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 Asadias, the son of Chelcias, wrote in Babylon,

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

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

⁴And in the hearing of the nobles, and of the king’s sons, and in the hearing of the elders, and of all the people, from the lowest unto the highest, even of all them that dwelt at Babylon by the river Sud.

⁵Whereupon they wept, fasted, and prayed before the Lord.

⁶They made also a collection of money according to every man’s power:

⁷And they sent it to Jerusalem unto Joachim the high priest, the son of Chelcias, son of Salom, and to the priests, and to all the people which were found with him at Jerusalem,

⁸At the same time when he received the vessels of the house of the Lord, that were carried out of the temple, to return them into the land of Juda, the tenth day of the month Sivan, namely, silver vessels, which Sedecias the son of Josias king of Jada had made,

⁹After that Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away Jechonias, and the princes, and the captives, and the mighty men, and the people of the land, from Jerusalem, and brought them unto Babylon.

¹⁰And they said, Behold, we have sent you money to buy you burnt offerings, and sin offerings, and incense, and prepare ye manna, and offer upon the altar of the Lord our God;

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

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

¹³Pray for us also unto the Lord our God, for we have sinned against the Lord our God; and unto this day the fury of the Lord and his wrath is not turned from us.

¹⁴And ye shall read this book which we have sent unto you, to make confession in the house of the Lord, upon the feasts and solemn days.

¹⁵And ye shall say, To the Lord our God belongeth righteousness, but unto us the confusion of faces, as it is come to pass this day, unto them of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

¹⁶And to our kings, and to our princes, and to our priests, and to our prophets, and to our fathers:

¹⁷For we have sinned before the Lord,

¹⁸And disobeyed him, and have not hearkened unto the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the commandments that he gave us openly:

¹⁹Since the day that the Lord brought our forefathers out of the land of Egypt, unto this present day, we have been disobedient unto the Lord our God, and we have been negligent in not hearing his voice.

²⁰Wherefore the evils cleaved unto us, and the curse, which the Lord appointed by Moses his servant at the time that he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, to give us a land that floweth with milk and honey, like as it is to see this day.

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

²²But every man followed the imagination of his own wicked heart, to serve strange gods, and to do evil in the sight of the Lord our God.