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Baruch 3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Baruch 3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 3
1 “Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the anguished soul, the dismayed spirit cries out to you. 2 Hear, Lord, and have mercy, for you are a merciful God; have mercy on us, who have sinned against you: 3 for you are enthroned forever, while we are perishing forever.(A) 4 Lord Almighty, God of Israel, hear the prayer of the dead of Israel, children who sinned against you; they did not listen to the voice of the Lord, their God, and their evils cling to us.(B) 5 Do not remember the wicked deeds of our ancestors, but remember at this time your power and your name, 6 for you are the Lord our God; and you, Lord, we will praise! 7 This is why you put into our hearts the fear of you: that we may call upon your name, and praise you in our exile, when we have removed from our hearts all the wickedness of our ancestors who sinned against you.(C) 8 See, today we are in exile, where you have scattered us, an object of reproach and cursing and punishment for all the wicked deeds of our ancestors, who withdrew from the Lord, our God.”
II. Praise of Wisdom[a]
A. Importance of Wisdom
9 Hear, Israel, the commandments of life:
listen, and know prudence!(D)
10 How is it, Israel,
that you are in the land of your foes,
grown old in a foreign land,
11 Defiled with the dead,
counted among those destined for Hades?(E)
12 You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom!(F)
13 Had you walked in the way of God,
you would have dwelt in enduring peace.(G)
14 Learn where prudence is,
where strength, where understanding;
That you may know also
where are length of days, and life,
where light of the eyes, and peace.(H)
15 Who has found the place of wisdom?(I)
Who has entered into her treasuries?
16 Where are the rulers of the nations,
who lorded it over the wild beasts of the earth,(J)
17 made sport of the birds in the heavens,
Who heaped up the silver,
the gold in which people trust,
whose possessions were unlimited,
18 Who schemed anxiously for money,
their doings beyond discovery?
19 They have vanished, gone down to Hades,
and others have risen up in their stead.
20 Later generations have seen the light of day,
have dwelt on the earth,
But the way to understanding they have not known,
21 they have not perceived her paths or reached her;
their children remain far from the way to her.
22 She has not been heard of in Canaan,[b]
nor seen in Teman.(K)
23 The descendants of Hagar who seek knowledge on earth,
the merchants of Medan and Tema,(L)
the storytellers and those seeking knowledge—
These have not known the way to wisdom,
nor have they kept her paths in mind.
B. Inaccessibility of Wisdom
24 O Israel, how vast is the dwelling of God,[c]
how broad the scope of his dominion:
25 Vast and endless,
high and immeasurable!
26 In it were born the giants,[d]
renowned at the first,
huge in stature, skilled in war.(M)
27 These God did not choose,
nor did he give them the way of understanding;(N)
28 They perished for lack of prudence,
perished through their own folly.(O)
29 Who has gone up to the heavens and taken her,
bringing her down from the clouds?(P)
30 Who has crossed the sea and found her,
bearing her away rather than choice gold?
31 None knows the way to her,
nor has at heart her path.
32 But the one who knows all things knows her;
he has probed her by his knowledge—
The one who established the earth for all time,
and filled it with four-footed animals,
33 Who sends out the lightning, and it goes,
calls it, and trembling it obeys him;
34 Before whom the stars at their posts
shine and rejoice.
35 When he calls them, they answer, “Here we are!”
shining with joy for their Maker.(Q)
36 Such is our God;
no other is to be compared to him:
C. Wisdom Contained in the Law
37 [e]He has uncovered the whole way of understanding,
and has given her to Jacob, his servant,
to Israel, his beloved.(R)
38 Thus she has appeared on earth,
is at home with mortals.(S)
Footnotes
- 3:9–4:4 This poem in praise of personified Wisdom utilizes the theme of Jb 28 (where is wisdom to be found?) and it identifies wisdom and law, as in Sir 24:22–23.
- 3:22–23 Despite the renown for wisdom of the peoples of Canaan and Phoenicia (Ez 28:3–4), of Teman (Jer 49:7), of the descendants of Hagar or the Arabians of Medan and Tema, they did not possess true wisdom, which is found only in the law of God (Bar 4:1).
- 3:24 The dwelling of God: here, the whole universe; cf. Is 66:1.
- 3:26 The giants: Gn 6:1–4 reflects a tradition about giants who existed before the flood; this was developed in the non-canonical Book of Enoch.
