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◄ RV BAR ►

BAR - Baruch, Revised Version

1 AND these are the words of the book, which Baruch the son of Nerias, the son of Maaseas, the son of Sedekias, the son of Asadias, the son of Helkias, wrote in Babylon, 2 in the fifth year, and in the seventh day of the month, what time as the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, and burnt it with fire. 3 And Baruch did read the words of this book in the hearing of Jechonias the son of Joakim king of Judah, and in the hearing of all the people that came to hear the book, 4 and in the hearing of the mighty men, and of the kings’ sons, and in the hearing of the elders, and in the hearing of all the people, from the least unto the greatest, even of all them that dwelt at Babylon by the river Sud. 5 And they wept, and fasted, [fn] and prayed before the Lord; 6 they made also a collection of money according to every man’s power: 7 and they sent it to Jerusalem unto Joakim the high priest, the son of Helkias, the son of Salom, and to the priests, and to all the people which were found with him at Jerusalem, 8 at the same time when he took the vessels of the house of the Lord, that had been carried out of the temple, to return them into the land of Judah, the tenth day of the month Sivan, namely, silver vessels, which Sedekias the son of Josias king of Judah had made, 9 after that Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away Jechonias, and the princes, and the captives, and the mighty men, and the people of the land, from Jerusalem, and brought them unto Babylon. 10 And they said, Behold, we have sent you money; buy you therefore with the money burnt offerings, and sin offerings, and incense, and prepare an oblation, and offer upon the altar of the Lord our God; 11 and pray for the life of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and for the life of Baltasar his son, that their days may be [fn] as the days of heaven above the earth: 12 and the Lord will give us strength, and lighten our eyes, and we shall live under the shadow of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and under the shadow of Baltasar his son, and we shall serve them many days, and find favour in their sight. 13 Pray for us also unto the Lord our God, for we have sinned against the Lord our God; and unto this day the wrath of the Lord and his indignation is not turned from us. 14 And ye shall read this book which we have sent unto you, to make confession in the house of the Lord, upon the day of the feast and on the days of the solemn assembly.

15 And ye shall say, To the Lord our God belongeth righteousness, but unto us confusion of face, as at this day, unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 16 and to our kings, and to our princes, and to our priests, and to our prophets, and to our fathers: 17 for that we have sinned before the Lord, 18 and disobeyed him, and have not hearkened unto the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the commandments of the Lord that he hath set before us: 19 since the day that the Lord brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, unto this present day, we have been disobedient unto the Lord our God, and we have dealt unadvisedly in not hearkening unto his voice. 20 Wherefore the plagues clave unto us, and the curse, which the Lord commanded Moses his servant to pronounce in the day that he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, to give us a land that floweth with milk and honey, as at this day. 21 Nevertheless we hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord our God, according unto all the words of the prophets, whom he sent unto us: 22 but we walked every man in the imagination of his own wicked heart, to serve strange gods, and to do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord our God.

2 Therefore the Lord hath made good his word, which he pronounced against us, and against our judges that judged Israel, and against our kings, and against our princes, and against the men of Israel and Judah, 2 to bring upon us great plagues, such as never happened under the whole heaven, [fn] as it came to pass in Jerusalem, according to the things that are written in the law of Moses; 3 That we should eat every man the flesh of his own son, and every man the flesh of his own daughter. 4 Moreover he hath given them to be in subjection to all the kingdoms that are round about us, to be a reproach and a desolation among all the people round about, where the Lord hath scattered them. 5 Thus were they cast down, and not exalted, because we sinned against the Lord our God, in not hearkening unto his voice. 6 To the Lord our God belongeth righteousness: but unto us and to our fathers confusion of face, as at this day. 7 For all these plagues are come upon us, which the Lord hath pronounced against us. 8 Yet have we not intreated the favour of the Lord, in turning every one from the thoughts of his wicked heart. 9 Therefore hath the Lord kept watch over the plagues, and the Lord hath brought them upon us; for the Lord is righteous in all his works which he hath commanded us. 10 Yet we have not hearkened unto his voice, to walk in the commandments of the Lord that he hath set before us.

