who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconi′ah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnez′zar king of Babylon had carried away.

Baruch and the Jews in Babylon

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,

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.

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.

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.

And the Lord will give us strength, and he will give light to our eyes, and we shall live under the protection of Nebuchadnez′zar king of Babylon, and under the protection of Belshaz′zar his son, and we shall serve them many days and find favor in their sight.

“Thus says the Lord: Bend your shoulders and serve the king of Babylon, and you will remain in the land which I gave to your fathers.

But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord and will not serve the king of Babylon,

“‘But we did not obey thy voice, to serve the king of Babylon; and thou hast confirmed thy words, which thou didst speak by thy servants the prophets, that the bones of our kings and the bones of our fathers would be brought out of their graves;

A copy of a letter which Jeremiah sent to those who were to be taken to Babylon as captives by the king of the Babylonians, to give them the message which God had commanded him.

The People Face a Long Captivity

Because of the sins which you have committed before God, you will be taken to Babylon as captives by Nebuchadnez′zar, king of the Babylonians.

Therefore when you have come to Babylon you will remain there for many years, for a long time, up to seven generations; after that I will bring you away from there in peace.

Now in Babylon you will see gods made of silver and gold and wood, which are carried on men’s shoulders and inspire fear in the heathen.

Susanna’s Beauty Attracts Two Elders

There was a man living in Babylon whose name was Jo′akim.

In that year two elders from the people were appointed as judges. Concerning them the Lord had said: “Iniquity came forth from Babylon, from elders who were judges, who were supposed to govern the people.”

Now the Babylonians had an idol called Bel, and every day they spent on it twelve bushels of fine flour and forty sheep and fifty gallons of wine.

Daniel Kills the Dragon

There was also a great dragon, which the Babylonians revered.

When the Babylonians heard it, they were very indignant and conspired against the king, saying, “The king has become a Jew; he has destroyed Bel, and slain the dragon, and slaughtered the priests.”

But the angel of the Lord said to Hab′akkuk, “Take the dinner which you have to Babylon, to Daniel, in the lions’ den.”

Hab′akkuk said, “Sir, I have never seen Babylon, and I know nothing about the den.”

Then the angel of the Lord took him by the crown of his head, and lifted him by his hair and set him down in Babylon, right over the den, with the rushing sound of the wind itself.

and they withstood him in battle. So he fled and in great grief departed from there to return to Babylon.

and the time of the battle with the Galatians that took place in Babylonia, when eight thousand in all went into the affair, with four thousand Macedonians; and when the Macedonians were hard pressed, the eight thousand, by the help that came to them from heaven, destroyed one hundred and twenty thousand and took much booty.

And Nebuchadnez′zar king of Babylon came up against him, and bound him with a chain of brass and took him away to Babylon.

Nebuchadnez′zar also took some holy vessels of the Lord, and carried them away, and stored them in his temple in Babylon.

So after a year Nebuchadnez′zar sent and removed him to Babylon, with the holy vessels of the Lord,

And all the holy vessels of the Lord, great and small, and the treasure chests of the Lord, and the royal stores, they took and carried away to Babylon.

and utterly destroyed all its glorious things. The survivors he led away to Babylon with the sword,

and they were carried back by Sheshbazzar with the returning exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem.

and to send back all the vessels that were taken from Jerusalem, which Cyrus set apart when he began to destroy Babylon, and vowed to send them back there.

and that all who came from Babylonia to build the city should have their freedom, they and their children and all the priests who came.

And he sent back from Babylon all the vessels which Cyrus had set apart; everything that Cyrus had ordered to be done, he also commanded to be done and to be sent to Jerusalem.

So he took the letters, and went to Babylon and told this to all his brethren.

These are the men of Judea who came up out of their sojourn in captivity, whom Nebuchadnez′zar king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon

But when our fathers sinned against the Lord of Israel who is in heaven, and provoked him, he gave them over into the hands of Nebuchadnez′zar king of Babylon, king of the Chalde′ans;

and they pulled down the house, and burned it, and carried the people away captive to Babylon.

But in the first year that Cyrus reigned over the country of Babylonia, King Cyrus wrote that this house should be rebuilt.

And the holy vessels of gold and of silver, which Nebuchadnez′zar had taken out of the house in Jerusalem and stored in his own temple, these Cyrus the king took out again from the temple in Babylon, and they were delivered to Zerub′babel and Sheshbazzar the governor

Now therefore, if it seems wise, O king, let search be made in the royal archives of our lord the king that are in Babylon;

Official Permission Granted

Then Darius commanded that search be made in the royal archives that were deposited in Babylon. And in Ecbat′ana, the fortress which is in the country of Media, a scroll was found in which this was recorded:

and that the holy vessels of the house of the Lord, both of gold and of silver, which Nebuchadnez′zar took out of the house in Jerusalem and carried away to Babylon, should be restored to the house in Jerusalem, to be placed where they had been.”

This Ezra came up from Babylon as a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which was given by the God of Israel;

in the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes, in the fifth month (this was the king’s seventh year); for they left Babylon on the new moon of the first month and arrived in Jerusalem on the new moon of the fifth month, by the prosperous journey which the Lord gave them.

and to carry to Jerusalem the gifts for the Lord of Israel which I and my friends have vowed, and to collect for the Lord in Jerusalem all the gold and silver that may be found in the country of Babylonia,

The Leaders Who Returned

These are the principal men, according to their fathers’ houses and their groups, who went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king:

The three companions in Babylon who had voluntarily surrendered their lives to the flames so as not to serve vain things, you rescued unharmed, even to a hair, moistening the fiery furnace with dew and turning the flame against all their enemies.

Ezra’s Prayer of Complaint

In the thirtieth year after the destruction of our city, I Salathiel, who am also called Ezra, was in Babylon. I was troubled as I lay on my bed, and my thoughts welled up in my heart,

because I saw the desolation of Zion and the wealth of those who lived in Babylon.

Babylon Compared with Zion

“Then I said in my heart, Are the deeds of those who inhabit Babylon any better? Is that why she has gained dominion over Zion?

and hast not shown to any one how thy way may be comprehended. Are the deeds of Babylon better than those of Zion?

Judgment on Babylon

Behold, clouds from the east, and from the north to the south; and their appearance is very threatening, full of wrath and storm.

And they shall go on steadily to Babylon, and shall destroy her.

Judgment on Asia

And you, Asia, who share in the glamour of Babylon and the glory of her person—

And as they pass they shall wreck the hateful city, and shall destroy a part of your land and abolish a portion of your glory, as they return from devastated Babylon.

Further Denunciations

Woe to you, Babylon and Asia! Woe to you, Egypt and Syria!