Baruch 2
Good News Translation
2 1 So the Lord carried out the threat he had made against us and against our judges, our kings, our rulers, and the people of Israel and Judah. 2 Nowhere else on earth have such things happened as happened in Jerusalem when the Lord carried out the threats written in the Law of Moses. 3 Things were so bad that we even ate the flesh of our own sons and daughters. 4 The Lord scattered our people, handing us over to the control of all the nations around us, and they looked on us with reproach and horror. 5 We sinned against the Lord our God and refused to obey him. Therefore, our nation was conquered, instead of being victorious. 6 The Lord our God is always righteous, but we and our ancestors are still burdened with our guilt. 7 Even though the Lord punished us as he had threatened, 8 we still did not turn to him and pray that we would abandon our evil thoughts. 9-10 We did not obey him or live by his just commands, so the Lord brought on us all the punishments he had kept ready for us.
The Prayer for Deliverance
11 You, O Lord, are the God of Israel who brought your people out of Egypt with great power and with signs, miracles, and wonders. You showed your mighty strength and gained a glorious reputation, which is still recognized today. 12 O Lord our God, we have sinned; we have been unfaithful; we have disobeyed all your commands. 13 But do not be angry with us any longer. Here among the nations where you have scattered us, only a few of us are left. 14 Listen to our prayer of petition, Lord, and rescue us for the sake of your own honor. Let those who have taken us into exile be pleased with us. 15 Then the whole world will know that you are the Lord our God and that you have chosen the nation of Israel to be your own people. 16 O Lord, look down from heaven and see our misery. Listen to our prayer. 17 Open your eyes and look upon us. Those in the world of the dead with no breath left in their bodies cannot offer praises to you or proclaim how just you are. 18 Only the living, O Lord, can offer you praise and acknowledge your justice, even though they may be suffering greatly, bent and weak, hungry and with failing eyesight. 19 O Lord our God, we pray to you for mercy, but not because of any good things done by our ancestors and our kings. 20 You turned your anger and wrath against us, just as you had threatened to do when your servants the prophets spoke your word to us and said, 21 (A)
Bend your backs and serve the king of Babylonia, and you can remain in the land that I gave to your ancestors. 22 But if you refuse to obey my command to serve him, 23 I will bring to an end every sound of joy and celebration in the towns of Judah and in Jerusalem. Even the happy sounds of wedding feasts will no longer be heard. The whole land will be desolate and uninhabited.
24 (B)But we did not obey your command to serve the king of Babylonia, so you carried out the threat that you had made when you spoke through your servants the prophets, when you said that the bones of our kings and of our ancestors would be taken from their tombs and scattered. 25 And now here they lie exposed to the heat of the day and to the frost of the night. They died in torment from famine, war, and disease. 26 And because of the sin of the people of Israel and Judah, you have reduced your own Temple to ruins, even as it is today. 27 But, Lord, you have been patient with us and have shown us great mercy, 28 (C)as you promised through your servant Moses on the day you commanded him to write your Law in the presence of the Israelites.
29 If you do not obey me, you said,
you will be reduced to a handful among the nations where I will scatter you. 30 I know that you will not obey me, because you are a stubborn people. But when you are taken into exile in another land, you will come to your senses. 31 Then you will realize that I am the Lord your God, and I will give you a desire to know and a mind with which to understand. 32 There in the land of your exile you will praise me and remember me. 33 You will stop being so stubborn and wicked, for you will remember what happened to your ancestors when they sinned against the Lord. 34 Then I will bring you back to the land that I solemnly promised to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and it will be yours again. I will increase your population, and you will never again be reduced to a small number. 35 (D)I will make an everlasting covenant with you; I will be your God and you will be my people. I will never again remove you, the people of Israel, from the land that I gave you.
