Add parallel Print Page Options

Chapter 45

A Message to Baruch.[a] The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch, son of Neriah, when he wrote on a scroll words from Jeremiah’s own mouth in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah:(A) Thus says the Lord, God of Israel, to you, Baruch. You said, “Woe is me! the Lord has added grief to my pain.(B) I have worn myself out with groaning; rest eludes me.” You must say this to him. Thus says the Lord: What I have built, I am tearing down; what I have planted, I am uprooting: all this land.(C) And you, do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them! I am bringing evil on all flesh—oracle of the Lord—but I will grant you your life as spoils of war, wherever you may go.(D)

Footnotes

  1. 45:1–5 At the conclusion of his narrative, Baruch appends a message Jeremiah had given him when he first wrote down Jeremiah’s words (cf. 36:4). The future revealed by the prophet overwhelmed Baruch; now he learns his own safety is assured, even though the Lord will destroy Judah.

A Message to Baruch

45 When Baruch(A) son of Neriah(B) wrote on a scroll(C) the words Jeremiah the prophet dictated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim(D) son of Josiah king of Judah, Jeremiah said this to Baruch: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: You said, ‘Woe(E) to me! The Lord has added sorrow(F) to my pain;(G) I am worn out with groaning(H) and find no rest.’(I) But the Lord has told me to say to you, ‘This is what the Lord says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot(J) what I have planted,(K) throughout the earth.(L) Should you then seek great(M) things for yourself? Do not seek them.(N) For I will bring disaster(O) on all people,(P) declares the Lord, but wherever you go I will let you escape(Q) with your life.’”(R)