Baruch 3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
3 “O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the soul in anguish and the wearied spirit cry out to you. 2 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned before you. 3 For you are enthroned forever, and we are perishing forever.(A) 4 O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, hear now the prayer of those of Israel who have died and of the children of those who sinned before you, who did not heed the voice of the Lord their God, so that calamities have clung to us.(B) 5 Do not remember the iniquities of our ancestors, but in this crisis remember your power and your name. 6 For you are the Lord our God, and it is you, O Lord, whom we will praise. 7 For you have put the fear of you in our hearts so that we would call upon your name, and we will praise you in our exile, for we have put away from our hearts all the iniquity of our ancestors who sinned against you.(C) 8 See, we are today in our exile where you have scattered us, to be reproached and cursed and punished for all the iniquities of our ancestors, who forsook the Lord our God.”(D)
In Praise of Wisdom
9 Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life;
give ear and learn wisdom!
10 Why is it, O Israel, why is it that you are in the land of your enemies,
that you are growing old in a foreign land,
11 that you are defiled with the dead,
that you are counted among those in Hades?(E)
12 You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom.(F)
13 If you had walked in the way of God,
you would be living in peace forever.(G)
14 Learn where there is wisdom,
where there is strength,
where there is understanding,
so that you may at the same time discern
where there is length of days and life,
where there is light for the eyes and peace.(H)
15 Who has found her place,
and who has entered her storehouses?(I)
16 Where are the rulers of the nations
and those who lorded it over the animals on earth;(J)
17 those who made sport of the birds of the air
and who hoarded up silver and gold
in which people trust,
and there is no end to their getting;(K)
18 those who schemed to get silver and were anxious,
but there is no trace of their works?
19 They have vanished and gone down to Hades,
and others have arisen in their place.(L)
20 Younger people have seen the light of day
and have lived upon the earth,
but they have not learned the way to knowledge,
nor understood her paths,
nor laid hold of her.(M)
21 Their descendants have strayed far from their[a] way.
22 She has not been heard of in Canaan
or seen in Teman;(N)
23 the descendants of Hagar, who seek for understanding on the earth,
the merchants of Merran and Teman,
the storytellers and the seekers for understanding,
have not learned the way to wisdom
or given thought to her paths.(O)
24 O Israel, how great is the house of God,
how vast the territory that he possesses!
25 It is great and has no bounds;
it is high and immeasurable.
26 The giants were born there, who were famous of old,
great in stature, expert in war.(P)
27 God did not choose them
or give them the way to knowledge,(Q)
28 so they perished because they had no wisdom;
they perished through their folly.
29 Who has gone up into heaven and taken her
and brought her down from the clouds?(R)
30 Who has gone over the sea and found her
and will buy her for pure gold?(S)
31 No one knows the way to her
or is concerned about the path to her.
32 But the one who knows all things knows her;
he found her by his understanding.
The one who prepared the earth for all time
filled it with four-footed creatures;(T)
33 the one who sends forth the light and it goes,
he called it, and it obeyed him, trembling;
34 the stars shone in their watches and were glad;
35 he called them, and they said, “Here we are!”
They shone with gladness for him who made them.(U)
36 This is our God;
no other can be compared to him.
37 He found the whole way to knowledge
and gave her to his servant Jacob
and to Israel, whom he loved.(V)
38 Afterward she appeared on earth
and lived with humankind.(W)
Footnotes
- 3.21 Gk: Syr her
Baruch 3
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
3 And now, O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, the soul in anguish, and the troubled spirit crieth to thee:
2 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for thou art a merciful God, and have pity on us: for we have sinned before thee.
3 For thou remainest for ever, and shall we perish everlastingly?
4 O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the dead of Israel, and of their children, that have sinned before thee, and have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord their God, wherefore evils have cleaved fast to us.
5 Remember not the iniquities of our fathers, but think upon thy hand, and upon thy name at this time:
6 For thou art the Lord our God, and we will praise thee, O Lord:
7 Because for this end thou hast put thy fear in our hearts, to the intent that we should call upon thy name, and praise thee in our captivity, for we are converted from the iniquity of our fathers, who sinned before thee.
8 And behold we are at this day in our captivity, whereby thou hast scattered us to be a reproach, and a curse, and an offence, according to all the iniquities of our fathers, who departed from thee, O Lord our God.
9 Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life: give ear, that thou mayst learn wisdom.
10 How happeneth it, O Israel, that thou art in thy enemies' land?
11 Thou art grown old in a strange country, thou art defiled with the dead: thou art counted with them that go down into hell.
12 Thou hast forsaken the fountain of wisdom:
13 For if thou hadst walked in the way of God, thou hadst surely dwelt in peace for ever.
14 Learn where is wisdom, where is strength, where is understanding: that thou mayst know also where is length of days and life, where is the light of the eyes, and peace.
15 Who hath found out her place? and who hath gone in to her treasures?
16 Where are the princes of the nations, and they that rule over the beasts that are upon the earth?
17 That take their diversion with the birds of the air.
18 That hoard up silver and gold, wherein men trust, and there is no end of their getting? who work in silver and are solicitous, and their works are unsearchable.
19 They are cut off, and are gone down to hell, and others are risen up in their place.
20 Young men have seen the light, and dwelt upon the earth: but the way of knowledge they have not known,
21 Nor have they understood the paths thereof, neither have their children received it, it is far from their face.
22 It hath not been heard of in the land of Chanaan, neither hath it been seen in Theman.
23 The children of Agar also, that search after the wisdom that is of the earth, the merchants of Merrha, and of Theman, and the tellers of fables, and searchers of prudence and understanding: but the way of wisdom they have not known, neither have they remembered her paths.
24 O Israel, how great is the house of God, and how vast is the place of his possession!
25 It is great, and hath no end: it is high and immense.
26 There were the giants, those renowned men that were from the beginning, of great stature, expert in war.
27 The Lord chose not them, neither did they find the way of knowledge: therefore did they perish.
28 And because they had not wisdom, they perished through their folly.
29 Who hath gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her down from the clouds?
30 Who hath passed over the sea, and found her, and brought her preferably to chosen gold?
31 There is none that is able to know her ways, nor that can search out her paths:
32 But he that knoweth all things, knoweth her, and hath found her out with his understanding: he that prepared the earth for evermore, and filled it with cattle and fourfooted beasts:
33 He that sendeth forth light, and it goeth: and hath called it, and it obeyeth him with trembling.
34 And the stars have given light in their watches, and rejoiced:
35 They were called, and they said: Here we are: and with cheerfulness they have shined forth to him that made them.
36 This is our God, and there shall no other be accounted of in comparison of him.
37 He found out all the way of knowledge, and gave it to Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved.
38 Afterwards he was seen upon earth, and conversed with men.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)