11 And now, O Lord, thou God of Israel, that hast brought thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with signs, and with wonders, and with great power, and with a high arm, and hast gotten thyself a name, as at this day: 12 O Lord our God, we have sinned, we have done ungodly, we have dealt unrighteously in all thine ordinances. 13 Let thy wrath turn from us: for we are but a few left among the heathen, where thou hast scattered us. 14 Hear our prayer, O Lord, and our petition, and deliver us for thine own sake, and give us favour in the sight of them which have led us away captive: 15 that all the earth may know that thou art the Lord our God, because Israel and his posterity is called by thy name. 16 O Lord, look down from thine holy house, and consider us: incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear: 17 open thine eyes, and behold: for the dead that are in [fn] the grave, whose breath is taken from their bodies, will give unto the Lord neither glory nor righteousness: 18 but the soul that is greatly vexed, which goeth stooping and feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul, will give thee glory and righteousness, O Lord. 19 For we do not present our supplication before thee, O Lord our God, for the righteousness of our fathers, and of our kings. 20 For thou hast sent thy wrath and thine indignation upon us, as thou hast spoken by thy servants the prophets, saying, 21 Thus saith the Lord, Bow your shoulders to serve the king of Babylon, and remain in the land that I gave unto your fathers. 22 But if ye will not hear the voice of the Lord, to serve the king of Babylon, 23 I will cause to cease out of the cities of Judah, and from without Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: and the whole land shall be desolate without inhabitant. 24 But we would not hearken unto thy voice, to serve the king of Babylon: therefore hast thou made good thy words that thou spakest by thy servants the prophets, namely, that the bones of our kings, and the bones of our fathers, should be taken out of their places. 25 And, lo, they are cast out to the heat by day, and to the frost by night, and they died in great miseries by famine, by sword, and by [fn] pestilence. 26 And the house which is called by thy name hast thou laid waste, as at this day, for the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 27 Yet, O Lord our God, thou hast dealt with us after all thy kindness, and according to all that great mercy of thine, 28 as thou spakest by thy servant Moses in the day when thou didst command him to write thy law before the children of Israel, saying, 29 If ye will not hear my voice, surely this very great multitude shall be turned into a small number among the nations, where I will scatter them. 30 For I know that they will not hear me, because it is a stiffnecked people: but in the land of their captivity they shall lay it to heart, 31 and shall know that I am the Lord their God: and I will give them a heart, and ears to hear: 32 and they shall praise me in the land of their captivity, and think upon my name, 33 and shall return from their stiff neck, and from their wicked deeds: for they shall remember the way of their fathers, which sinned before the Lord. 34 And I will bring them again into the land which I sware unto their fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and they shall be lords of it: and I will increase them, and they shall not be diminished. 35 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them to be their God, and they shall be my people: and I will no more remove my people of Israel out of the land that I have given them.

3 O Lord Almighty, thou God of Israel, the soul in anguish, the troubled spirit, crieth unto thee. 2 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy; for thou art a merciful God: yea, have mercy upon us, because we have sinned before thee. 3 For thou sittest as king for ever, and we perish evermore. 4 O Lord Almighty, thou God of Israel, hear now the prayer of [fn] the dead Israelites, and of the children of them which were sinners before thee, that hearkened not unto the voice of thee their God: for the which cause these plagues clave unto us. 5 Remember not the iniquities of our fathers: but remember thy power and thy name now at this time. 6 For thou art the Lord our God, and thee, O Lord, will we praise. 7 For for this cause thou hast put thy fear in our hearts, [fn] to the intent that we should call upon thy name: and we will praise thee in our captivity, for we have [fn] called to mind all the iniquity of our fathers, that sinned before thee. 8 Behold, we are yet this day in our captivity, where thou hast scattered us, for a reproach and a curse, and to be subject to penalty, according to all the iniquities of our fathers, which departed from the Lord our God.

