed, but because you had angered God, you were handed over to your adversaries.”
Baruch 4:7 “For you provoked him who made you by sacrificing to demons, and not to God.”
Baruch 4:8 “You forgot the everlasting God, who had brought you up, and you grieved Jerusalem, that had reared you,”
Baruch 4:9 “For she saw the anger that has come upon you from God, and said, “Listen, you women who live in Zion, God has brought great sorrow upon me.”
Baruch 4:10 “For I have witnessed the capture of my sons and daughters, which the Everlasting has brought upon them.”
Baruch 4:11 “For I nursed them in gladness, but I have sent them away with weeping and sorrow.”
Baruch 4:12 “Let no one exult over a widow like me, forsaken by so many; I have been left desolate because of the sins of my children, because they turned away from the Law of God.”
Baruch 4:13 “But they would not learn his ordinances, or walk in the ways of God’s commands, or follow the paths of correction in his uprightness.”
Baruch 4:14 “Let the women who live in Zion come, and remember the taking captive of my sons and daughters, which the Everlasting has brought upon them.”
Baruch 4:15 “For he brought a nation from far away against them a ruthless nation of strange speech who had no respect for an old man and no pity for a child,”
Baruch 4:16 “And they led the widow’s beloved sons away, and left the lonely woman bereft of her daughters.”
Baruch 4:17 “But how can I help you?”
Baruch 4:18 “For he who has brought these calamities upon you will deliver you from the hands of your enemies.”
Baruch 4:19 “Go, my children, go, for I am left desolate.”
Baruch 4:20 “I have taken off the clothing of peace, and put on the sackcloth of my supplication; I will cry out to the Everlasting all my days.”
Baruch 4:21 “Have courage, my children, cry out to God, and he will save you from subjection, from the hands of your enemies;”
Baruch 4:22 “For I have set on the Everlasting my hope that he will save you, and joy has come to me from the Holy One for the mercy which will soon come to you, from your everlasting Savior.”
Baruch 4:23 “For I sent you out with sorrow and weeping, but God will give you back to me with joy and gladness forever.”
Baruch 4:24 “For just as the neighbors of Zion have seen your captivity, so they will soon see your deliverance come from our God, which will come upon you with the great glory and splendor of the Everlasting.”
Baruch 4:25 “My children, endure patiently the anger that has come upon you from God, for your enemy has overtaken you; but you will soon witness his destruction, and put your feet upon their necks.”
Baruch 4:26 “My delicate ones have traveled rough roads, they have been taken away like a flock carried off by enemies.”
Baruch 4:27 “Have courage, my children, and cry out to God, for you will be remembered by him who brought this upon you.”
Baruch 4:28 “For as the thought once came to you to go astray from God, you must return and seek him with tenfold fervor.”
Baruch 4:29 “For he who has brought these calamities upon you, will bring you everlasting joy with your deliverance.”
Baruch 4:30 “Take courage, Jerusalem, for he who named you will comfort you.”
Baruch 4:31 “Those who did you harm and rejoiced at your fall will be miserable;”
Baruch 4:32 “The towns which enslaved your children will be miserable, she who received your sons will be miserable.”
Baruch 4:33 “For as she rejoiced at your fall, and was glad of your ruin, so she shall be grieved at her own desolation.”
Baruch 4:34 “And I will take away her exultation in her great population, and her boasting will be turned to sorrow.”
Baruch 4:35 “For from the Everlasting, fire will descend upon her for many days, and she will be a habitation of demons for a long time.”
Baruch 4:36 “Look away eastward, Jerusalem, and see the gladness that is coming to you from God.”
Baruch 4:37 “See, your sons are coming, whom you sent away, they are coming, gathered from east to west, at the command of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God.”
Chapter 5
Baruch 5:1 “Take off the clothes of your sorrow and your harsh treatment, Jerusalem, and put on forever the beauty of the glory that is from God.”
Baruch 5:2 “Put on the cloak of the uprightness that is from God, put on your head the headdress of the glory of the Everlasting.
Baruch 5:3 “For God will show your splendor to all that is under heaven.”
Baruch 5:4 “For your name will forever be called by God The Peace of Uprightness and the Glory of Godliness.”
Baruch 5:5 “Arise, Jerusalem, and stand upon the height, and look away to the east, and see your children gathered from the setting of the sun to its rising, at the command of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them.”
Baruch 5:6 “For they went forth from you being led away on foot by their enemies, but God will bring them to you exalted with glory, as children of the kingdom.”
Baruch 5:7 “For God has ordained that every high mountain and the banks of long continuance shall be cast down, and the valleys filled up to make level ground, so that Israel may go safely, to the glory of God.”
Baruch 5:8 “And the woods and every fragrant tree have shaded Israel, at God’s command,”
Baruch 5:9 “For God will lead Israel with joy, by the light of his glory, with the mercy and uprightness that come from him.”