1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – Epistle of Jeremiah
Called Baruch by most, but 1 Baruch in the LSV for distinction, the opening verses ascribe the book to the well-known assistant to Jeremiah (Jer. 32:12; 36:4, 32; 45:1). It is a collection of four very different compositions, ending with a work entitled “The Letter of Jeremiah,” which circulated separately in major manuscripts of the Greek tradition. The original language was likely Hebrew, but only the Greek and other versions have been preserved. The setting is Babylon, where Baruch reads his scroll to King Jechoniah (Jehoiachin) and the exiles; they react by sending gifts and the scroll to Jerusalem (1:1–14), presumably by the hand of Baruch (1:7). No certain date can be given for the book, but it may have been edited in final form during the last two centuries BC.
These are the words of the scroll, which Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, the son of Zedekiah, the son of Hasadiah, the son of Hilkiah, wrote in Babylon, in the fifth year, [and] in the seventh day of the month, at the time the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, and burned it with fire. And Baruch read the words of this scroll in the hearing of Jehoiachin the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and in the hearing of all the people that came to [hear] the scroll, and in the hearing of the mighty men, and of the kings’ sons, and in the hearing of the elders, and in the hearing of all the people, from the least to the greatest, even of all those who lived at Babylon by the River Sud. And they wept, and fasted, and prayed before the Lord; they also made a collection of money according to every man’s power: and they sent [it] to Jerusalem to Jehoiakim the [high] priest, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Salom, and to the priests, and to all the people which were found with him at Jerusalem, at the same time when he took the vessels of the house of the Lord, that had been carried out of the temple, to return [them] into the land of Judah, the tenth day of the [month] Sivan, [namely,] silver vessels, which Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah had made, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away Jehoiachin, and the princes, and the captives, and the mighty men, and the people of the land, from Jerusalem, and brought them to Babylon. And they said: “Behold, we have sent you money; therefore buy with the money burnt-offerings, and sin offerings, and incense, and prepare an oblation, and offer on the altar of the Lord our God; and pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and for the life of his son Belshazzar, that their days may be as the days of Heaven above the earth: and the Lord will give us strength, and lighten our eyes, and we will live under the shadow of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and under the shadow of his son Belshazzar, and we will serve them many days, and find favor in their sight. Pray for us also to the Lord our God, for we have sinned against the Lord our God; and to this day the wrath of the Lord and His indignation is not turned from us. And you will read this scroll which we have sent to you, to make confession in the house of the Lord, on the day of the feast and on the days of the solemn assembly.” And you will say: To the Lord our God [belongs] righteousness, but to us confusion of face, as at this day, to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to our kings, and to our princes, and to our priests, and to our prophets, and to our fathers: for that we have sinned before the Lord, and disobeyed Him, and have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the commands of the Lord that He has set before us: since the day that the Lord brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, to this present day, we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, and we have dealt unadvisedly in not listening to His voice. Why the plagues cleaved to us, and the curse, which the Lord commanded Moses His servant [to pronounce] in the day that He brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, to give us a land that flows with milk and honey, as at this day. Nevertheless, we did not listen to the voice of the Lord our God, according to all the words of the prophets, whom He sent to us, but we walked—every man—in the imagination of his own wicked heart, to serve strange gods, and to do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord our God.
