Baruch 1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Baruch and the Jews in Babylon
1 These are the words of the book that Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah son of Zedekiah son of Hasadiah son of Hilkiah wrote in Babylon,(A) 2 in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month, at the time when the Chaldeans took Jerusalem and burned it with fire.(B)
3 Baruch read the words of this book to Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and to all the people who came to hear the book(C) 4 and to the nobles and the princes and to the elders and to all the people, small and great, all who lived in Babylon by the River Sud.(D)
5 Then they wept and fasted and prayed before the Lord; 6 they collected as much silver as each could give(E) 7 and sent it to Jerusalem to the priest Jehoiakim son of Hilkiah son of Shallum the priest and to the priests and to all the people who were present with him in Jerusalem. 8 At the same time, on the tenth day of Sivan, Baruch[a] took the vessels of the house of the Lord that had been carried away from the temple, to return them to the land of Judah—the silver vessels that Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, had made(F) 9 after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had carried away from Jerusalem Jeconiah and the princes and the prisoners and the nobles and the people of the land and brought them to Babylon.(G)
A Letter to Jerusalem
10 They said, “Here we send you silver, so buy with the silver burnt offerings and for sin and incense, and prepare a grain offering, and offer them on the altar of the Lord our God,(H) 11 and pray for the life of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and for the life of his son Belshazzar, so that their days on earth may be like the days of heaven.(I) 12 The Lord will give us strength and light to our eyes; we shall live under the protection[b] of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and under the protection of his son Belshazzar, and we shall serve them many days and find favor in their sight.(J) 13 Pray also for us to the Lord our God, for we have sinned against the Lord our God, and to this day the anger of the Lord and his wrath have not turned away from us. 14 And you shall read aloud this scroll that we are sending you, to make your confession in the house of the Lord on the days of the festivals and at appointed seasons.(K)
Confession of Sins
15 “And you shall say: To the Lord our God belongs righteousness, but to us, this day, public shame, on the people of Judah, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem,(L) 16 and on our kings, our rulers, our priests, our prophets, and our ancestors, 17 because we have sinned before the Lord. 18 We have disobeyed him and have not heeded the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the statutes of the Lord that he set before us.(M) 19 From the time when the Lord brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until today, we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, and we have been negligent in not listening to his voice.(N) 20 So to this day there have clung to us the calamities and the curse that the Lord declared through his servant Moses at the time when he brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt to give to us a land flowing with milk and honey.(O) 21 We did not listen to the voice of the Lord our God in all the words of the prophets whom he sent to us,(P) 22 but all of us followed the intent of our own wicked hearts by serving other gods and doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord our God.
Baruch 1
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
I. Letter to Jerusalem
Chapter 1
A. Historical Setting
1 Now these are the words of the scroll which Baruch, son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, son of Zedekiah, son of Hasadiah, son of Hilkiah, wrote in Babylon,(A) 2 in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month,[a] at the time the Chaldeans took Jerusalem and destroyed it with fire.(B) 3 (C)Baruch read the words of this scroll in the hearing of Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the people who came to the reading:(D) 4 the nobles, kings’ sons, elders, and all the people, small and great—all who lived in Babylon by the river Sud.[b]
5 They wept, fasted, and prayed before the Lord, 6 and collected such funds as each could afford.(E) 7 These they sent to Jerusalem, to Jehoiakim the priest, son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, and to the priests and the whole people who were with him in Jerusalem. 8 (At the same time he[c] received the vessels of the house of the Lord that had been removed from the temple, to restore them to the land of Judah, on the tenth of Sivan. These silver vessels Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah, had had made 9 (F)after Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, carried off as captives Jeconiah and the princes, the skilled workers, the nobles, and the people of the land from Jerusalem, and brought them to Babylon.)
B. Confession of Guilt
10 The message was: “We send you funds, with which you are to procure burnt offerings, sin offerings, and frankincense, and to prepare grain offerings; offer these[d] on the altar of the Lord our God,(G) 11 and pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and of Belshazzar, his son,[e] that their lifetimes may be as the days of the heavens above the earth.(H) 12 Pray that the Lord may give us strength, and light to our eyes, that we may live under the protective shadow of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and of Belshazzar, his son, to serve them many days, and find favor in their sight. 13 Pray for us to the Lord, our God, for we have sinned against the Lord, our God. Even to this day the wrath of the Lord and his anger have not turned away from us. 14 On the feast day and during the days of assembly, read aloud in the house of the Lord this scroll that we send you:(I)
15 [f]“To the Lord our God belongs justice; to us, people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, to be shamefaced, as on this day—(J) 16 to us, our kings, rulers, priests, and prophets, and our ancestors. 17 We have sinned in the Lord’s sight 18 and disobeyed him. We have not listened to the voice of the Lord, our God, so as to follow the precepts the Lord set before us. 19 From the day the Lord led our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until the present day, we have been disobedient to the Lord, our God, and neglected to listen to his voice. 20 Even today evils cling to us, the curse the Lord pronounced to Moses, his servant, at the time he led our ancestors out of the land of Egypt to give us a land flowing with milk and honey.(K) 21 For we did not listen to the voice of the Lord, our God, in all the words of the prophets he sent us, 22 but each of us has followed the inclinations of our wicked hearts, served other gods, and done evil in the sight of the Lord, our God.
