Baruch 6

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 A copy of the letter which Jeremiah sent to those who were being led captive to Babylon by the king of the Babylonians, to convey to them what God had commanded him:	1 This is a copy of the letter that Jeremiah sent to those who would be taken captive into Babylon by the king of Babylon, so as to prophesy to them according to the warning he had received about them from God. “Because of the sins which you have sinned before God, you will be carried away into the captivity of Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.
2 When you reach Babylon you will be there many years, a period seven generations long; after which I will bring you back from there in peace.	2 And so, having been taken into Babylon, you will be there many years and for a long time, even to seven generations, yet after this, I will lead you away from there with peace.
3 And now in Babylon you will see borne upon men's shoulders gods of silver and gold and wood, which cast fear upon the pagans.	3 But now, you will see in Babylon gods of gold and of silver, and of stone and of wood, carried upon shoulders, an awful display for the peoples.
4 Take care that you yourselves do not imitate their alien example and stand in fear of them,	4 See to it, then, that you do not in effect become like these strangers and become afraid, so that in awe you would be carried away into their midst.
5 when you see the crowd before them and behind worshiping them. Rather, say in your hearts, "You, O LORD, are to be worshiped!";	5 And so, seeing the turmoil, behind you and in front of you, as they are worshiping, say in your hearts, ‘You ought to be adored, O Lord.’
6 for my angel is with you, and he is the custodian of your lives.	6 For my angel is with you. And I myself will examine your souls.
7 Their tongues are smoothed by woodworkers; they are covered with gold and silver-but they are a fraud, and cannot speak.	7 For their tongue is polished by the craftsman, and they themselves are even inlaid with gold and silver, yet they are false and unable to speak.
8 People bring gold, as to a maiden in love with ornament,	8 And, just like a virgin who loves to decorate herself, so do they take up gold and make designs with it.
9 and furnish crowns for the heads of their gods. Then sometimes the priests take the silver and gold from their gods and spend it on themselves,	9 Their gods have crowns of certified gold upon their heads, from which the priests subtract gold and silver, and spend it on themselves.
10 or give part of it to the harlots on the terrace. They trick them out in garments like men, these gods of silver and gold and wood;	10 Moreover, they even give from it to prostitutes, and use it to adorn kept women, and when they receive it back from the kept women, they use it to adorn their gods.
11 but though they are wrapped in purple clothing, they are not safe from corrosion or insects.	11 But these cannot be freed from rust and moths.
12 They wipe their faces clean of the house dust which is thick upon them.	12 Although they are covered with a purple garment, they must wipe off their face, because of the dust of the house, which is very great around them.
13 Each has a scepter, like the human ruler of a district; but none does away with those that offend against it.	13 Yet he who holds a scepter like a man, like the judge of the region, cannot put to death one who sins against him.
14 Each has in its right hand an axe or dagger, but it cannot save itself from war or pillage. Thus it is known they are not gods; do not fear them.	14 And though he holds in his hand a sword and an axe, yet he cannot free himself from war and robbers. From this let it be known to you that they are not gods.
15 As useless as one's broken tools	15 Therefore, do not fear them. For just as the vessel a man uses becomes useless when broken, so also are their gods.
16 are their gods, set up in their houses; their eyes are full of dust from the feet of those who enter.	16 When they are set up in a house, their eyes are full of dust from the feet of those who enter.
17 Their courtyards are walled in like those of a man brought to execution for a crime against the king; the priests reinforce their houses with gates and bars and bolts, lest they be carried off by robbers.	17 And like one who has offended the king and is surrounded at every door, or like a corpse about to be carried to the grave, so do the priests secure the doors with bars and locks, lest they be plundered by robbers.
18 They light more lamps for them than for themselves, yet not one of these can they see.	18 They light candles to them, and in great number, and still they are unable to see, for they are like logs in the house.
19 They are like any beam in the house; it is said their hearts are eaten away. Though the insects out of the ground consume them and their garments, they do not feel it.	19 It is truly said that the creeping things, which are of the earth, gnaw their hearts, and yet when these devour them and their garments, they do not feel it.
20 Their faces are blackened by the smoke of the house.	20 Their faces are made black by the smoke that is made in the house.
21 Bats and swallows alight on their bodies and on their heads; and cats as well as birds.	21 Over their bodies and over their heads fly owls and swallows and birds, and similarly, even cats.
22 Know, therefore, that they are not gods, and do not fear them.	22 From this you should understand that they are not gods. Therefore, neither should you fear them.
23 Despite the gold that covers them for adornment, unless someone wipes away the corrosion, they do not shine; nor did they feel anything when they were molded.	23 Furthermore, the gold which they have is shiny, but unless someone wipes off the rust, they will not shine. And even when they were molten, they did not feel it.
24 They are bought at any price, and there is no spirit in them.	24 They acquire all kinds of costly things, yet there is no breath in them.