Therefore the Lord has made good His word, which He pronounced against us, and against our judges that judged Israel, and against our kings, and against our princes, and against the men of Israel and Judah, to bring on us great plagues, such as never happened under the whole Heaven, as it came to pass in Jerusalem, according to the things that are written in the Law of Moses; That we should eat—every man—the flesh of his own son, and every man the flesh of his own daughter. Moreover, He has given them to be in subjection to all the kingdoms that are around us, to be a reproach and a desolation among all the surrounding people, where the Lord has scattered them. So were they cast down, and not exalted, because we sinned against the Lord our God, in not listening to His voice. To the Lord our God [belongs] righteousness, but to us and to our fathers confusion of face, as at this day. [For] all these plagues have come on us, which the Lord has pronounced against us. Yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord, in turning everyone from the thoughts of his wicked heart. Therefore the Lord has kept watch over the plagues, and the Lord has brought [them] on us; for the Lord is righteous in all His works which He has commanded us. Yet we have not listened to His voice, to walk in the commands of the Lord that He has set before us. And now, O Lord, You God of Israel, that have brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with signs, and with wonders, and with great power, and with a high arm, and have gotten Yourself a Name, as at this day: O Lord our God, we have sinned, we have been ungodly, we have dealt unrighteously in all Your ordinances. Let Your wrath turn from us, for we are but a few left among the heathen, where You have scattered us. Hear our prayer, O Lord, and our petition, and deliver us for Your own sake, and give us favor in the sight of them which have led us away captive, that all the earth may know that You are the Lord our God, because Israel and his posterity is called by Your Name. O Lord, look down from Your holy house, and consider us: incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear: open Your eyes, and behold, for the dead that are in the grave, whose breath is taken from their bodies, will give to the Lord neither glory nor righteousness: but the soul that is greatly vexed, which goes stooping and feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul, will give You glory and righteousness, O Lord. For we do not present our supplication before You, O Lord our God, for the righteousness of our fathers, and of our kings. For You have sent Your wrath and Your indignation on us, as You have spoken by Your servants the prophets, [saying,] “The Lord says, Bow your shoulders to serve the king of Babylon, and remain in the land that I gave to your fathers. But if you will not hear the voice of the Lord, to serve the king of Babylon, I will cause to cease out of the cities of Judah, and from the region near Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: and the whole land will be desolate without inhabitant.” But we would not listen to Your voice, to serve the king of Babylon: therefore You have made good Your words that You spoke by Your servants the prophets, [namely,] that the bones of our kings, and the bones of our fathers, should be taken out of their places. And behold, they are cast out to the heat by day, and to the frost by night, and they died in great miseries by famine, by sword, and by pestilence. And the house which is called by Your Name have You laid [waste], as at this day, for the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Yet, O Lord our God, You have dealt with us after all Your kindness, and according to all Your great mercy, as You spoke by Your servant Moses in the day when You commanded him to write Your law before the sons of Israel, saying, “If you will not hear My voice, surely this very great multitude will be turned into a small [number] among the nations, where I will scatter them. For I know that they will not hear Me, because it is a stiff-necked people, but in the land of their captivity they will take it to heart, and will know that I am the Lord their God: and I will give them a heart, and ears to hear: and they will praise Me in the land of their captivity, and think on My Name, and will return from their stiff neck, and from their wicked deeds, for they will remember the way of their fathers, which sinned before the Lord. And I will bring them again into the land which I swore to their fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and they will be lords of it: and I will increase them, and they will not be diminished. And I will make a perpetual covenant with them to be their God, and they will be My people: and I will no longer remove My people Israel out of the land that I have given them.”
O Lord Almighty, You God of Israel, the soul in anguish, the troubled spirit, cries to You. Hear, O Lord, and have mercy; for You are a merciful God: yes, have mercy on us, because we have sinned before You. For You sit [as king] forever, and we perish forevermore. O Lord Almighty, You God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the dead Israelites, and of the children of them which were sinners before You, that did not listen to the voice of You their God, for this reason these plagues cleaved to us. Do not remember the iniquities of our fathers, but remember Your power and Your Name [now] at this time. For You are the Lord our God, and You, O Lord, will we praise. For this reason You have put Your fear in our hearts, to the intent that we should call on Your Name, and we will praise You in our captivity, for we have called to mind all the iniquity of our fathers, that sinned before You. Behold, we are yet this day in our captivity, where You have scattered us, for a reproach and a curse, and to be subject to penalty, according to all the iniquities of our fathers, which departed from the Lord our God. Hear, O Israel, the commands of life: give ear to understand wisdom. How is it, O Israel, that you are in your enemies’ land, that you have become old in a strange country, that you are defiled with the dead, that you are counted with those who [go down] into the grave? You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom. [For] if you had walked in the way of God, you should have dwelled in peace forever. Learn where is wisdom, where is strength, where is understanding; that you may also