The Lord’s Message to Baruch

45 This is the word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch son of Neriah(A) when he wrote these words on a scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation[a](B) in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:(C) “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: ‘You have said, “Woe is me, because the Lord has added misery to my pain! I am worn out with[b] groaning and have found no rest.”’(D)

“This is what you are to say to him: ‘This is what the Lord says: What I have built I am about to demolish, and what I have planted I am about to uproot(E)—the whole land! But as for you, do you seek great things for yourself? Stop seeking! For I am about to bring disaster on every living creature’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘but I will grant you your life like the spoils of war(F) wherever you go.’”

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 45:1 Lit scroll from Jeremiah’s mouth
  2. Jeremiah 45:3 Lit I labored in my

A Message for Baruch

45 This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet gave to Baruch son of Neriah when he was writing down on a scroll the words that Jeremiah was dictating. This was in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah.

This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch.

You said, “Woe is me! The Lord has added sorrow to my pain. I am worn out with groaning and I have found no rest.”

This is what the Lord says. Tell him that I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted throughout the whole world. So should you then be seeking great things for yourself? Stop seeking them. I will certainly bring disaster on every living thing, declares the Lord. But in every place you go, I will let you hang on to your life like a prize of war.