Footnotes
- 1:2 In the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month: Jerusalem fell on the seventh day of the fifth month in 587 B.C.; cf. 2 Kgs 25:8; Jer 52:12. Either the text read originally “the fifth month,” or it refers to the observance of an anniversary of the fall of Jerusalem.
- 1:4 The river Sud: probably one of the Babylonian canals, not otherwise identified; or possibly a misreading of Ahava; cf. Ezr 8:21, 31.
- 1:8–9 He: apparently Baruch; less likely Jehoiakim the priest (v. 7). The silver vessels here described are distinct from the vessels referred to in 2 Kgs 25:14 and Ezr 1:7–9. The author of this note may have thought of the fifth year (v. 1) of Zedekiah, in view of Jer 28:1; 29:1–3. A “fifth year,” again with no month mentioned, is given in Ez 1:2 for the inaugural vision of Ezekiel’s prophetic career.
- 1:10 Offer these: since 2:26 suggests that the Temple is destroyed, the mention of sacrifices here may be an anachronism. Nevertheless, Jer 41:5 indicates that some people continued to worship at the Temple site after Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of the Temple.
- 1:11 Nebuchadnezzar…Belshazzar, his son: Belshazzar was the son of Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon, not of Nebuchadnezzar, the destroyer of Jerusalem. Belshazzar was co-regent for a few years while his father was away in Arabia. Later Jewish tradition seems to have simplified the end of the Babylonian empire (cf. Dn 5:1–2), for three kings came between Nebuchadnezzar and Nabonidus.
- 1:15–2:10 This confession of sin is similar to Dn 9:7–14, and echoes ideas from Deuteronomy and Jeremiah; cf. also Neh 9.
Baruch 1
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Baruch and the Jews in Babylon
1 These are the words of the book which Baruch the son of Nera′iah, son of Mahse′iah, son of Zedeki′ah, son of Hasadi′ah, son of Hilki′ah, wrote in Babylon, 2 in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month, at the time when the Chalde′ans took Jerusalem and burned it with fire. 3 And Baruch read the words of this book in the hearing of Jeconi′ah the son of Jehoi′akim, king of Judah, and in the hearing of all the people who came to hear the book, 4 and in the hearing of the mighty men and the princes, and in the hearing of the elders, and in the hearing of all the people, small and great, all who dwelt in Babylon by the river Sud.
5 Then they wept, and fasted, and prayed before the Lord; 6 and they collected money, each giving what he could; 7 and they sent it to Jerusalem to Jehoi′akim the high priest,[a] the son of Hilki′ah, son of Shallum, and to the priests, and to all the people who were present with him in Jerusalem. 8 At the same time, on the tenth day of Sivan, Baruch[b] took the vessels of the house of the Lord, which had been carried away from the temple, to return them to the land of Judah—the silver vessels which Zedeki′ah the son of Josi′ah, king of Judah, had made, 9 after Nebuchadnez′zar king of Babylon had carried away from Jerusalem Jeconi′ah and the princes and the prisoners and the mighty men and the people of the land, and brought them to Babylon.
A Letter to Jerusalem
10 And they said: “Herewith we send you money; so buy with the money burnt offerings and sin offerings and incense, and prepare a cereal offering, and offer them upon the altar of the Lord our God; 11 and pray for the life of Nebuchadnez′zar king of Babylon, and for the life of Belshaz′zar his son, that their days on earth may be like the days of heaven. 12 And the Lord will give us strength, and he will give light to our eyes, and we shall live under the protection[c] of Nebuchadnez′zar king of Babylon, and under the protection[d] of Belshaz′zar his son, and we shall serve them many days and find favor in their sight. 13 And pray for us to the Lord our God, for we have sinned against the Lord our God, and to this day the anger of the Lord and his wrath have not turned away from us. 14 And you shall read this book which we are sending you, to make your confession in the house of the Lord on the days of the feasts and at appointed seasons.
Confession of Sins
15 “And you shall say: ‘Righteousness belongs to the Lord our God, but confusion of face, as at this day, to us, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 16 and to our kings and our princes and our priests and our prophets and our fathers, 17 because we have sinned before the Lord, 18 and have disobeyed him, and have not heeded the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the statutes of the Lord which he set before us. 19 From the day when the Lord brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt until today, we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, and we have been negligent, in not heeding his voice. 20 So to this day there have clung to us the calamities and the curse which the Lord declared through Moses his servant at the time when he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt to give to us a land flowing with milk and honey. 21 We did not heed the voice of the Lord our God in all the words of the prophets whom he sent to us, but we each followed the intent of his own wicked heart by serving other gods and doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord our God.
Footnotes
- Baruch 1:7 Gk the priest
- Baruch 1:8 Gk he
- Baruch 1:12 Gk in the shadow
- Baruch 1:12 Gk in the shadow
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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.
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.