know where is length of days, and life, where is the light of the eyes, and peace. Who has found out her place? and who has come into her treasuries? Where are the princes of the heathen, and such as ruled the beasts that are on the earth; those who had their pastime with the birds of the air, and those who hoarded up silver and gold, wherein men trust; and of whose getting there is no end? For those who made in silver, and were so careful, and whose works are past finding out, they are vanished and gone down to the grave, and others have come up in their steads. Younger men have seen the light and lived on the earth, but the way of knowledge they have not known, neither did they understand the paths thereof, neither have their children embraced it: they are far off from their way. It has not been heard of in Canaan, neither has it been seen in Teman. The sons also of Agar that seek understanding, which are in the land, the merchants of Merran and Teman, and the authors of fables, and the searchers out of understanding; none of these have known the way of wisdom or remembered her paths. O Israel, how great is the house of God! and how large is the place of His possession! [It is] great, and has no end; high, and unmeasurable. There were the giants born that were famous of old, great of stature, [and] expert in war. God did not choose these, nor did He give the way of knowledge to them; so they perished, because they had no wisdom, they perished through their own foolishness. Who has gone up into Heaven, and taken her, and brought her down from the clouds? Who has gone over the sea, and found her, and will bring her for choice gold? There is none that knows her way, nor any that comprehends her path. But He that knows all things knows her, He found her out with His understanding: He that prepared the earth forevermore has filled it with four-footed beasts: He that sends out the light, and it goes; He called it, and it obeyed Him with fear: and the stars shone in their watches, and were glad when He called them, they said, “Here we are.” They shone with gladness to Him that made them. This is our God, [and] there will none other be accounted of in comparison of Him. He has found out all the way of knowledge, and has given it to His servant Jacob, and to Israel that is beloved of Him. Afterward she appeared on earth and was conversant with men.
This is the scroll of the commands of God, and the law that endures forever: All those who hold it fast [are appointed] to life; but such as leave it will die. Turn, O Jacob, and take hold of it: walk toward her shining in the presence of the light thereof. Do not give your glory to another, nor the things that are profitable to you to a strange nation. O Israel, happy are we, for the things that are pleasing to God are made known to us. Be of good cheer, my people, the memorial of Israel. You were sold to the nations, [but] not for destruction: because you moved God to wrath, you were delivered to your adversaries. For you provoked Him that made you by sacrificing to demons, and not to God. You forgot the perpetual God that brought you up; you also grieved Jerusalem that nursed you. For she saw the wrath that has come on you from God, and said, “Listen, you [women] that dwell about Zion, for God has brought on me great mourning; for I have seen the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Perpetual has brought on them. For with joy I nourished them, but sent them away with weeping and mourning. Let no man rejoice over me, a widow, and forsaken of many, for the sins of my children I am left desolate, because they turned away from the law of God, and had no regard to His statutes, neither did they walk in the ways of God’s commands, nor trod in the paths of discipline in His righteousness. Let those who dwell about Zion come, and remember the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Perpetual has brought on them. For He has brought a nation on them from far, a shameless nation, and of a strange language, who neither gave reverence to old man, nor pitied child. And they have carried away the dear beloved sons of the widow and left her that was alone desolate of her daughters. But I—how can I help you? For He that brought these plagues on you will deliver you from the hand of your enemies. Go your way, O my children, go your way, for I am left desolate. I have put off the garment of peace and put on myself the sackcloth of my petition: I will cry to the Perpetual as long as I live. Be of good cheer, O my children, cry to God, and He will deliver you from the power and hand of the enemies. For I have trusted in the Perpetual, that He will save you; and joy has come to me from the Holy One, because of the mercy which will soon come to you from your continuous Savior. For I sent you out with mourning and weeping, but God will give you to me again with joy and gladness forever. For like as now those who dwell about Zion have seen your captivity, so they will shortly see your salvation from our God, which will come on you with great glory, and brightness of the Perpetual. My children, suffer patiently the wrath that has come on you from God, for your enemy has persecuted you; but shortly you will see his destruction, and will tread on their necks. My delicate ones have gone rough ways; they were taken away as a flock carried off by the enemies. Be of good cheer, O my children, and cry to God, for you will be remembered of Him that has brought [these things] on you. For as it was your mind to go astray from God, return and seek Him ten times more. For He that brought these plagues on you will bring you continuous joy again with your salvation.” Be of good cheer, O Jerusalem, for He that called you by name will comfort you. Miserable are those who afflicted you and rejoiced at your fall. Miserable are the cities which your children served; miserable is she that received your sons. For as she rejoiced at your fall, and was glad of your ruin, so she will be grieved for her own desolation. And I will take away her exultation in her great multitude, and her boasting will be turned into mourning. For fire will come on her from the Perpetual, long to endure; and she will be inhabited of devils for a great time. O Jerusalem look around you toward the east and behold the joy that comes to you from God. Behold, your sons come, whom you sent away, they come gathered together from the east to the west at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God.