- 3:37–38 As in Sir 24:8, Wisdom is given to Israel but also is said to live with all human beings (Prv 8:31).
Baruch 3
New Catholic Bible
Baruch 3
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 3
1 “Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the anguished soul and the troubled spirit cry out to you. 2 Listen to us, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against you. 3 While we are perishing forever, you are enthroned forever. 4 Lord Almighty, God of Israel, listen to the prayer of the people of Israel, the children of those who have sinned against you. They have not heeded the voice of the Lord, their God, and therefore, evils continue to befall us. 5 Do not call to mind the iniquity of our fathers, but during this time of calamity, remember instead your power and your name. 6 For you are the Lord, our God, and it is you, O Lord, whom we will praise. 7 To effect this, you have put the fear of you into our hearts so that we will invoke your name. We now praise you in exile, for we have cast away from our hearts all the iniquity of our fathers who sinned against you. 8 Look upon us today in our exile, where you scattered us. We have become a reproach and a curse, to be condemned for all the iniquities of our fathers who turned away from the Lord, our God.”
Praise of Wisdom[a]
9 Pay heed, O Israel, to the commandments that offer life;
lend an ear to obtain prudence.
10 Why is it, O Israel, that you dwell in the land of your enemies,
growing ever older in a foreign country?
Why do you defile yourself with the dead,
11 numbered among those who descend to the netherworld?
12 You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom!
13 If you had walked in the way of God,
you would have dwelt in peace forever.
14 Learn where there is prudence,
where there is strength,
where there is wisdom,
so that you may also know
where may be found length of days, and life,
where there is light for the eyes, and peace.
15 Who has discovered where wisdom dwells;
who has entered her treasure house?
16 Where now are those who ruled nations,
those who had dominion over the animals of the earth
17 and made sport of the birds of the heavens?
Where are those who amassed hoards of silver and gold
in which people place their trust,
those whose greed knew no limit?
18 Where are those silversmiths expert in their craft
of whose work not a trace remains?
19 They have all vanished, descending into the netherworld,
and others have risen up to take their place.
20 Succeeding generations have seen the light of day
and have come to dwell in the land,
but the way to knowledge they have not learned;
21 they have not discerned her paths or embraced her.
Not even their children have reached her;
indeed, they have strayed far from her way.
22 Wisdom has not been heard of in Canaan,
nor has she been seen in Teman.
23 The descendants of Hagar who seek after worldly wisdom,
the merchants of Midian and Teman,
the storytellers and the searchers for understanding—
these have not discovered the way to wisdom
or even remembered her paths.[b]
24 O Israel, how great is the house of God,
how vast the region of his dominion.
25 It is immense and without bounds,
lofty and immeasurable.
26 There were born the giants,[c] renowned of old,
mighty in stature, skilled in war.
27 Yet these were not the ones chosen by God,
nor did he teach them the way of understanding.
28 They perished because of their lack of prudence;
they perished through their own folly.
29 Who has ever gone up to heaven to get her
and bring her down from the clouds?
30 Who has ever traversed the oceans and found her,
and will exchange the finest gold for her?
31 No one knows the way to her,
nor is anyone concerned with the path to her.
32 However, he who knows all things knows her;
by his understanding he has discovered her.
He it is who established the earth for all time
and filled it with four-footed creatures.
33 He who sends forth the light and it takes flight,
summons it and, trembling, it obeys.
34 Before him the stars in their designated places shine and rejoice;
35 he summons them, and they reply, “Here we are,”
and shine with delight for the one who made them.
36 This is our God;
no other can compare to him.
37 He has discerned the entire path to wisdom
and revealed her to Jacob, his servant,
and to Israel, whom he loved.
38 After that, she appeared on earth
and lived with humankind.
Footnotes
- Baruch 3:9 In this beautiful hymn, a wise prophet wishes to teach his people—like all his ancient colleagues—the secret of happiness: to find anew the wisdom that God had given with the law.
- Baruch 3:23 The wisdom of the Phoenicians and Arabians was proverbial.
- Baruch 3:26 Giants: this is doubtless a reference to the legendary giants of antediluvian times (Gen 6:4). According to later Jewish speculations, they had communicated to human beings wondrous knowledge—which had brought about the flood.
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Ang Dating Biblia (1905) (ADB1905)
New International Version (NIV) 
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