Baruch 1

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 This is the text of the book written in Babylon by Baruch son of Neraiah, son of Mahseiah, son ofZedekiah, son of Hasadiah, son of Hilkiah,	1 Now these are the words of the scroll which Baruch, son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, son of Zedekiah, son of Hasadiah, son of Hilkiah, wrote in Babylon,
2 in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month, at the time when the Chaldaeans had capturedJerusalem and burned it down.	2 in the fifth year (on the seventh day of the month, at the time when the Chaldeans took Jerusalem and burnt it with fire).
3 Baruch read the text of this book aloud to Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and to al thepeople who had come to hear the reading,	3 And Baruch read the words of this scroll for Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, to hear it, as well as all the people who came to the reading:
4 to the nobles and the sons of the king, and to the elders; to the whole people, that is, to the least no lessthan to the greatest, to al who lived in Babylon beside the river Sud.	4 the nobles, the kings' sons, the elders, and the whole people, small and great alike--all who lived in Babylon by the river Sud.
5 On hearing it they wept, fasted and prayed before the Lord;	5 They wept and fasted and prayed before the LORD,
6 and they col ected as much money as each could afford	6 and collected such funds as each could furnish.
7 and sent it to Jerusalem to the priest Jehoiakim son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, and the other priests,and all the people who were with him in Jerusalem.	7 These they sent to Jerusalem, to Jehoiakim, son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, the priest, and to the priests and the whole people who were with him in Jerusalem.
8 Also on the tenth day of Sivan he was given the utensils of the house of the Lord, which had beenremoved from the Temple, to take them back to the land of Judah; these were silver utensils which Zedekiah sonof Josiah, king of Judah, had had made	8 (This was when he received the vessels of the house of the Lord that had been removed from the temple, to restore them to the land of Judah, on the tenth of Sivan. These silver vessels Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah, had had made
9 after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had deported Jeconiah from Jerusalem to Babylon, together withthe princes, the metalworkers, the nobles and the common people.	9 after Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, carried off Jeconiah, and the princes, and the skilled workers, and the nobles, and the people of the land from Jerusalem, as captives, and brought them to Babylon.)
10 Now, they wrote, we are sending you money to pay for burnt offerings, offerings for sin, and incense.Prepare oblations and offer them on the altar of the Lord our God;	10 Their message was: "We send you funds, with which you are to procure holocausts, sin offerings, and frankincense, and to prepare cereal offerings; offer these on the altar of the LORD our God,
11 and pray for the long life of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and of his son Belshazzar, that they mayendure on earth as long as the heavens endure;	11 and pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and that of Belshazzar, his son, that their lifetimes may equal the duration of the heavens above the earth;
12 and that the Lord may give us strength and enlighten our eyes, so that we may lead our lives under theprotection of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and of his son Belshazzar, and that we may serve them for a longtime and win their favour.	12 and that the LORD may give us strength, and light to our eyes, that we may live under the protective shadow of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and that of Belshazzar, his son, and serve them long, finding favor in their sight.
13 Also pray to the Lord our God for us, because we have sinned against him, and the anger, the fury ofthe Lord, has still not turned away from us.	13 "Pray for us also to the LORD, our God; for we have sinned against the LORD, our God, and the wrath and anger of the LORD have not yet been withdrawn from us at the present day.
14 Lastly, you must read the booklet which we are sending you, publicly in the house of the Lord on thefeastday and appropriate days.	14 And read out publicly this scroll which we send you, in the house of the LORD, on the feast day and during the days of assembly:
15 You must say: Saving justice is the Lord's, we have only the look of shame we bear, as is the casetoday for the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,	15 "Justice is with the LORD, our God; and we today are flushed with shame, we men of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem,
16 for our kings and princes, our priests, our prophets, and for our ancestors,	16 that we, with our kings and rulers and priests and prophets, and with our fathers,
17 because we have sinned before the Lord,	17 have sinned in the LORD'S sight
18 have disobeyed him, and have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God tel ing us to follow thecommandments which the Lord had ordained for us.	18 and disobeyed him. We have neither heeded the voice of the LORD, our God, nor followed the precepts which the LORD set before us.
19 From the day when the Lord brought our ancestors out of Egypt until today we have been disobedientto the Lord our God, we have been disloyal, refusing to listen to his voice.	19 From the time the LORD led our fathers out of the land of Egypt until the present day, we have been disobedient to the LORD, our God, and only too ready to disregard his voice.
20 And we are not free even today of the disasters and the curse which the Lord pronounced through hisservant Moses the day he brought our ancestors out of Egypt to give us a land flowing with milk and honey.	20 And the evils and the curse which the LORD enjoined upon Moses, his servant, at the time he led our fathers forth from the land of Egypt to give us the land flowing with milk and honey, cling to us even today.
21 We have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God in all the words of those prophets he sent us;	21 For we did not heed the voice of the LORD, our God, in all the words of the prophets whom he sent us,
22 but, each fol owing the dictates of our evil heart, we have taken to serving alien gods, and doing whatis displeasing to the Lord our God.	22 but each one of us went off after the devices of our own wicked hearts, served other gods, and did evil in the sight of the LORD, our God.