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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.
Baruch 3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
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