Baruch
2:1 Therefore the Lord hath made good his word, which he pronounced against
us, and against our judges that judged Israel, and against our kings,
and against our princes, and against the men of Israel and Juda,
2:2 To bring upon us great plagues, such as never happened under the whole
heaven, as it came to pass in Jerusalem, according to the things that
were written in the law of Moses;
2:3 That a man should eat the flesh of his own son, and the flesh of his own
daughter.
2:4 Moreover he hath delivered them to be in subjection to all the kingdoms
that are round about us, to be as a reproach and desolation among all
the people round about, where the Lord hath scattered them.
2:5 Thus we were cast down, and not exalted, because we have sinned against
the Lord our God, and have not been obedient unto his voice.
2:6 To the Lord our God appertaineth righteousness: but unto us and to our
fathers open shame, as appeareth this day.
2:7 For all these plagues are come upon us, which the Lord hath pronounced
against us
2:8 Yet have we not prayed before the Lord, that we might turn every one
from the imaginations of his wicked heart.
2:9 Wherefore the Lord watched over us for evil, and the Lord hath brought
it upon us: for the Lord is righteous in all his works which he hath
commanded us.
2:10 Yet we have not hearkened unto his voice, to walk in the commandments of
the Lord, that he hath set before us.
2:11 And now, O Lord God of Israel, that hast brought thy people out of the
land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and high arm, and with signs, and with
wonders, and with great power, and hast gotten thyself a name, as
appeareth this day:
2:12 O Lord our God, we have sinned, we have done ungodly, we have dealt
unrighteously in all thine ordinances.
2:13 Let thy wrath turn from us: for we are but a few left among the heathen,
where thou hast scattered us.
2:14 Hear our prayers, O Lord, and our petitions, and deliver us for thine
own sake, and give us favour in the sight of them which have led us
away:
2:15 That all the earth may know that thou art the Lord our God, because
Israel and his posterity is called by thy name.
2:16 O Lord, look down from thine holy house, and consider us: bow down thine
ear, O Lord, to hear us.
2:17 Open thine eyes, and behold; for the dead that are in the graves, whose
souls are taken from their bodies, will give unto the Lord neither
praise nor righteousness:
2:18 But the soul that is greatly vexed, which goeth stooping and feeble, and
the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul, will give thee praise and
righteousness, O Lord.
2:19 Therefore we do not make our humble supplication before thee, O Lord our
God, for the righteousness of our fathers, and of our kings.
2:20 For thou hast sent out thy wrath and indignation upon us, as thou hast
spoken by thy servants the prophets, saying,
2:21 Thus saith the Lord, Bow down your shoulders to serve the king of
Babylon: so shall ye remain in the land that I gave unto your fathers.
2:22 But if ye will not hear the voice of the Lord, to serve the king of
Babylon,
2:23 I will cause to cease out of the cites of Judah, and from without
Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of joy, the voice of the
bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: and the whole land shall be
desolate of inhabitants.
2:24 But we would not hearken unto thy voice, to serve the king of Babylon:
therefore hast thou made good the words that thou spakest by thy
servants the prophets, namely, that the bones of our kings, and the
bones of our fathers, should be taken out of their place.
2:25 And, lo, they are cast out to the heat of the day, and to the frost of
the night, and they died in great miseries by famine, by sword, and by
pestilence.
2:26 And the house which is called by thy name hast thou laid waste, as it is
to be seen this day, for the wickedness of the house of Israel and the
house of Juda.
2:27 O Lord our God, thou hast dealt with us after all thy goodness, and
according to all that great mercy of thine,
2:28 As thou spakest by thy servant Moses in the day when thou didst command
him to write the law before the children of Israel, saying,
2:29 If ye will not hear my voice, surely this very great multitude shall be
turned into a small number among the nations, where I will scatter them.
2:30 For I knew that they would not hear me, because it is a stiffnecked
people: but in the land of their captivities they shall remember
themselves.
2:31 And shall know that I am the Lord their God: for I will give them an
heart, and ears to hear:
2:32 And they shall praise me in the land of their captivity, and think upon
my name,
2:33 And return from their stiff neck, and from their wicked deeds: for they
shall remember the way of their fathers, which sinned before the Lord.
2:34 And I will bring them again into the land which I promised with an oath
unto their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they shall be lords
of it: and I will increase them, and they shall not be diminished.
2:35 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them to be their God, and
they shall be my people: and I will no more drive my people of Israel
out of the land that I have given them.