25 Having no feet, they are carried on men's shoulders, displaying their shame to all; and those who worship them are put to confusion	25 Without feet, they are carried upon shoulders, showing their unworthiness to all men. And so, may those who worship them be confounded.
26 because, if they fall to the ground, the worshipers must raise them up. They neither move of themselves if one sets them upright, nor come upright if they fall; but one puts gifts beside them as beside the dead.	26 Because of this, if they fall to the ground, they do not get up by themselves; and if someone sets it upright, they will not stand firm on their own; yet, just like the dead, offerings are placed next to them.
27 Their priests resell their sacrifices for their own advantage. Even their wives cure parts of the meat, but do not share it with the poor and the weak;	27 The priests themselves sell their sacrifices, and they spend it wastefully; and, in like manner, their wives take part of it, never sharing anything with the sick or the beggars.
28 the menstruous and women in childbed handle their sacrifices. Knowing from this that they are not gods, do not fear them.	28 Fertile and menstruous women contaminate their sacrifices. And so, knowing from this that they are not gods, you should not fear them.
29 How can they be called gods? For women bring the offerings to these gods of silver and gold and wood;	29 For what reason are they called gods? It is because the women serve before the gods of silver and gold and wood,
30 and in their temples the priests squat with torn tunic and with shaven hair and beard, and with their heads uncovered.	30 and the priests sit in their houses, with torn garments, and their heads and beards shaven, and nothing on their heads.
31 They shout and wail before their gods as others do at a funeral banquet.	31 But they roar, shouting out to their gods, just as at a feast for the dead.
32 The priests take some of their clothing and put it on their wives and children.	32 The priests take away the garments of their gods, and clothe their wives and their sons.
33 Whether they are treated well or ill by anyone, they cannot requite it; they can neither set up a king nor remove him.	33 And whether they endure evil from someone, or good, they are not able to repay it. They can neither establish a king, nor remove him.
34 Similarly, they cannot give anyone riches or coppers; if one fails to fulfill a vow to them, they cannot exact it of him.	34 Similarly, they can neither give riches, nor avenge evil. If anyone makes a vow to them, and does not keep it, they cannot require it.
35 They neither save a man from death, nor deliver the weak from the strong.	35 They cannot free a man from death, nor rescue the weak from the strong.
36 To no blind man do they restore his sight, nor do they save any man in an emergency.	36 They cannot restore sight to the blind, nor free a man from need.
37 They neither pity the widow nor benefit the orphan.	37 They will not have mercy on the widow, nor do good to orphans.
38 These gilded and silvered wooden statues are like stones from the mountains; and their worshipers will be put to shame.	38 Their gods of wood, and of stone, and of gold, and of silver, are like stones from the mountain; and those who worship them will be confounded.
39 How then can it be thought or claimed that they are gods?	39 In what way, then, is it to be supposed or said that they are gods?
40 Even the Chaldeans themselves have no respect for them; for when they see a deaf mute, incapable of speech, they bring forward Bel and ask the god to make noise, as though the man could understand;	40 For even the Chaldeans themselves do not honor these, who, when they hear about a mute, unable to speak, they offer him to Bel, asking from him that he may speak,
41 and they are themselves unable to reflect and abandon these gods, for they have no sense.	41 as if these, who are unable to move, would be able to perceive. And even they themselves, when they shall understand this, will abandon them, for, having come to their senses, they do not consider them to be gods.
42 And their women, girt with cords, sit by the roads, burning chaff for incense;	42 Yet the women, wrapped in cords, sit by the roads, burning olive-stones.
43 and whenever one of them is drawn aside by some passer-by who lies with her, she mocks her neighbor who has not been dignified as she has, and has not had her cord broken.	43 And when any one of them, having been attracted by someone passing by, would sleep with him, she reproaches her neighbor because she was not found worthy, as she was, nor was her cord broken.
44 All that takes place around these gods is a fraud: how then can it be thought or claimed that they are gods?	44 But all things that occur with them are false; in what way, then, is it to be considered or said that they are gods?
45 They are produced by woodworkers and goldsmiths, and they are nothing else than what these craftsmen wish them to be.	45 Yet they have been made by the workmen and the goldsmiths. They will be nothing else but what the priests want them to be.
46 Even those who produce them are not long-lived;	46 For the artisans themselves, who make them, do not exist for a long time. So then, can these things, which have been made by them, be gods?
47 how then can what they have produced be gods? They have left frauds and opprobrium to their successors.	47 Yet they have bequeathed falsehoods and disgrace after this to the future.
48 For when war or disaster comes upon them, the priests deliberate among themselves where they can hide with them.	48 For when they are overcome by battle or evil, the priests consider among themselves where they may hide themselves with them.
49 How then can one not know that these are no-gods, which do not save themselves either from war or from disaster?	49 Therefore, why would they be perceived to be gods, who can neither free themselves from war, nor rescue themselves from evils?