Put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of your mourning and affliction, and put on the beauty of the glory that [comes] from God forever. Cast about you the robe of the righteousness which [comes] from God; set a diadem on your head of the glory of the Perpetual. For God will show your brightness to every [region] under Heaven. For your name will be called of God forever, The Peace of Righteousness, and, The Glory of Godliness. Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand on the height, and look around you toward the east, and behold your children gathered from the going down of the sun to the rising thereof at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them. For they went from you on foot, being led away of their enemies, but God brings them in to you, borne on high with glory, as [on] a royal throne. For God has appointed that every high mountain, and the perpetual hills, should be made low, and the valleys filled up, to make plain the ground, that Israel may go safely in the glory of God. Moreover the woods and every sweet-smelling tree have overshadowed Israel by the command of God. For God will lead Israel with joy in the light of His glory with the mercy and righteousness that comes from Him.
1 A copy of a letter, which Jeremiah sent to them which were to be led captives into Babylon by the king of the Babylonians, to certify them, as it was commanded him of God. 2 Because of the sins which you have committed before God, you will be led away captives to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of the Babylonians. 3 So when you come to Babylon, you will remain there many years, and for a long season, even for seven generations: and after that I will bring you out peaceably from there. 4 But now you will see in Babylon gods of silver, and of gold, and of wood, borne on shoulders, which cause the nations to fear. 5 Beware, therefore, that you in no way become like to the strangers, neither let fear take hold on you because of them, when you see the multitude before them and behind them, worshiping them. 6 But say in your hearts, “O Lord, we must worship You.” 7 For My messenger is with you, and I Myself care for your souls. 8 For their tongue is polished by the workman, and they themselves are overlaid with gold and with silver; yet they are but false and cannot speak. 9 And taking gold, as it were for a virgin that loves to be happy, they make crowns for the heads of their gods: 10 and sometimes also the priests carry from their gods gold and silver and bestow it on themselves; 11 and will even give thereof to the common prostitutes: and they deck them as men with garments, [even] the gods of silver, and gods of gold, and of wood. 12 Yet these gods cannot save themselves from rust and moths, though they are covered with purple raiment. 13 They wipe their faces because of the dust of the temple, which is thick on them. 14 And he that cannot put to death one that offends against him holds a scepter, as though he were judge of a country. 15 He also has a dagger in his right hand, and an axe, but cannot deliver himself from war and robbers. 16 Whereby they are not known to be gods: therefore, do not fear them. 17 For like as a vessel that a man uses is worth nothing when it is broken, even so it is with their gods: when they are set up in the temples their eyes are full of dust through the feet of those who come in. 18 And as the courts are made sure on every side on him that offends the king, as being committed to suffer death, [even so] the priests make fast their temples with doors, with locks, and bars, lest they are carried off by robbers. 19 They light the candles, yes, more than for themselves, of which they cannot see one. 20 They are as one of the beams of the temple; and men say their hearts are eaten out, when things creeping out of the earth devour both them and their raiment: 21 they do not feel it when their faces are blackened through the smoke that comes out of the temple: 22 bats, swallows, and birds land on their bodies and heads; and in like manner the cats also. 23 Whereby you may know that they are no gods: therefore, do not fear them. 24 Notwithstanding the gold with which they are beset to make them beautiful, except one wipe off the rust, they will not shine, for not even when they were molten did they feel it. 25 Things wherein there is no breath are bought at any cost. 26 Having no feet, they are borne on shoulders, whereby they declare to men that they are worth nothing. 27 They also that serve them are ashamed, for if they fall to the ground at any time, they cannot rise up again of themselves; neither, if they are bowed down, can they make themselves straight, but the offerings are set before them, as if they were dead men. 28 And the things that are sacrificed to them, their priests sell and spend; and in like manner their wives also lay up part thereof in salt; but to the poor and to the impotent they will give nothing thereof. 29 The menstruous woman and the woman in childbirth touch their sacrifices, knowing, therefore, by these things, that they are not gods, [and so] do not fear them. 30 For how can they be called gods? because women set meat before the gods of silver, gold, and wood. 31 And in their temples the priests sit on seats, having their clothes torn, and their heads and beards shaven, and nothing on their heads. 