9 Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life: give ear to understand wisdom. 10 How happeneth it, O Israel, that thou art in thine enemies’ land, that thou art waxen old in a strange country, that thou art defiled with the dead, 11 that thou art counted with them that go down into [fn] the grave? 12 Thou hast forsaken the fountain of wisdom. 13 For if thou hadst walked in the way of God, thou shouldest have dwelled in peace for ever. 14 Learn where is [fn] wisdom, where is strength, where is understanding; that thou mayest know also where is length of days, and life, where is the light of the eyes, and peace. 15 Who hath found out her place? and who hath come into her treasuries? 16 Where are the princes of the heathen, and such as ruled the beasts that are upon the earth; 17 they that had their pastime with the fowls of the air, and they that hoarded up silver and gold, wherein men trust; and of whose getting there is no end? 18 For they that [fn] wrought in silver, and were so careful, and whose works are past finding out, 19 they are vanished and gone down to [fn] the grave, and others are come up in their steads. 20 Younger men have seen the light, and dwelt upon the earth: but the way of knowledge have they not known, 21 neither understood they the paths thereof: neither have their children laid hold of it: they are far off from [fn] their way. 22 It hath not been heard of in Canaan, neither hath it been seen in Teman. 23 The sons also of Agar that seek understanding, which are in the land, the merchants of Merran and Teman, and the authors of fables, and the searchers out of understanding; none of these have known the way of wisdom, or remembered her paths. 24 O Israel, how great is the house of God! and how large is the place of his possession! 25 great, and hath none end; high, and unmeasurable. 26 There were the giants born that were famous of old, great of stature, and expert in war. 27 These did not God choose, neither gave he the way of knowledge unto them: 28 so they perished, because they had no [fn] wisdom, they perished through their own foolishness. 29 Who hath gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her down from the clouds? 30 Who hath gone over the sea, and found her, and will bring her for choice gold? 31 There is none that knoweth her way, nor any that comprehendeth her path. 32 But he that knoweth all things knoweth her, he found her out with his understanding: he that prepared the earth for evermore hath filled it with fourfooted beasts: 33 he that sendeth forth the light, and it goeth; he called it, and it obeyed him with fear: 34 and the stars shined in their watches, and were glad: when he called them, they said, Here we be; they shined with gladness unto him that made them. 35 This is our God, and there shall none other be accounted of in comparison of him. 36 He hath found out all the way of knowledge, and hath given it unto Jacob his servant, and to Israel that is beloved of him. 37 Afterward did she appear upon earth, and was conversant with men.

4 This is the book of the commandments of God, and the law that endureth for ever: all they that hold it fast are appointed to life; but such as leave it shall die. 2 Turn thee, O Jacob, and take hold of it: walk towards her shining in the presence of the light thereof. 3 Give not thy glory to another, nor the things that are profitable unto thee to a strange nation. 4 O Israel, happy are we: for the things that are pleasing to God are made known unto us. 5 Be of good cheer, my people, the memorial of Israel. 6 Ye were sold to the nations, but not for destruction: because ye moved God to wrath, ye were delivered unto your adversaries. 7 For ye provoked him that made you by sacrificing unto demons, and not to God. 8 Ye forgat the everlasting God, that brought you up; ye grieved also Jerusalem, that nursed you. 9 For she saw the wrath that is come upon you from God, and said, Hearken, ye women that dwell about Sion: for God hath brought upon me great mourning; 10 for I have seen the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Everlasting hath brought upon them. 11 For with joy did I nourish them; but sent them away with weeping and mourning. 12 Let no man rejoice over me, a widow, and forsaken of many: for the sins of my children am I left desolate; because they turned aside from the law of God, 13 and had no regard to his statutes, neither walked they in the ways of God’s commandments, nor trod in the paths of discipline in his righteousness. 14 Let them that dwell about Sion come, and remember ye the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Everlasting hath brought upon them. 15 For he hath brought a nation upon them from far, a shameless nation, and of a strange language, [fn] who neither reverenced old man, nor pitied child. 16 And they have carried away the dear beloved sons of the widow, and left her that was alone desolate of her daughters. 17 But I, what can I help you? 18 For he that brought these plagues upon you will deliver you from the hand of your enemies. 19 Go your way, O my children, go your way: for I am left desolate. 20 I have put off the garment of peace, and put upon me the sackcloth of my petition: I will cry unto the Everlasting as long as I live. 21 Be of good cheer, O my children, cry unto God, and he shall deliver you from the power and hand of the enemies. 22 For I have trusted in the Everlasting, that he will save you; and joy is come unto me from the Holy One, because of the mercy which shall soon come unto you [fn] from the Everlasting your Saviour. 23 For I sent you out with mourning and weeping: but God will give you to me again with joy and gladness for ever. 24 For like as now they that dwell about Sion have seen your captivity: so shall they see shortly your salvation from [fn] our God, which shall come upon you with great glory, and brightness of the Everlasting. 25 My children, suffer patiently the wrath that is come upon you from God: for thine enemy hath persecuted thee; but shortly thou shalt see his destruction, and shalt tread upon their necks. 26 My delicate ones have gone rough ways; they were taken away as a flock carried off by the enemies. 27 Be of good cheer, O my children, and cry unto God: for ye shall be remembered of him that hath brought these things upon you. 28 For as it was your mind to go astray from God: so, return and seek him ten times more. 29 For he that brought these plagues upon you shall bring you everlasting joy again with your salvation. 30 Be of good cheer, O Jerusalem: for he that called thee by name will comfort thee. 31 Miserable are they that afflicted thee, and rejoiced at thy fall. 32 Miserable are the cities which thy children served: miserable is she that received thy sons. 33 For as she rejoiced at thy fall, and was glad of thy ruin: so shall she be grieved for her own desolation. 34 And I will take away her exultation in her great multitude, and her boasting shall be turned into mourning. 35 For fire shall come upon her from the Everlasting, long to endure; and she shall be inhabited of [fn] devils for a great time.

