Baruch 2

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 And so the Lord has carried out the sentence which he passed on us, on our judges who governedIsrael, on our kings and leaders and on the people of Israel and of Judah;	1 "And the LORD fulfilled the warning he had uttered against us: against our judges, who governed Israel, against our kings and princes, and against the men of Israel and Judah.
2 what he did to Jerusalem has never been paral eled under the wide heavens -- in conformity with whatwas written in the Law of Moses;	2 He brought down upon us evils so great that there has not been done anywhere under heaven what has been done in Jerusalem, as was written in the law of Moses:
3 we were each reduced to eating the flesh of our own sons and daughters.	3 that one after another of us should eat the flesh of his son or of his daughter.
4 Furthermore, he has handed them over into the power of all the kingdoms that surround us, to be thecontempt and execration of all the neighbouring peoples among whom the Lord scattered them.	4 He has made us subject to all the kingdoms round about us, a reproach and a horror among all the nations round about to which the LORD has scattered us.
5 Instead of being masters, they found themselves enslaved, because we had sinned against the Lord ourGod by not listening to his voice.	5 We are brought low, not raised up, because we sinned against the LORD, our God, not heeding his voice.
6 Saving justice is the Lord's; we and our ancestors have only the look of shame we bear today.	6 "Justice is with the LORD, our God; and we, like our fathers, are flushed with shame even today.
7 Al those disasters which the Lord pronounced against us have now befallen us.	7 All the evils of which the LORD had warned us have come upon us:
8 And yet we have not tried to win the favour of the Lord by each of us renouncing the dictates of our ownwicked heart;	8 and we did not plead before the LORD, or turn, each from the figments of his evil heart.
9 so the Lord has been alert to our misdeeds and has brought disaster down on us, since the Lord isupright in everything he had commanded us to do,	9 And the LORD kept watch over the evils, and brought them home to us; for the LORD is just in all the works he commanded us to do,
10 and we have not listened to his voice so as to fol ow the commandments which the Lord had ordainedfor us.	10 but we did not heed his voice, or follow the precepts of the LORD which he set before us.
11 And now, Lord, God of Israel, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand, with signs andwonders, with great power and with outstretched arm, to win yourself a name such as you have today,	11 "And now, LORD, God of Israel, you who led your people out of the land of Egypt with your mighty hand, with signs and wonders and great might, and with your upraised arm, so that you have made for yourself a name till the present day:
12 we have sinned, we have committed sacrilege; Lord our God, we have broken al your precepts.	12 we have sinned, been impious, and violated, O LORD, our God, all your statutes.
13 Let your anger turn from us since we are no more than a little remnant among the nations where youhave dispersed us.	13 Let your anger be withdrawn from us, for we are left few in number among the nations to which you scattered us.
14 Listen, Lord, to our prayers and our entreaties; deliver us for your own sake and let us win the favour ofthe people who have deported us,	14 Hear, O LORD, our prayer of supplication, and deliver us for your own sake: grant us favor in the presence of our captors,
15 so that the whole world may know that you are the Lord our God, since Israel and his descendantsbear your name.	15 that the whole earth may know that you are the LORD, our God, and that Israel and his descendants bear your name.
16 Look down, Lord, from your holy dwel ing-place and think of us, bow your ear and listen,	16 O LORD, look down from your holy dwelling and take thought of us; turn, O LORD, your ear to hear us.
17 open your eyes, Lord, and look; the dead down in Sheol, whose breath has been taken from theirbodies, are not the ones to give glory and due recognition to the Lord;	17 Look directly at us, and behold: it is not the dead in the nether world, whose spirits have been taken from within them, who will give glory and vindication to the LORD.
18 whoever is overcome with affliction, who goes along bowed down and frail, with failing eyes andhungering soul, that is the one to give you glory and due recognition, Lord.	18 He whose soul is deeply grieved, who walks bowed and feeble, with failing eyes and famished soul, will declare your glory and justice, LORD!
