Baruch 1

¹And these are the words of the book, which Baruch the son of Neraiah, the son of Mahseiah, the son of Zedekiah, the son of Hasadiah, the son Hilkiah, wrote in Babylon,

²in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month, since the time when the Chaldeans captured Jerusalem and set it on fire.

³And Baruch read the words of this book to the ears of Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and to the ears of the entire people, who came to the book:

⁴even to the ears of the powerful sons of kings, and to the ears of the elders, and to the ears of the people, from the least to the greatest of them, of all those living in Babylon, near the river Sud.

⁵And upon hearing it, they wept and fasted and prayed in the sight of the Lord.

⁶And they collected money in accordance with whatever each one was able to handover.

⁷And they sent it to Jerusalem to Jehoiakim, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Shalum the priest, and to the priests, and to all the people, who were found with him in Jerusalem.

⁸At that time, he received the vessels of the temple of the Lord (which had been carried away from the temple) so as to return them to the land of Judah, on the tenth day of the month Sivan. These were the silver vessels, which Zedekiah, the son of Josiah king of Judah, had made.

⁹After this, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, captured Jeconiah, and the leaders, and all the powerful, and the people of the land, and led them captive from Jerusalem to Babylon.

¹⁰And they said, “Behold we have sent you money with which to buy holocausts and frankincense. Therefore, make manna and offer it for sin at the altar of the Lord our God.

¹¹And pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and for the life of Belshazzar his son, so that their days may be just like the days of the heaven above the earth,

¹²and so that the Lord may give virtue to us, and enlighten our eyes, so that we may live under the shadow of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and under the shadow of Belshazzar his son, and so that we may serve them for many days and may find favor in their sight.

¹³And pray for us also to the Lord our God, for we have sinned against the Lord our God, and the madness of our sin has not been driven away from us even to this day.

¹⁴And read this book, which we have sent to you to be recited in the temple of the Lord, on solemn days and on other suitable days.

¹⁵And you will say, ‘To the Lord our God is justice, but to us is confusion of our face, just as it is this day for all of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

¹⁶even for our kings, and our leaders, and our priests, and our prophets, and our fathers.

¹⁷We have sinned before the Lord our God and we have not believed, lacking confidence in him.

¹⁸And we have not been submissive to him, and we have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God, so as to walk in his commandments, which he has given to us.

¹⁹From the day that he led our fathers out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, we were unfaithful to the Lord our God, and, having been scattered, we fell away. We did not listen to his voice.

²⁰And we joined ourselves to many evils and to the curses which the Lord established through Moses, his servant, who led our fathers out of the land of Egypt, to give us a land flowing with milk and honey, just as it is in the present day.

²¹And we have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God, according to all the words of the prophets whom he sent to us.

²²And we have gone astray, each one after the inclinations of his own malignant heart, serving strange gods and doing evil before the eyes of the Lord our God.

Baruch 1

¹And these are the words of the book, which Baruch the son of Nerias, the son of Maasias, the son of Sedecias, the son of Sedei, the son Helcias, wrote in Babylonia.

²In the fifth year, in the seventh day of the month, at the time that the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, and burnt it with fire.

³And Baruch read the words of this book in the hearing of Jechonias the son of Joakim king of Juda, and in the hearing of all the people that came to hear the book.

⁴And in the hearing of the nobles, the sons of the kings, and in the hearing of the ancients, and in the hearing of the people, from the least even to the greatest of them that dwelt in Babylonia, by the river Sedi.

⁵And when they heard it they wept, and fasted, and prayed before the Lord.

⁶And they made a collection of money according to every man's power.

⁷And they sent it to Jerusalem to Joakim the priest, the son of Helcias, the son of Salom, and to the priests, and to all the people, that were found with him in Jerusalem:

⁸At the time when he received the vessels of the temple of the Lord, which had been taken away out of the temple, to return them into the land of Juda the tenth day of the month Sivan, the silver vessels, which Sedecias the son of Josias king of Juda had made,

⁹After that Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon had carried away Jechonias, and the princes, and all the powerful men, and the people of the land from Jerusalem, and brought them bound to Babylon.

¹⁰And they said: Behold we have sent you money, buy with it holocausts, and frankincense, and make meat offerings, and offerings for sin at the altar of the Lord our God:

¹¹And pray ye for the life of Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon, and for the life of Balthasar his son, that their days may be upon earth as the days of heaven:

¹²And that the Lord may give us strength, and enlighten our eyes, that we may live under the shadow of Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon, and under the shadow of Balthasar his son, and may serve them many days, and may find favour in their sight.

¹³And pray ye for us to the Lord our God: for we have sinned against the Lord our God, and his wrath is not turned away from us even to this day.

¹⁴And read ye this book, which we have sent to you to be read in the temple of the Lord, on feasts, and proper days.

¹⁵And you shall say: To the Lord our God belongeth justice, but to us confusion of our face: as it is come to pass at this day to all Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

¹⁶To our kings, and to our princes, and to our priests, and to our prophets, and to our fathers.

¹⁷We have sinned before the Lord our God, and have not believed him, nor put our trust in him:

¹⁸And we were not obedient to him, and we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his commandments which he hath given us.

¹⁹From the day that he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, we were disobedient to the Lord our God: and going astray we turned away from hearing his voice.

²⁰And many evils have cleaved to us, and the curses which the Lord foretold by Moses his servant: who brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, to give us a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.

²¹And we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God according to all the words of the prophets whom he sent to us:

²²And we have gone away every man after the inclinations of his own wicked heart, to serve strange gods, and to do evil in the sight of the Lord our God.