36 O Jerusalem, look about thee toward the east, and behold the joy that cometh unto thee from God. 37 Lo, thy sons come, whom thou sentest away, they come gathered together from the east to the west at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God.

5 Put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of thy mourning and affliction, and put on the comeliness of the glory that cometh from God for ever. 2 Cast about thee the robe of the righteousness which cometh from God; set a diadem on thine head of the glory of the Everlasting. 3 For God will shew thy brightness unto every region under heaven. 4 For thy name shall be called of God for ever The peace of righteousness, and The glory of godliness. 5 Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand upon the height, and look about thee toward the east, and behold thy children gathered from the going down of the sun unto the rising thereof at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God hath remembered them. 6 For they went from thee on foot, being led away of their enemies: but God bringeth them in unto thee borne on high with glory, [fn] as on a royal throne. 7 For God hath appointed that every high mountain, and the everlasting hills, should be made low, and the valleys filled up, to make plain the ground, that Israel may go safely in the glory of God. 8 Moreover the woods and every sweet-smelling tree have overshadowed Israel by the commandment of God. 9 For God shall lead Israel with joy in the light of his glory with the mercy and righteousness that cometh from him.

THE EPISTLE OF JEREMY.

6 A copy of an epistle, which Jeremy sent unto them which were to be led captives into Babylon by the king of the Babylonians, to certify them, as it was commanded him of God.

