Baruch 3

DOUAI-RHEIMS	Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
1 This is the book of the commandments of God, and the law, that is for ever: all they that keep it, shall come to life: but they that have forsaken it, to death.	1 "'O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the soul in anguish and the wearied spirit cry out to thee.
2 Return, O Jacob, and take hold of it, walk in the way by its brightness, in the presence of the light thereof.	2 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned before thee.
3 Give not thy honour to another, nor thy dignity to a strange nation.	3 For thou art enthroned for ever, and we are perishing for ever.
4 We are happy, O Israel: because the things that are pleasing to God, are made known to us.	4 O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the dead of Israel and of the sons of those who sinned before thee, who did not heed the voice of the Lord their God, so that calamities have clung to us.
5 Be of good comfort, O people of God, the memorial of Israel:	5 Remember not the iniquities of our fathers, but in this crisis remember thy power and thy name.
6 You have been sold to the Gentiles, not for your destruction: but because you provoked God to wrath, you are delivered to your adversaries.	6 For thou art the Lord our God, and thee, O Lord, will we praise.
7 For you have provoked him who made you, the eternal God, offering sacrifice to devils, and not to God.	7 For thou hast put the fear of thee in our hearts in order that we should call upon thy name; and we will praise thee in our exile, for we have put away from our hearts all the iniquity of our fathers who sinned before thee.
8 For you have forgotten God, who brought you up, and you have grieved Jerusalem that nursed you.	8 Behold, we are today in our exile where thou hast scattered us, to be reproached and cursed and punished for all the iniquities of our fathers who forsook the Lord our God.'"
9 For she saw the wrath of God coming upon you, and she said: Give ear, all you that dwell near Sion, for God hath brought upon me great mourning:	9 Hear the commandments of life, O Israel; give ear, and learn wisdom!
10 For I have seen the captivity of my people, of my sons, and my daughters, which the Eternal hath brought upon them.	10 Why is it, O Israel, why is it that you are in the land of your enemies, that you are growing old in a foreign country, that you are defiled with the dead,
11 For I nourished them with joy: but I sent them away with weeping and mourning.	11 that you are counted among those in Hades?
12 Let no man rejoice over me, a widow, and desolate: I am forsaken of many for the sins of my children, because they departed from the law of God.	12 You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom.
13 And they have not known his justices, nor walked by the ways of God's commandments, neither have they entered by the paths of his truth and justice.	13 If you had walked in the way of God, you would be dwelling in peace for ever.
14 Let them that dwell about Sion come, and remember the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Eternal hath brought upon them.	14 Learn where there is wisdom, where there is strength, where there is understanding, that you may at the same time discern where there is length of days, and life, where there is light for the eyes, and peace.
15 For he hath brought a nation upon them from afar, a wicked nation, and of a strange tongue:	15 Who has found her place? And who has entered her storehouses?
16 Who have neither reverenced the ancient, nor pitied children, and have carried away the beloved of the widow, and have left me all alone without children.	16 Where are the princes of the nations, and those who rule over the beasts on earth;
17 But as for me, what help can I give you?	17 those who have sport with the birds of the air, and who hoard up silver and gold, in which men trust, and there is no end to their getting;
18 But he that hath brought the evils upon you, he will deliver you out of the hands of your enemies.	18 those who scheme to get silver, and are anxious, whose labors are beyond measure?
19 Go your way, my children, go your way: for I am left alone.	19 They have vanished and gone down to Hades, and others have arisen in their place.
20 I have put off the robe of peace, and have put upon me the sackcloth of supplication, and I will cry to the most High in my days.	20 Young men have seen the light of day, and have dwelt upon the earth; but they have not learned the way to knowledge, nor understood her paths, nor laid hold of her.
21 Be of good comfort, my children, cry to the Lord, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the princes your enemies.	21 Their sons have strayed far from her way.
22 For my hope is in the Eternal that he will save you: and joy is come upon me from the Holy One, because of the mercy which shall come to you from our everlasting Saviour.	22 She has not been heard of in Canaan, nor seen in Teman;
23 For I sent you forth with mourning and weeping: but the Lord will bring you back to me with joy and gladness for ever.	23 the sons of Hagar, who seek for understanding on the earth, the merchants of Merran and Teman, the story-tellers and the seekers for understanding, have not learned the way to wisdom, nor given thought to her paths.
24 For as the neighbours of Sion have now seen your captivity from God: so shall they also shortly see your salvation from God, which shall come upon you with great honour, and everlasting glory.	24 O Israel, how great is the house of God! And how vast the territory that he possesses!
25 My children, suffer patiently the wrath that is come upon you: for thy enemy hath persecuted thee, but thou shalt quickly see his destruction: and thou shalt get up upon his neck.	25 It is great and has no bounds; it is high and immeasurable.
26 My delicate ones have walked rough ways, for they were taken away as a flock made a prey by the enemies.	26 The giants were born there, who were famous of old, great in stature, expert in war.
27 Be of good comfort, my children, and cry to the Lord: for you shall be remembered by him that hath led you away.	27 God did not choose them, nor give them the way to knowledge;
28 For as it was your mind to go astray from God; so when you return again you shall seek him ten times as much.	28 so they perished because they had no wisdom, they perished through their folly.
29 For he that hath brought evils upon you, shall bring you everlasting joy again with your salvation.	29 Who has gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her down from the clouds?
30 Be of good heart, O Jerusalem: for he exhorteth thee, that named thee.	30 Who has gone over the sea, and found her, and will buy her for pure gold?
31 The wicked that have afflicted thee, shall perish: and they that have rejoiced at thy ruin, shall be punished.	31 No one knows the way to her, or is concerned about the path to her.
32 The cities which thy children have served, shall be punished: and she that received thy sons.	32 But he who knows all things knows her, he found her by his understanding. He who prepared the earth for all time filled it with four-footed creatures;
33 For as she rejoiced at thy ruin, and was glad of thy fall: so shall she be grieved for her own desolation.	33 he who sends forth the light, and it goes, called it, and it obeyed him in fear;
34 And the joy of her multitude shall be cut off: and her gladness shall be turned to mourning.	34 the stars shone in their watches, and were glad; he called them, and they said, "Here we are!" They shone with gladness for him who made them.
35 For fire shall come upon her from the Eternal, long to endure, and she shall be inhabited by devils for a great time.	35 This is our God; no other can be compared to him!
36 Look about thee, O Jerusalem, towards the east, and behold the joy that cometh to thee from God.	36 He found the whole way to knowledge, and gave her to Jacob his servant and to Israel whom he loved.
37 For behold thy children come, whom thou sentest away scattered, they come gathered together from the east even to the west, at the word of the Holy One rejoicing for the honour of God.	37 Afterward she appeared upon earth and lived among men.