Baruch 2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
2 “So the Lord carried out the threat[a] he spoke against us: against our judges who ruled Israel and against our kings and our rulers and the people of Israel and Judah.(A) 2 Under the whole heaven there has not been done the like of what he has done in Jerusalem, in accordance with what is written in the law of Moses,(B) 3 that we would each eat the flesh of our sons and the flesh of our daughters.(C) 4 He made them subject to all the kingdoms around us, to be an object of scorn and a desolation among all the surrounding peoples, where the Lord has scattered them.(D) 5 They were brought down and not raised up, because we sinned against the Lord our God and did not listen to his voice.(E)
6 “To the Lord our God belongs righteousness, but to us, this day, open shame.(F) 7 All those calamities with which the Lord threatened us have come upon us.(G) 8 Yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord by turning away, each of us, from the thoughts of our wicked hearts.(H) 9 And the Lord has kept the calamities ready, and the Lord has brought them upon us, for the Lord is just in all the works that he has commanded us to do.(I) 10 Yet we have not obeyed his voice, to walk in the statutes of the Lord that he set before us.(J)
Prayer for Deliverance
11 “And now, O Lord God of Israel, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and with signs and wonders and with great power and outstretched arm and made yourself a name that continues to this day,(K) 12 we have sinned, we have been ungodly, we have done wrong, O Lord our God, against all your ordinances.(L) 13 Let your anger turn away from us, for we are left few in number among the nations where you have scattered us.(M) 14 Hear, O Lord, our prayer and our entreaty, and for your own sake deliver us and grant us favor in the sight of those who have carried us into exile,(N) 15 so that all the earth may know that you are the Lord our God, for Israel and his descendants are called by your name.
16 “O Lord, look down from your holy dwelling and consider us. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear;(O) 17 open your eyes, O Lord, and see, for the dead who are in Hades, whose spirit has been taken from their bodies, will not ascribe glory or justice to the Lord,(P) 18 but the person who is deeply grieved, who walks bowed and feeble, with failing eyes and famished soul, will declare your glory and righteousness, O Lord.(Q)
19 “For it is not because of any righteous deeds of our ancestors or our kings that we bring before you our prayer for mercy, O Lord our God.(R) 20 For you have sent your anger and your wrath upon us, as you declared by your servants the prophets, saying: 21 ‘Thus says the Lord: Bend your shoulders and serve the king of Babylon, and you will remain in the land that I gave to your ancestors.(S) 22 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord and will not serve the king of Babylon,(T) 23 I will silence from the towns of Judah and from the region around Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, and the whole land will be a desolation without inhabitants.’(U)
24 “But we did not obey your voice to serve the king of Babylon, and you have carried out your threats[b] that you spoke by your servants the prophets, that the bones of our kings and the bones of our ancestors would be brought out of their resting place,(V) 25 and indeed they have been thrown out to the heat of day and the frost of night. They perished in great misery, by famine and sword and pestilence.(W) 26 And the house that is called by your name you have made as it is today because of the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of Judah.(X)
God’s Promise Recalled
27 “Yet you have dealt with us, O Lord our God, in all your kindness and in all your great compassion, 28 as you spoke by your servant Moses on the day when you commanded him to write your law in the presence of the people of Israel, saying, 29 ‘If you will not obey my voice, this very great multitude will surely turn into a small number among the nations, where I will scatter them.(Y) 30 For I know that they will not obey me, for they are a stiff-necked people. But in the land of their exile they will have a change of heart(Z) 31 and know that I am the Lord their God. I will give them a heart that obeys and ears that hear;(AA) 32 they will praise me in the land of their exile and will remember my name 33 and turn from their stubbornness and their wicked deeds, for they will remember the ways of their ancestors, who sinned before the Lord. 34 I will bring them again into the land that I swore to give to their ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they will rule over it, and I will increase them, and they will not be diminished.(AB) 35 I will make an everlasting covenant with them to be their God, and they shall be my people, and I will never again remove my people Israel from the land that I have given them.’(AC)
Baruch 2
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 2
1 “So the Lord carried out the warning he had uttered against us: against our judges, who governed Israel, against our kings and princes, and against the people of Israel and Judah. 2 Nowhere under heaven has anything been done like what he did in Jerusalem, as was written in the law of Moses:[a](A) 3 that we would each eat[b] the flesh of our sons, each the flesh of our daughters. 4 He has made us subject to all the kingdoms around us, an object of reproach and horror among all the peoples around us, where the Lord has scattered us.(B) 5 We are brought low, not raised high,(C) because we sinned against the Lord, our God, not listening to his voice.