2 Because of the sins which ye have committed before God, ye shall be led away captives unto Babylon by Nabuchodonosor king of the Babylonians. 3 So when ye come unto Babylon, ye shall remain there many years, and for a long season, even for seven generations: and after that I will bring you out peaceably from thence. 4 But now shall ye see in Babylon gods of silver, and of gold, and of wood, borne upon shoulders, which cause the nations to fear. 5 Beware therefore that ye in no wise become like unto the strangers, neither let fear take hold upon you because of them, when ye see the multitude before them and behind them, worshipping them. 6 But say ye in your hearts, O Lord, we must worship thee. 7 For mine angel is with you, [fn] and I myself do care for your [fn] souls. 8 For their tongue is polished by the workman, and they themselves are overlaid with gold and with silver; yet are they but false, and cannot speak. 9 And taking gold, as it were for a virgin that loveth to go gay, they make crowns for the heads of their gods: 10 and sometimes also the priests convey from their gods gold and silver, and bestow it upon themselves; 11 and will even give thereof to the common harlots: and they deck them as men with garments, even the gods of silver, and gods of gold, and of wood. 12 Yet cannot these gods save themselves from rust and moths, though they be covered with purple raiment. 13 They wipe their faces because of the dust of the temple, which is thick upon them. 14 And he that cannot put to death one that offendeth against him holdeth a sceptre, as though he were judge of a country. 15 He hath also a dagger in his right hand, and an axe: but cannot deliver himself from war and robbers. 16 Whereby they are known not to be gods: therefore fear them not. 17 For like as a vessel that a man useth is nothing worth when it is broken; even so it is with their gods: when they be set up in the temples their eyes be full of dust through the feet of them that come in. 18 And as the courts are made sure on every side upon him that offendeth the king, as being committed to suffer death; even so the priests make fast their temples with doors, with locks, and bars, lest they be carried off by robbers. 19 They light them candles, yea, more than for themselves, whereof they cannot see one. 20 They are as one of the beams of the temple; and men say their hearts are eaten out, when things creeping out of the earth devour both them and their raiment: they feel it not 21 when their faces are blacked through the smoke that cometh out of the temple: 22 upon their bodies and heads alight bats, swallows, and birds; and in like manner the cats also. 23 Whereby ye may know that they are no gods: therefore fear them not. 24 Notwithstanding the gold wherewith they are beset to make them beautiful, except one wipe off the rust, they will not shine: for not even when they were molten did they feel it. 25 Things wherein there is no breath are bought at any cost. 26 Having no feet, they are borne upon shoulders, whereby they declare unto men that they be nothing worth. 27 They also that serve them are ashamed: for if they fall to the ground at any time, they cannot rise up again of themselves: neither, if they be set awry, can they make themselves straight: but the offerings are set before them, as if they were dead men. 28 And the things that are sacrificed unto them, their priests sell and spend; and in like manner their wives also lay up part thereof in salt; but unto the poor and to the impotent will they give nothing thereof. 29 The menstruous woman and the woman in childbed touch their sacrifices: knowing therefore by these things that they are no gods, fear them not. 30 For how can they be called gods? because women set meat before the gods of silver, gold, and wood. 31 And in their temples the priests [fn] sit on seats, having their clothes rent, and their heads and beards shaven, and nothing upon their heads. 32 They roar and cry before their gods, as men do at the feast when one is dead. 33 The priests also take off garments from them, and clothe their wives and children withal. 34 Whether it be evil that one doeth unto them, or good, they are not able to recompense it: they can neither set up a king, nor put him down. 35 In like manner, they can neither give riches nor money: though a man make a vow unto them, and keep it not, they will never exact it. 36 They can save no man from death, neither deliver the weak from the mighty. 37 They cannot restore a blind man to his sight, nor deliver any that is in distress. 38 They can shew no mercy to the widow, nor do good to the fatherless. 39 They are like the stones that be hewn out of the mountain, these gods of wood, and that are overlaid with gold and with silver: they that minister unto them shall be confounded. 40 How should a man then think or say that they are gods, when even the Chaldeans themselves dishonour them? 41 Who if they shall see one dumb that cannot speak, they bring him, and intreat him to call upon Bel, as though he were able to understand. 42 Yet they cannot perceive this themselves, and forsake them: for they have no understanding. 43 The women also with cords about them sit in the ways, burning bran for incense: but if any of them, drawn by some that passeth by, lie with him, she reproacheth her fellow, that she was not thought as worthy as herself, nor her cord broken. 44 Whatsoever is done among them is false: how should a man then think or say that they are gods? 45 They are fashioned by carpenters and goldsmiths: they can be nothing else than the workmen will have them to be. 46 And they themselves that fashioned them can never continue long; how then should the things that are fashioned by them? 47 For they have left lies and reproaches to them that come after. 48 For when there cometh any war or plague upon them, the priests consult with themselves, where they may be hidden with them. 49 How then cannot men understand that they be no gods, which can neither save themselves from war, nor from plague? 50 For seeing they be but of wood, and overlaid with gold and with silver, it shall be known hereafter that they are false: 51 and it shall be manifest to all nations and kings that they are no gods, but the works of men’s hands, and that there is no work of God in them. 52 Who then may not know that they are no gods? 53 For neither can they set up a king in a land, nor give rain unto men. 54 Neither can they judge their own cause, nor [fn] redress a wrong, being unable: for they are as crows between heaven and earth. 55 For even when fire falleth upon the house of gods of wood, or overlaid with gold or with silver, their priests will flee away, and escape, but they themselves shall be burnt asunder like beams. 56 Moreover they cannot withstand any king or enemies: how should a man then allow or think that they be gods? 57 Neither are those gods of wood, and overlaid with silver or with gold, able to escape either from thieves or robbers. 58 Whose gold, and silver, and garments wherewith they are clothed, they that are strong will take from them, and go away withal: neither shall they be able to help themselves. 59 Therefore it is better to be a king that sheweth his manhood, or else a vessel in a house profitable for that whereof the owner shall have need, than such false gods; or even a door in a house, to keep the things safe that be therein, than such false gods; or a pillar of wood in a palace, than such false gods. 60 For sun, and moon, and stars, being bright and sent to do their offices, are obedient. 61 Likewise also the lightning when it glittereth is fair to see; and after the same manner the wind also bloweth in every country. 62 And when God commandeth the clouds to go over the whole world, they do as they are bidden. 63 And the fire sent from above to consume mountains and woods doeth as it is commanded: but these are to be likened unto them neither in shew nor power. 64 Wherefore a man should neither think nor say that they are gods, seeing they are able neither to judge causes, nor to do good unto men. 65 Knowing therefore that they are no gods, fear them not. 66 For they can neither curse nor bless kings: 67 neither can they shew signs in the heavens among the nations, nor shine as the sun, nor give light as the moon. 68 The beasts are better than they: for they can get under a covert, and help themselves. 69 In no wise then is it manifest unto us that they are gods: therefore fear them not. 70 For as a scarecrow in a garden of cucumbers that keepeth nothing, so are their gods of wood, and overlaid with gold and with silver. 71 Likewise also their gods of wood, and overlaid with gold and with silver, are like to a white thorn in an orchard, that every bird sitteth upon; as also to a dead body, that is cast forth into the dark. 72 And ye shall know them to be no gods by the [fn] bright purple that rotteth upon them: And they themselves afterward shall be consumed, and shall be a reproach in the country. 73 Better therefore is the just man that hath none idols: for he shall be far from reproach.