50 They are wooden, gilded and silvered; they will later be known for frauds. To all peoples and kings it will be clear that they are not gods, but human handiwork; and that God's work is not in them.	50 For, in as much as they are only wood, inlaid with gold and silver, so let it be known henceforth, by all nations and kings, that they are false; because it has been revealed that they are not gods, but the work of men’s hands, and there is no work of God in them.
51 Who does not know that they are not gods?	51 For this reason, then, it has been accepted that they are not gods, but are works of the hands of men, and no work of God is in them.
52 They set no king over the land, nor do they give men rain.	52 They have not raised up a king in the region, nor will they give rain to men.
53 They neither vindicate their own rights, nor do they recover what is unjustly taken, for they are unable;	53 They will not discern a judgment for anyone, nor will they free a region from injury, because they can do nothing, like crows in the middle of heaven and earth.
54 they are like crows between heaven and earth. For when fire breaks out in the temple of these wooden or gilded or silvered gods, though the priests flee and are safe, they themselves are burnt up in the fire like beams.	54 And, indeed, when there happens to be a fire in the house of these gods of wood, silver, and gold, the priests will certainly run away and save themselves, but these will truly be burned up like logs in the midst of it.
55 They cannot resist a king, or enemy forces.	55 Yet they cannot withstand a king and war. In what way, then, is it to be considered or accepted that they are gods?
56 How then can it be admitted or thought that they are gods? are safe from neither thieves nor bandits, these wooden and silvered and gilded gods;	56 These gods of wood and stone, inlaid with gold and silver, can free themselves neither from thieves nor from robbers; whoever is stronger than they are,
57 those who seize them strip off the gold and the silver, and go away with the clothing that was on them, and they cannot help themselves.	57 will take up these things, the gold and the silver, and the garments which cover them, and will get away; neither will they be able to help themselves.
58 How much better to be a king displaying his valor, or a handy tool in a house, the joy of its owner, than these false gods; or the door of a house, that keeps safe those who are within, rather than these false gods; or a wooden post in a palace, rather than these false gods!	58 Therefore, it is better to be a king displaying his power, or a useful vessel in a house, about which he who owns it will boast, or a door in the house, which keeps safe what is inside, than to be these gods of falsehood.
59 The sun and moon and stars are bright, and obedient in the service for which they are sent.	59 For the sun, and the moon, and the constellations, though they are brilliant and have been sent forth to be useful, are obedient.
60 Likewise the lightning, when it flashes, is a goodly sight; and the same wind blows over all the land.	60 Similarly, the lightning, when it appears and is evident, and, in like manner, the wind blowing in every region,
61 The clouds, too, when commanded by God to proceed across the whole world, fulfill the order;	61 and the clouds, when God orders them to make their rounds over the whole world, each carries out what was commanded.
62 and fire, sent from on high to burn up the mountains and the forests, does what has been commanded. But these false gods are not their equal, whether in beauty or in power;	62 Furthermore, the fire, having been sent from above so that it may consume mountains and woods, does what it has been instructed to do. Yet these are not similar, neither in splendor, nor in power, to any one of them.
63 so that it is unthinkable, and cannot be claimed, that they are gods. They can neither execute judgment, nor benefit man.	63 From this, it should neither be supposed, nor said, that they are gods; since they are neither able to give judgment, nor to accomplish anything for men.
64 Know, therefore, that they are not gods, and do not fear them.	64 And so, knowing that they are not gods, therefore, have no fear of them.
65 Kings they neither curse nor bless.	65 For they can neither curse kings, nor bless them.
66 They show the nations no signs in the heavens, nor are they brilliant like the sun, nor shining like the moon.	66 Besides, they show no signs in heaven to the nations; they neither shine like the sun, nor give light like the moon.
67 The beasts which can help themselves by fleeing to shelter are better than they are.	67 Beasts are better than they are, for they can flee under a covering, and so protect themselves.
68 Thus in no way is it clear to us that they are gods; so do not fear them.	68 Therefore, in no way is it clear to us that they are gods; because of this, you should not fear them.
69 For like a scarecrow in a cucumber patch, that is no protection, are their wooden, gilded, silvered gods.	69 For just as a scarecrow in a cucumber field protects nothing, so are their gods of wood, and silver, and inlaid gold.
70 Just like a thornbush in a garden on which perches every kind of bird, or like a corpse hurled into darkness, are their silvered and gilded wooden gods.	70 They are just the same as a white thorn in a garden, on which all the birds sit; they are even like a corpse thrown out into the darkness, just so are these gods of wood, and inlaid gold, and inlaid silver.
71 From the rotting of the purple and the linen upon them, it can be known that they are not gods; they themselves will in the end be comsumed, and be a disgrace in the land.	71 By the purple, and likewise the Royal purple, moth-eaten garments upon them, you will then know that they are not gods. And finally, they themselves are consumed and will be a disgrace in the region.
72 The better for the just man who has no idols: he shall be far from disgrace!	72 Better is the just man who has no such images, for he will be far from disgrace.”