19 We do not rely on the merits of our ancestors and of our kings to offer you our humble plea, Lord ourGod.	19 "Not on the just deeds of our fathers and our kings do we base our plea for mercy in your sight, O LORD, our God.
20 No, you have sent down your anger and your fury on us, as you threatened through your servants theprophets when they said,	20 You have brought your wrath and anger down upon us, as you had warned us through your servants the prophets:
21 'The Lord says this: Bend your necks and serve the king of Babylon, and you wil remain in the countrywhich I gave to your ancestors.	21 'Thus says the LORD: Bend your shoulders to the service of the king of Babylon, that you may continue in the land I gave your fathers:
22 But if you do not listen to the voice of the Lord and serve the king of Babylon	22 for if you do not hear the LORD'S voice so as to serve the king of Babylon,
23 then I shal silence the shouts of rejoicing and mirth and the voices of bridegroom and bride in thetowns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, and the whole country will be reduced to desert, with noinhabitants.'	23 I will make to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem The sounds of joy and the sounds of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; And all the land shall be deserted, without inhabitants.'
24 But we would not listen to your voice and serve the king of Babylon, and so you carried out what youhad threatened through your servants the prophets: that the bones of our kings and of our ancestors would bedragged from their resting places.	24 But we did not heed your voice, or serve the king of Babylon, and you fulfilled the threats you had made through your servants the prophets, to have the bones of our kings and the bones of our fathers brought out from their burial places.
25 They were indeed tossed out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. And people died indreadful agony, from famine, sword and plague.	25 And indeed, they lie exposed to the heat of day and the frost of night. They died in dire anguish, by hunger and the sword and plague.
26 And so, because of the wickedness of the House of Israel and the House of Judah, you have madethis House, that bears your name, what it is today.	26 And you reduced the house which bears your name to what it is today, for the wickedness of the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah.
27 And yet, Lord our God, you have treated us in a way worthy of al your goodness and boundlesstenderness,	27 "But with us, O Lord, our God, you have dealt in all your clemency and in all your great mercy.
28 just as you had promised through your servant Moses, the day you told him to write your Law in thepresence of the Israelites, and said,	28 This was your warning through your servant Moses, the day you ordered him to write down your law in the presence of the Israelites:
29 'If you do not listen to my voice, this great and innumerable multitude wil certainly be reduced to a tinyfew among the nations where I shal scatter them-	29 If you do not heed my voice, surely this great and numerous throng will dwindle away among the nations to which I will scatter them.
30 for I knew that, being an obstinate people, they would not listen to me. But in the country of their exile,they will come to themselves	30 For I know they will not heed me, because they are a stiff-necked people. But in the land of their captivity they shall have a change of heart;
31 and acknowledge that I am the Lord their God. I shal give them a heart and an attentive ear,	31 they shall know that I, the LORD, am their God. I will give them hearts, and heedful ears;
32 and they will sing my praises in the country of their exile, they will remember my name;	32 and they shall praise me in the land of their captivity, and shall invoke my name.
33 they wil stop being obstinate and, remembering what became of their ancestors who sinned before theLord, will turn from their evil deeds.	33 Then they shall turn back from their stiff-necked stubbornness, and from their evil deeds, because they shall remember the fate of their fathers who sinned against the LORD.
34 Then I shal bring them back to the country which I promised on oath to their ancestors Abraham, Isaacand Jacob, and make them masters in it. I shal make their numbers grow; they wil not dwindle again.	34 And I will bring them back to the land which with my oath I promised to their fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and they shall rule it. I will make them increase; they shall not then diminish.
35 And I shal make an everlasting covenant with them; so that I am their God and they are my people.And never again shal I drive my people Israel out of the country which I have given them.'	35 And I will establish for them, as an eternal covenant, that I will be their God, and they shall be my people; and I will not again remove my people Israel from the land I gave them.