Baruch 2

DOUAI-RHEIMS	KING JAMES BIBLE
1 And now, O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, the soul in anguish, and the troubled spirit crieth to thee:	1 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 Juda,
2 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for thou art a merciful God, and have pity on us: for we have sinned before thee.	2 To bring upon us great plagues, such as never happened under the whole heaven, as it came to pass in Jerusalem, according to the things that were written in the law of Moses;
3 For thou remainest for ever, and shall we perish everlastingly?	3 That a man should eat the flesh of his own son, and the flesh of his own daughter.
4 O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the dead of Israel, and of their children, that have sinned before thee, and have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord their God, wherefore evils have cleaved fast to us.	4 Moreover he hath delivered them to be in subjection to all the kingdoms that are round about us, to be as a reproach and desolation among all the people round about, where the Lord hath scattered them.
5 Remember not the iniquities of our fathers, but think upon thy hand, and upon thy name at this time:	5 Thus we were cast down, and not exalted, because we have sinned against the Lord our God, and have not been obedient unto his voice.
6 For thou art the Lord our God, and we will praise thee, O Lord:	6 To the Lord our God appertaineth righteousness: but unto us and to our fathers open shame, as appeareth this day.
7 Because for this end thou hast put thy fear in our hearts, to the intent that we should call upon thy name, and praise thee in our captivity, for we are converted from the iniquity of our fathers, who sinned before thee.	7 For all these plagues are come upon us, which the Lord hath pronounced against us
8 And behold we are at this day in our captivity, whereby thou hast scattered us to be a reproach, and a curse, and an offence, according to all the iniquities of our fathers, who departed from thee, O Lord our God.	8 Yet have we not prayed before the Lord, that we might turn every one from the imaginations of his wicked heart.
9 Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life: give ear, that thou mayst learn wisdom.	9 Wherefore the Lord watched over us for evil, and the Lord hath brought it upon us: for the Lord is righteous in all his works which he hath commanded us.
10 How happeneth it, O Israel, that thou art in thy enemies' land?	10 Yet we have not hearkened unto his voice, to walk in the commandments of the Lord, that he hath set before us.
11 Thou art grown old in a strange country, thou art defiled with the dead: thou art counted with them that go down into hell.	11 And now, O Lord God of Israel, that hast brought thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and high arm, and with signs, and with wonders, and with great power, and hast gotten thyself a name, as appeareth this day:
12 Thou hast forsaken the fountain of wisdom :	12 O Lord our God, we have sinned, we have done ungodly, we have dealt unrighteously in all thine ordinances.
13 For if thou hadst walked in the way of God, thou hadst surely dwelt in peace for ever.	13 Let thy wrath turn from us: for we are but a few left among the heathen, where thou hast scattered us.
14 Learn where is wisdom, where is strength, where is understanding: that thou mayst know also where is length of days and life, where is the light of the eyes, and peace.	14 Hear our prayers, O Lord, and our petitions, and deliver us for thine own sake, and give us favour in the sight of them which have led us away:
15 Who hath found out her place? and who hath gone in to her treasures?	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 Where are the princes of the nations, and they that rule over the beasts that are upon the earth?	16 O Lord, look down from thine holy house, and consider us: bow down thine ear, O Lord, to hear us.
17 That take their diversion with the birds of the air.	17 Open thine eyes, and behold; for the dead that are in the graves, whose souls are taken from their bodies, will give unto the Lord neither praise nor righteousness:
18 That hoard up silver and gold, wherein men trust, and there is no end of their getting? who work in silver and are solicitous, and their works are unsearchable.	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 praise and righteousness, O Lord.
19 They are cut off, and are gone down to hell, and others are risen up in their place.	19 Therefore we do not make our humble supplication before thee, O Lord our God, for the righteousness of our fathers, and of our kings.
20 Young men have seen the light, and dwelt upon the earth: but the way of knowledge they have not known,	20 For thou hast sent out thy wrath and indignation upon us, as thou hast spoken by thy servants the prophets, saying,
21 Nor have they understood the paths thereof, neither have their children received it, it is far from their face.	21 Thus saith the Lord, Bow down your shoulders to serve the king of Babylon: so shall ye remain in the land that I gave unto your fathers.
22 It hath not been heard of in the land of Chanaan, neither hath it been seen in Theman.	22 But if ye will not hear the voice of the Lord, to serve the king of Babylon,
23 The children of Agar also, that search after the wisdom that is of the earth, the merchants of Merrha, and of Theman, and the tellers of fables, and searchers of prudence and understanding: but the way of wisdom they have not known, neither have they remembered her paths.	23 I will cause to cease out of the cites of Judah, and from without Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: and the whole land shall be desolate of inhabitants.
24 O Israel, how great is the house of God, and how vast is the place of his possession!	24 But we would not hearken unto thy voice, to serve the king of Babylon: therefore hast thou made good the 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 place.
25 It is great, and hath no end: it is high and immense.	25 And, lo, they are cast out to the heat of the day, and to the frost of the night, and they died in great miseries by famine, by sword, and by pestilence.
26 There were the giants, those renowned men that were from the beginning, of great stature, expert in war.	26 And the house which is called by thy name hast thou laid waste, as it is to be seen this day, for the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of Juda.
27 The Lord chose not them, neither did they find the way of knowledge: therefore did they perish.	27 O Lord our God, thou hast dealt with us after all thy goodness, and according to all that great mercy of thine,
28 And because they had not wisdom, they perished through their folly.	28 As thou spakest by thy servant Moses in the day when thou didst command him to write the law before the children of Israel, saying,
29 Who hath gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her down from the clouds?	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 Who hath passed over the sea, and found her, and brought her preferably to chosen gold?	30 For I knew that they would not hear me, because it is a stiffnecked people: but in the land of their captivities they shall remember themselves.
31 There is none that is able to know her ways, nor that can search out her paths :	31 And shall know that I am the Lord their God: for I will give them an heart, and ears to hear:
32 But he that knoweth all things, knoweth her, and hath found her out with his understanding: he that prepared the earth for evermore, and filled it with cattle and fourfooted beasts:	32 And they shall praise me in the land of their captivity, and think upon my name,
33 He that sendeth forth light, and it goeth: and hath called it, and it obeyeth him with trembling.	33 And 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 the stars have given light in their watches, and rejoiced:	34 And I will bring them again into the land which I promised with an oath unto their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they shall be lords of it: and I will increase them, and they shall not be diminished.
35 They were called, and they said: Here we are: and with cheerfuIness they have shined forth to him that made them.	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 drive my people of Israel out of the land that I have given them.
36 This is our God, and there shall no other be accounted of in comparison of him.
37 He found out all the way of knowledge, and gave it to Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved.
38 Afterwards he was seen upon earth, and conversed with men.