Baruch 4

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 “ ‘This is the book of the commandments of God and of the law, which exists in eternity. All those who keep it will attain to life, but those who have forsaken it, to death.	1 She is the book of the precepts of God, the law that endures forever; All who cling to her will live, but those will die who forsake her.
2 Convert, O Jacob, and embrace it, walk in the way of its splendor, facing its light.	2 Turn, O Jacob, and receive her: walk by her light toward splendor.
3 Do not surrender your glory to another, nor your value to a foreign people.	3 Give not your glory to another, your privileges to an alien race.
4 We have been happy, O Israel, because the things that are pleasing to God have been made clear to us.	4 Blessed are we, O Israel; for what pleases God is known to us!
5 Be ever more peaceful in soul, O people of God, the memorial of Israel.	5 Fear not, my people! Remember, Israel,
6 You have been sold to the nations, not into destruction, but because of this, in resentment, you provoked God to wrath, and so you have been delivered to adversity.	6 You were sold to the nations not for your destruction; It was because you angered God that you were handed over to your foes.
7 For you have exasperated him who made you, the eternal God, by sacrificing to evil spirits, and not to God.	7 For you provoked your Maker with sacrifices to demons, to no-gods;
8 For you have forgotten God, who nurtured you, and you have saddened Jerusalem, your nurse.	8 You forsook the Eternal God who nourished you, and you grieved Jerusalem who fostered you.
9 For she saw the wrath of God approaching you, and she said, “Listen, region of Zion, for God has brought upon me great sorrow.	9 She indeed saw coming upon you the anger of God; and she said: "Hear, you neighbors of Zion! God has brought great mourning upon me,
10 For I have seen the captivity of my people, my sons and daughters, which the Eternal has led over them.	10 For I have seen the captivity that the Eternal God has brought upon my sons and daughters.
11 For I nurtured them with joy, but I sent them away with weeping and sorrow.	11 With joy I fostered them; but with mourning and lament I let them go.
12 Let no one rejoice over me, a widow and a desolation, for I am forsaken by many because of the sins of my sons, because they strayed from the law of God.	12 Let no one gloat over me, a widow, bereft of many: For the sins of my children I am left desolate, because they turned from the law of God,
13 And they have not known his righteousness, nor walked in the ways of the commandments of God, nor have they advanced with justice along the paths of his truth.	13 and did not acknowledge his statutes; In the ways of God's commandments they did not walk, nor did they tread the disciplined paths of his justice.
14 Let the region of Zion approach, and remember the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Eternal led over them.	14 "Let Zion's neighbors come, to take note of the captivity of my sons and daughters, brought upon them by the Eternal God.
15 For he has brought a far away people upon them, a guilty people, and of another language,	15 He has brought against them a nation from afar, a nation ruthless and of alien speech, That has neither reverence for age nor tenderness for childhood;
16 who have not reverenced the aged, nor had mercy on the children, and who have led away the beloved of the widow, leaving me deserted and alone, without sons.	16 They have led away this widow's cherished sons, have left me solitary, without daughters.
17 But as for me, how am I able to help you?	17 What can I do to help you?
18 For he who has brought these evils upon you, will rescue you from the hands of your enemies.	18 He who has brought this evil upon you must himself deliver you from your enemies' hands.
19 Walk on, sons, walk on, for I have been abandoned and I am alone.	19 Farewell, my children, farewell: I am left desolate.
20 I have taken off the garment of peace and have put on the sackcloth of supplication, and I will cry out to the most High in my days.	20 I have taken off the garment of peace, have put on sackcloth for my prayer of supplication, and while I live I will cry out to the Eternal God.
21 Be ever more peaceful, sons. Cry out to the Lord, and he will rescue you from the hand of the hostile leaders.	21 "Fear not, my children; call upon God, who will deliver you from oppression at enemy hands.
22 For I have placed my hope in your eternal salvation, and joy approaches me from the Holy One, over the mercy which will come to you by our eternal salvation.	22 I have trusted in the Eternal God for your welfare, and joy has come to me from the Holy One Because of the mercy that will swiftly reach you from your eternal savior.
23 For I sent you forth with sorrow and weeping, but the Lord will restore you to me with joy and gladness for eternity.	23 With mourning and lament I sent you forth, but God will give you back to me with enduring gladness and joy.
24 For just as the neighbors of Zion have seen your captivity from God, so also will they soon see your salvation from God, which will overcome you with great honor and eternal splendor.	24 As Zion's neighbors lately saw you taken captive, so shall they soon see God's salvation come to you, with great glory and the splendor of the Eternal God.
25 Sons, endure patiently the wrath that has come upon you, for your enemy has persecuted you, but you will quickly see his destruction and you will climb over his neck.	25 "My children, bear patiently the anger that has come from God upon you; Your enemies have persecuted you, and you will soon see their destruction and trample upon their necks.
26 My delicate ones have walked rough ways, for they were regarded as a flock torn apart by enemies.	26 My pampered children have trodden rough roads, carried off by their enemies like sheep in a raid.
27 Be ever more peaceful in soul, sons, and call out to the Lord, for you will be remembered by him who led you away.	27 Fear not, my children; call out to God! He who brought this upon you will remember you.
28 For as much as you thought to go astray from God, ten times as much again he will require of you when converting.	28 As your hearts have been disposed to stray from God, turn now ten times the more to seek him;
29 For he who led you into evil, he himself will again lead you to eternal happiness with your salvation.”	29 For he who has brought disaster upon you will, in saving you, bring you back enduring joy."
30 Be ever more peaceful in soul, Jerusalem, for he who has named you, has been affected by you.	30 Fear not, Jerusalem! He who gave you your name is your encouragement.
31 The criminals who have troubled you, will perish, and those who rejoiced in your ruin, will be punished.	31 Fearful are those who harmed you, who rejoiced at your downfall;
32 The cities that your sons have served, will be punished, and also, she who received your sons.	32 Fearful are the cities where your children were enslaved, fearful the city that took your sons.
33 For just as she was glad at your ruin, and she rejoiced in your fall, so also will she be grieved in her own desolation,	33 As that city rejoiced at your collapse, and made merry at your downfall, so shall she grieve over her own desolation.
34 and the exaltation of her multitude will be cut off, and her gladness will be turned to sorrow.	34 I will take from her the joyous throngs, and her exultation shall be turned to mourning:
35 For fire will overcome her from the Eternal for many days, and she will be inhabited by evil spirits for a long time.	35 For fire shall come upon her from the Eternal God, for a long time, and demons shall dwell in her from that time on.
36 Look around, Jerusalem, towards the east, and see the happiness that comes to you from God.	36 Look to the east, Jerusalem! behold the joy that comes to you from God.
37 For behold, your sons approach, whom you sent away scattered. They approach, gathering together, from the east all the way to the west, at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the honor of God.	37 Here come your sons whom you once let go, gathered in from the east and from the west By the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God.