Baruch 1

1:1 Now these are the words of the book1 that Baruch2 wrote in3 Babylon. This Baruch was the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, son of Zedekiah, son of Hasadiah, son of Hilkiah.4 1:2 He wrote this in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month,5 at the time that the Chaldeans overthrew6 Jerusalem and set it on fire.7

1:3 Baruch read the words of this book in the hearing8 of Jeconiah9 the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and in the hearing of all the people who were coming to hear10 the book 1:4 (that is,11 in the hearing of the powerful12 and the royal descendents,13 in the hearing of the elders, and in the hearing of all the people, from the lowly to the prominent,14 all those who were residing in Babylon by the river Sud15).

1:5 They were weeping, fasting, and praying before the Lord. 1:6 They also collected money,16 according to the ability17 of each one to give. 1:7 They sent this money18 to Jerusalem, to the priest19 Jehoiakim the son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, and to the other20 priests and to all the people who were21 with him in Jerusalem. 1:8 At that time, on the tenth of Sivan Baruch22 took the vessels of the temple23 of the Lord which had been brought from the temple so that he might return them to the land of Judah (that is, those silver vessels that Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, had made24 1:9 after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had removed25 Jeconiah, the rulers, the prisoners, the powerful, and the people of the land26 from Jerusalem and had brought them27 to Babylon).

1:10 They said, “Look, we have sent money to you. Purchase with the money whole burnt offerings, sin offerings, and incense.28 Prepare a grain offering29 and offer it on the altar of the Lord our God. 1:11 Pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and for the life of Belshazzar his son,30 that their days on earth may be like the days of heaven.31 1:12 The Lord will give us strength and illumine our eyes. We will live under the shadow of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and under the shadow of Belshazzar his son, and we will serve them for many days and find favor before them. 1:13 Pray for us to the Lord our God, because we have sinned against the Lord our God. The anger of the Lord and his wrath have not turned from us till this very day. 1:14 You will read this book that we have sent you, thereby making your confession32 in the temple of the Lord on the feast days and at the appointed times.33

A Prayer of Confession34

1:15 “You will say, ‘Righteousness35 belongs to the Lord our God, but shame of face belongs to us today36—to every individual37 of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 1:16 to our kings, to our rulers, to our priests, to our prophets, and to our ancestors.38 1:17 We all39 have sinned before the Lord 1:18 and disobeyed him. We have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God, to walk40 in the Lord’s commandments which he laid out41 before us.42 1:19 From the day that the Lord brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt till this very day we have been disobedient to the Lord our God. We have acted carelessly,43 not paying attention to his voice. 1:20 Clinging to us to this very day are the misfortunes and curse which the Lord prescribed44 to his servant Moses on the day that he brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt in order to give us a land flowing with milk and honey. 1:21 We have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God as given in45 all the words of the prophets whom he sent to us. 1:22 Each one of us followed the intent of his evil heart by serving46 other gods and by doing what is evil in the sight47 of the Lord our God.

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