6 “To the Lord, our God, belongs justice; to us and to our ancestors, to be shamefaced, as on this day.(D) 7 All the evils of which the Lord had warned us have come upon us. 8 We did not entreat the favor of the Lord by turning, each one, from the designs of our evil hearts. 9 The Lord kept watch over the evils, and brought them home to us; for the Lord is just in all the works he commanded us to do,(E) 10 but we did not listen to his voice, or follow the precepts of the Lord which he had set before us.
C. Prayer for Deliverance
11 [c]“And now, Lord, God of Israel, who led your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, with signs and wonders and great might, and with an upraised arm, so that you have made for yourself a name to the present day:(F) 12 we have sinned, we have committed sacrilege, we have violated all your statutes, Lord, our God.(G) 13 Withdraw your anger from us, for we are left few in number among the nations where you have scattered us. 14 Hear, Lord, our prayer of supplication, and deliver us for your own sake: grant us favor in the sight of those who brought us into exile, 15 that the whole earth may know that you are the Lord, our God, and that Israel[d] and his descendants bear your name.(H) 16 Lord, look down from your holy dwelling and take thought of us; Lord, incline your ear to hear us.(I) 17 Open your eyes and see: it is not the dead in Hades,[e] whose breath has been taken from within them, who will declare the glory and vindication to the Lord.(J) 18 The person who is deeply grieved, who walks bowed and feeble, with failing eyes and famished soul, will declare your glory and justice, Lord!(K)
19 “Not on the just deeds of our ancestors and our kings do we base our plea for mercy in your sight, Lord, our God. 20 You have sent your wrath and anger upon us, as you had warned us through your servants the prophets: 21 Thus says the Lord: Bend your necks and serve the king of Babylon, that you may continue in the land I gave your ancestors;(L) 22 [f]for if you do not listen to the Lord’s voice so as to serve the king of Babylon, 23 I will silence from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the cry of joy and the cry of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; and all the land shall be deserted, without inhabitants.(M) 24 But we did not listen to your voice, or serve the king of Babylon, and you carried out the threats you had made through your servants the prophets, that the bones of our kings and the bones of our ancestors would be brought out from their burial places.(N) 25 And indeed, they lie exposed[g] to the heat of day and the frost of night. They died in great suffering, by famine and sword and plague.(O) 26 And you reduced the house which bears your name[h] to what it is today, because of the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of Judah.(P)
God’s Promises Recalled. 27 “But with us, Lord, our God, you have dealt in all your clemency and in all your great mercy. 28 [i]Thus you spoke through your servant Moses, the day you ordered him to write down your law in the presence of the Israelites: 29 ‘If you do not listen to my voice, surely this great and numerous throng will dwindle away among the nations to which I will scatter them.(Q) 30 For I know they will not listen to me, because they are a stiff-necked people. But in the land of their exile they shall have a change of heart;(R) 31 they shall know that I, the Lord, am their God. I will give them a heart and ears that listen;(S) 32 and they shall praise me in the land of their exile, and shall remember my name.(T) 33 Then they shall turn back from their stiff-necked stubbornness, and from their evil deeds, because they shall remember the ways of their ancestors, who sinned against the Lord.(U) 34 And I will bring them back to the land I promised on oath to their ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and they shall rule it. I will make them increase; they shall not be few. 35 And I will establish for them an eternal covenant: I will be their God, and they shall be my people; and I will never again remove my people Israel from the land I gave them.’(V)
Footnotes
- 2:2 Law of Moses: cf. Dt 28:53–57.
- 2:3 We would each eat: such dreadful events were the result of the prolonged siege of Jerusalem; cf. Lam 2:20.
- 2:11–35 An earnest appeal for divine mercy, along with confession of sin; cf. Dn 9:15–19.
- 2:15 Israel: the Israelites claimed descent from the patriarch Jacob, who had received the name Israel in a mysterious encounter with God (Gn 32:29). Thus the Deity was sometimes referred to as “the God of Israel” (Gn 33:20; Ex 5:1).
- 2:17 Hades: this is the Greek translation of Hebrew sheol, the nether world.
- 2:22–24 These words are very similar to Jer 7:34; 27:9, 12.
- 2:25 They lie exposed: Jeremiah’s words threatened Jehoiakim with being left unburied (Jer 22:19; 36:30).
- 2:26 The house which bears your name: the Temple of Jerusalem; cf. Dt 12:11; Jer 7:11. What it is today: during the exile it lay in ruins.