32 They roar and cry before their gods, as men do at the feast when one is dead. 33 The priests also take off garments from them and clothe their wives and children in addition. 34 Whether it be evil that one does to them, or good, they are not able to repay it: they can neither set up a king, nor put him down. 35 In like manner, they can neither give riches nor money; though a man makes a vow to them, and does not keep it, they will never exact it. 36 They can save no man from death, neither deliver the weak from the mighty. 37 They cannot restore a blind man to his sight, nor deliver any that is in distress. 38 They can show no mercy to the widow, nor do good to the fatherless. 39 They are like the stones that are [hewn] out of the mountain, [these gods] of wood, and that are overlaid with gold and with silver. Those who minister to them will be confounded. 40 How should a man then think or say that they are gods, when even the Chaldeans themselves dishonor them? 41 Who if they will see one mute that cannot speak, they bring him, and entreat him to call on Bel, as though he were able to understand. 42 Yet they cannot perceive this themselves and forsake them, for they have no understanding. 43 The women also with cords around them sit in the ways, burning bran for incense, but if any of them, drawn by some that passes by, lies with him, she reproaches her fellow, that she was not thought as worthy as herself, nor her cord broken. 44 Whatever is done among them is false. How should a man then think or say that they are gods? 45 They are fashioned by carpenters and goldsmiths—they can be nothing else than the workmen will have them to be. 46 And they themselves that fashioned them can never continue long; how then should the things that are fashioned by them? 47 For they have left lies and reproaches to those who come after. 48 For when there comes any war or plague on them, the priests consult with themselves, where they may be hidden with them. 49 How then can men not understand that they are not gods, which can neither save themselves from war, nor from plague? 50 For seeing they are but of wood, and overlaid with gold and with silver, it will be known hereafter that they are false; 51 and it will be manifest to all nations and kings that they are no gods, but the works of men’s hands, and that there is no work of God in them. 52 Who then may not know that they are no gods? 53 For neither can they set up a king in a land, nor give rain to men. 54 Neither can they judge their own cause, nor redress a wrong, being unable, for they are as crows between the heavens and earth. 55 For even when fire falls on the house of gods of wood, or overlaid with gold or with silver, their priests will flee away, and escape, but they themselves will be burned apart like beams. 56 Moreover they cannot withstand any king or enemies. How should a man then allow or think that they are gods? 57 Neither are those gods of wood, and overlaid with silver or with gold, able to escape either from thieves or robbers. 58 Whose gold, and silver, and garments with which they are clothed, they that are strong will take from them, and go away with [them]; neither will they be able to help themselves. 59 Therefore it is better to be a king that shows his manhood, or else a vessel in a house profitable for that of which the owner will have need, than such false gods; or even a door in a house, to keep the things safe that are therein, than such false gods; or a pillar of wood in a palace, than such false gods. 60 For sun, and moon, and stars, being bright and sent to do their offices, are obedient. 61 Likewise also, the lightning when it glitters is fair to see; and after the same manner the wind also blows in every country. 62 And when God commands the clouds to go over the whole world, they do as they are told. 63 And the fire sent from above to consume mountains and woods does as it is commanded, but these are to be likened to them neither in show nor power. 64 Why a man should neither think nor say that they are gods, seeing they are neither able to judge causes, nor to do good to men. 65 Knowing, therefore, that they are not gods, do not fear them. 66 For they can neither curse nor bless kings; 67 neither can they show signs in the heavens among the nations, nor shine as the sun, nor give light as the moon. 68 The beasts are better than they, for they can get under a covert and help themselves. 69 In no way then is it manifest to us that they are gods. Therefore, do not fear them. 70 For as a scarecrow in a garden of cucumbers that keeps nothing, so are their gods of wood, and overlaid with gold and with silver. 71 Likewise also, their gods of wood, and overlaid with gold and with silver, are like to a white thorn in an orchard, that every bird sits on; as also to a dead body that is cast out into the dark. 72 And you will know them to be no gods by the bright purple that rots on them: And they themselves afterward will be consumed and will be a reproach in the country. 73 Better therefore is the just man that has no idols, for he will be far from reproach.