Baruch 2

DOUAI-RHEIMS	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 And now, O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, the soul in anguish, and the troubled spirit crieth to thee:	1 “ ‘For this reason, the Lord our God has fulfilled his word, which he has spoken to us, and to our judges, who have judged Israel, and to our kings, and to our leaders, and to all Israel and Judah.
2 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for thou art a merciful God, and have pity on us: for we have sinned before thee.	2 And so the Lord has brought upon us great evils, such as never before happened under heaven, (but which have come to pass in Jerusalem according to what was written in the law of Moses)
3 For thou remainest for ever, and shall we perish everlastingly?	3 even that a man would eat the flesh of his son and the flesh of his daughter.
4 O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the dead of Israel, and of their children, that have sinned before thee, and have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord their God, wherefore evils have cleaved fast to us.	4 And so he placed them under the hand of all the kings who surround us, in disgrace and desolation among all the people where the Lord has scattered us.
5 Remember not the iniquities of our fathers, but think upon thy hand, and upon thy name at this time:	5 And we were brought down low and were not raised up, because we sinned against the Lord our God, by not obeying his voice.
6 For thou art the Lord our God, and we will praise thee, O Lord:	6 To the Lord our God is justice, but to us and to our fathers is confusion of face, just as on this day.
7 Because for this end thou hast put thy fear in our hearts, to the intent that we should call upon thy name, and praise thee in our captivity, for we are converted from the iniquity of our fathers, who sinned before thee.	7 For the Lord has pronounced against us all these evils, which have overcome us.
8 And behold we are at this day in our captivity, whereby thou hast scattered us to be a reproach, and a curse, and an offence, according to all the iniquities of our fathers, who departed from thee, O Lord our God.	8 And we have not beseeched the face of the Lord our God, so that we might return, each one of us from our most sinful ways.
9 Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life: give ear, that thou mayst learn wisdom.	9 And the Lord has watched over us for evil and has brought it upon us, because the Lord is just in all his works that he has commanded us,
10 How happeneth it, O Israel, that thou art in thy enemies' land?	10 and we have not listened to his own voice, so as to walk according to the teachings of the Lord, which he has set before our face.
11 Thou art grown old in a strange country, thou art defiled with the dead: thou art counted with them that go down into hell.	11 And now, O Lord God of Israel, who has led your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, and with signs, and with wonders, and with your great power, and with an exalted arm, and has made a name for yourself, just as on this day,
12 Thou hast forsaken the fountain of wisdom :	12 we have sinned, we become impious, we have acted unjustly, O Lord our God, against all your principles.
13 For if thou hadst walked in the way of God, thou hadst surely dwelt in peace for ever.	13 May your wrath be turned away from us because, having been forsaken, we are few among the irreligious where you have scattered us.
14 Learn where is wisdom, where is strength, where is understanding: that thou mayst know also where is length of days and life, where is the light of the eyes, and peace.	14 Heed, O Lord, our petitions and our prayers, and deliver us for your own sake, and grant that we may find favor before the face of those who have led us away,
15 Who hath found out her place? and who hath gone in to her treasures?	15 so that all the earth may know that you are the Lord our God, and because your name has been invoked over Israel and over his posterity.
16 Where are the princes of the nations, and they that rule over the beasts that are upon the earth?	16 Gaze upon us, O Lord, from your holy home, and incline your ear, and heed us.
17 That take their diversion with the birds of the air.	17 Open your eyes and see, because the dead, who are in the underworld, whose spirit has been taken away from their vital organs, will not give honor and justification to the Lord.
18 That hoard up silver and gold, wherein men trust, and there is no end of their getting? who work in silver and are solicitous, and their works are unsearchable.	18 But the soul that is sorrowful for the greatness of evil, approaches bowed down and weak, and the failing eyes and the hungering soul give glory and justice to you, the Lord.
19 They are cut off, and are gone down to hell, and others are risen up in their place.	19 For it is not according to the righteousness of our fathers that we pour out our petitions and beg mercy in your sight, O Lord our God,
20 Young men have seen the light, and dwelt upon the earth: but the way of knowledge they have not known,	20 but because you have sent your wrath and your fury upon us, just as you have spoken by the hand of your children the prophets, saying:
21 Nor have they understood the paths thereof, neither have their children received it, it is far from their face.	21 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Bow down your shoulder and your neck, and do work for the king of Babylon, and settle in the land which I gave to your fathers,
22 It hath not been heard of in the land of Chanaan, neither hath it been seen in Theman.	22 because, if you will not listen to the voice of the Lord your God, to serve the king of Babylon, I will cause you to depart from the cities of Judah and from the gates of Jerusalem.
23 The children of Agar also, that search after the wisdom that is of the earth, the merchants of Merrha, and of Theman, and the tellers of fables, and searchers of prudence and understanding: but the way of wisdom they have not known, neither have they remembered her paths.	23 And I will take away from you the voice of cheerfulness and the voice of joy, and the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, and all the land will be without any trace of its inhabitants.’ ”
24 O Israel, how great is the house of God, and how vast is the place of his possession!	24 And they did not listen to your voice, that they should serve the king of Babylon, and so you have fulfilled your words, which you spoke by the hands of your children the prophets, so that the bones of our kings and the bones of our fathers would be carried away from their place.
25 It is great, and hath no end: it is high and immense.	25 And, behold, they have been cast out into the heat of the sun and the frost of the night, and they have died by means of grievous evils, by famine, and by the sword, and by banishment.
26 There were the giants, those renowned men that were from the beginning, of great stature, expert in war.	26 And you have set up the temple, in which your name itself was called upon, just as it is on this day, because of the iniquity of the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
27 The Lord chose not them, neither did they find the way of knowledge: therefore did they perish.	27 And you have accomplished in us, O Lord our God, according to all your goodness and according to all your great mercy,
28 And because they had not wisdom, they perished through their folly.	28 just as you spoke by the hand of your child Moses, in the day when you commanded him to write your law before the sons of Israel,
29 Who hath gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her down from the clouds?	29 saying: “If you will not listen to my voice, this great multitude will be changed into the least among the peoples, where I will scatter them.
30 Who hath passed over the sea, and found her, and brought her preferably to chosen gold?	30 For I know that the people will not listen to me, for the people are stiff necked. But they will have a change of their heart in the land of their captivity,
31 There is none that is able to know her ways, nor that can search out her paths :	31 and they will know that I am the Lord their God. And I will give them a heart, and they will understand, ears, and they will hear.
32 But he that knoweth all things, knoweth her, and hath found her out with his understanding: he that prepared the earth for evermore, and filled it with cattle and fourfooted beasts:	32 And they will praise me in the land of their captivity, and will remember my name.
33 He that sendeth forth light, and it goeth: and hath called it, and it obeyeth him with trembling.	33 And they will turn themselves away from their stiff back, and from their wicked deeds, for they will call to mind the way of their fathers, who sinned against me.
34 And the stars have given light in their watches, and rejoiced:	34 And I will restore them to the land which I pledged to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they will rule over it, and I will multiply them, and they will not be diminished.
35 They were called, and they said: Here we are: and with cheerfuIness they have shined forth to him that made them.	35 And I will establish for them a new and everlasting covenant, so that I will be their God and they will be my people. And I will no longer move my people, the sons of Israel, out of the land which I have given them.”
36 This is our God, and there shall no other be accounted of in comparison of him.
37 He found out all the way of knowledge, and gave it to Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved.
38 Afterwards he was seen upon earth, and conversed with men.