- 2:28–35 These words do not actually quote anything Moses is recorded as having said, but they present the substance of a passage such as Dt 30:1–10, which envisions exile, repentance, and restoration.
Baruch 2
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
2 “‘So the Lord confirmed his word, which he spoke against us, and against our judges who judged Israel, and against our kings and against our princes and against the men of Israel and Judah. 2 Under the whole heaven there has not been done the like of what he has done in Jerusalem, in accordance with what is written in the law of Moses, 3 that we should eat, one the flesh of his son and another the flesh of his daughter. 4 And he gave them into subjection to all the kingdoms around us, to be a reproach and a desolation among all the surrounding peoples, where the Lord has scattered them. 5 They were brought low and not raised up, because we sinned against the Lord our God, in not heeding his voice.
6 “‘Righteousness belongs to the Lord our God, but confusion of face to us and our fathers, as at this day. 7 All those calamities with which the Lord threatened us have come upon us. 8 Yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord by turning away, each of us, from the thoughts of his wicked heart. 9 And the Lord has kept the calamities ready, and the Lord has brought them upon us, for the Lord is righteous in all his works which he has commanded us to do. 10 Yet we have not obeyed his voice, to walk in the statutes of the Lord which he set before us.
Prayer for Deliverance
11 “‘And now, O Lord God of Israel, who didst bring thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and with signs and wonders and with great power and outstretched arm, and hast made thee a name, as at this day, 12 we have sinned, we have been ungodly, we have done wrong, O Lord our God, against all thy ordinances. 13 Let thy anger turn away from us, for we are left, few in number, among the nations where thou hast scattered us. 14 Hear, O Lord, our prayer and our supplication, and for thy own sake deliver us, and grant us favor in the sight of those who have carried us into exile; 15 that all the earth may know that thou art the Lord our God, for Israel and his descendants are called by thy name. 16 O Lord, look down from thy holy habitation, and consider us. Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear; 17 open thy eyes, O Lord, and see; for the dead who are in Hades, whose spirit has been taken from their bodies, will not ascribe glory or justice to the Lord, 18 but the person that is greatly distressed,[a] that goes about bent over and feeble, and the eyes that are failing, and the person that hungers, will ascribe to thee glory and righteousness, O Lord. 19 For it is not because of any righteous deeds of our fathers or our kings that we bring before thee our prayer for mercy, O Lord our God. 20 For thou hast sent thy anger and thy wrath upon us, as thou didst declare by thy servants the prophets, saying: 21 “Thus says the Lord: Bend your shoulders and serve the king of Babylon, and you will remain in the land which I gave to your fathers. 22 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord and will not serve the king of Babylon, 23 I will make to cease from the cities of Judah and from the region about 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 a desolation without inhabitants.”
24 “‘But we did not obey thy voice, to serve the king of Babylon; and thou hast confirmed thy words, which thou didst speak by thy servants the prophets, that the bones of our kings and the bones of our fathers would be brought out of their graves;[b] 25 and behold, they have been cast out to the heat of day and the frost of night. They perished in great misery, by famine and sword and pestilence. 26 And the house which is called by thy name thou hast made as it is today, because of the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
God’s Promise Recalled
27 “‘Yet thou hast dealt with us, O Lord our God, in all thy kindness and in all thy great compassion, 28 as thou didst speak by thy servant Moses on the day when thou didst command him to write thy law in the presence of the people of Israel, saying, 29 “If you will not obey my voice, this very great multitude will surely turn into a small number among the nations, where I will scatter them. 30 For I know that they will not obey me, for they are a stiff-necked people. But in the land of their exile they will come to themselves, 31 and they will know that I am the Lord their God. I will give them a heart that obeys and ears that hear; 32 and they will praise me in the land of their exile, and will remember my name, 33 and will turn from their stubbornness and their wicked deeds; for they will remember the ways of their fathers, who sinned before the Lord. 34 I will bring them again into the land which I swore to give to their fathers, to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob, and they will rule over it; and I will increase them, and they will not be diminished. 35 I will make an everlasting covenant with them to 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.”
Footnotes
- Baruch 2:18 The meaning of the Greek is uncertain
- Baruch 2:24 Gk their place
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