Baruch 3

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Almighty Lord, God of Israel, a soul in anguish, a troubled heart now cries to you:	1 "LORD Almighty, God of Israel, afflicted souls and dismayed spirits call to you.
2 Listen and have pity, Lord, for we have sinned before you.	2 Hear, O LORD, for you are a God of mercy; and have mercy on us, who have sinned against you:
3 You sit enthroned for ever, while we are perishing for ever.	3 for you are enthroned forever, while we are perishing forever.
4 Almighty Lord, God of Israel, hear the prayer of the dead of Israel, of the children of those who havesinned against you and have not listened to the voice of the Lord their God; hence the disasters which dog us.	4 LORD Almighty, God of Israel, hear the prayer of Israel's few, the sons of those who sinned against you; they did not heed the voice of the LORD, their God, and the evils cling to us.
5 Do not cal to mind the misdeeds of our ancestors, but remember instead your power and your name.	5 Remember at this time not the misdeeds of our fathers, but your own hand and name:
6 You are indeed the Lord our God and we wil praise you, Lord,	6 for you are the LORD our God; and you, O LORD, we will praise!
7 since you have put respect for you in our hearts to encourage us to cal on your name. We long topraise you in our exile, for we have rid our hearts of the wickedness of our ancestors who sinned against you.	7 For this, you put into our hearts the fear of you: that we may call upon your name, and praise you in our captivity, when we have removed from our hearts all the wickedness of our fathers who sinned against you.
8 Look, today we are still in exile where you have scattered us as something contemptible, accursed,condemned, for al the misdeeds of our ancestors who had abandoned the Lord our God.	8 Behold us today in our captivity, where you scattered us, a reproach, a curse, and a requital for all the misdeeds of our fathers, who withdrew from the LORD, our God."
9 Listen, Israel, to commands that bring life; hear, and learn what knowledge means.	9 Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life: listen, and know prudence!
10 Why, Israel, why are you in the country of your enemies, growing older and older in an alien land,	10 How is it, Israel, that you are in the land of your foes, grown old in a foreign land, Defiled with the dead,
11 defiling yourselves with the dead, reckoned with those who go to Sheol?	11 accounted with those destined for the nether world?
12 It is because you have forsaken the fountain of wisdom!	12 You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom!
13 Had you walked in the way of God, you would be living in peace for ever.	13 Had you walked in the way of God, you would have dwelt in enduring peace.
14 Learn where knowledge is, where strength, where understanding, and so learn where length of days is,where life, where the light of the eyes and where peace.	14 Learn where prudence is, where strength, where understanding; That you may know also where are length of days, and life, where light of the eyes, and peace.
15 But who has found out where she lives, who has entered her treasure house?	15 Who has found the place of wisdom, who has entered into her treasuries?
16 Where now are the leaders of the nations and those who ruled even the beasts of earth,	16 Where are the rulers of the nations, they who lorded it over the wild beasts of the earth,
17 those who sported with the birds of heaven, those who accumulated silver and gold on which alpeople rely, and whose possessions had no end,	17 and made sport of the birds of the heavens: They who heaped up the silver and the gold in which men trust; of whose possessions there was no end?
18 those who worked so carefully in silver -but of whose works no trace is to be found?	18 They schemed anxiously for money, but there is no trace of their work:
19 They have vanished, gone down to Sheol. Others have risen to their places,	19 They have vanished down into the nether world, and others have risen up in their stead.
20 more recent generations have seen the day and peopled the earth in their turn, but the way ofknowledge they have not found;	20 Later generations have seen the light, have dwelt in the land, But the way to understanding they have not known,
21 they have not recognised the paths she treads. Nor have their children had any grasp of her, remainingfar from her way.	21 they have not perceived her paths, or reached her; their offspring were far from the way to her.
22 Nothing has been heard of her in Canaan, nothing has been seen of her in Teman;	22 She has not been heard of in Canaan, nor seen in Teman.
23 the children of Hagar in search of worldly wisdom, the merchants of Midian and Teman, the tale-spinners and the philosophers have none of them found the way to wisdom or remembered the paths shetreads.	23 The sons of Hagar who seek knowledge on earth, the merchants of Midian and Teman, the phrasemakers seeking knowledge, These have not known the way to wisdom, nor have they her paths in mind.
24 How great, Israel, is the house of God, how wide his domain,	24 O Israel, how vast is the house of God, how broad the scope of his dominion:
25 immeasurably wide, infinitely lofty!	25 Vast and endless, high and immeasurable!
26 In it were born the giants, famous from the beginning, immensely tal , expert in war;	26 In it were born the giants, renowned at the first, stalwarts, skilled in war.
27 God's choice did not fall on these, he did not show them the way of knowledge;	27 Not these did God choose, nor did he give them the way of understanding;
28 they perished for lack of wisdom, perished by their own folly.	28 They perished for lack of prudence, perished through their folly.
29 Who has ever climbed the sky and seized her to bring her down from the clouds?	29 Who has gone up to the heavens and taken her, or brought her down from the clouds?
30 Who has ever crossed the ocean and found her to bring her back in exchange for the finest gold?	30 Who has crossed the sea and found her, bearing her away rather than choice gold?
31 No one can learn the way to her, no one can understand the path she treads.	31 None knows the way to her, nor has any understood her paths.
32 But the One who knows al discovers her, he has grasped her with his own intel ect, he has set theearth firm for evermore and filled it with four-footed beasts,	32 Yet he who knows all things knows her; he has probed her by his knowledge-- He who established the earth for all time, and filled it with four-footed beasts;
33 he sends the light -- and it goes, he recal s it -- and trembling it obeys;	33 He who dismisses the light, and it departs, calls it, and it obeys him trembling;
34 the stars shine joyful y at their posts;	34 Before whom the stars at their posts shine and rejoice;
35 when he cal s them, they answer, 'Here we are'; they shine to delight their Creator.	35 When he calls them, they answer, "Here we are!" shining with joy for their Maker.
36 It is he who is our God, no other can compare with him.	36 Such is our God; no other is to be compared to him:
37 He has uncovered the whole way of knowledge and shown it to his servant Jacob, to Israel his wel -beloved;	37 He has traced out all the way of understanding, and has given her to Jacob, his servant, to Israel, his beloved son.
38 only then did she appear on earth and live among human beings.	38 Since then she has appeared on earth, and moved among men.