Baruch 4
4:1 This1 is the book2 of the commandments of God
and the law that endures forever.
All those who hold fast to it shall live,3
but those who forsake it will die.
4:2 Turn back, O Jacob, and take hold of it;
travel in the direction of its illumination toward the light.4
4:3 Don’t give your glory to another,
and don’t forfeit5 your advantages6 to another nation.
because we know what is pleasing to God.7
A Poem of Comfort
You are the ones who preserve the name of Israel!8
4:6 It was not for your destruction
that you were sold to the nations.
You were delivered over to your adversaries
because you had stirred God to anger.
4:7 For you provoked your creator9
by offering sacrifices to demons10 rather than to God.
4:8 You forgot the eternal God who nourished you;
you grieved Jerusalem which reared you.
4:9 For when she saw the wrath of God
that was about to befall you, she said,
“Listen, neighbors of Zion,
God has brought great mourning upon me.
4:10 For I witnessed the captivity of my sons and daughters,
which the Eternal One11 has brought upon them.
4:11 For I nourished them with gladness,
and I sent them out with tears and mourning.
4:12 Let no one malignantly rejoice12 over me,
the widow who is bereft of so many.
I was left desolate because of the sins of my children,
for they have turned away from God’s law.
4:13 They have not acknowledged13 his ordinances,
nor have they gone in the ways of God’s commandments,
nor have they walked in the correct paths determined by14 his righteousness.
4:14 Let the neighbors of Zion come
and remember the captivity of my sons and daughters,
which the Eternal One has brought upon them.
4:15 For he has brought against them a nation from afar,
a shameless nation speaking a foreign language,15
who show no respect for old age
nor mercy16 for childhood.
4:16 They have led away those beloved by17 this widow;
they have left me bereft of my daughters.
4:17 But for my part, how can I help you?
4:18 For it is the one who has brought these misfortunes
who must rescue you out of the hand of your enemies.
4:19 Go on, my children, go on your way!
For I am left desolate.
4:20 I have taken off the robe of peace,
and I have put on sackcloth for my petition.
I will cry out to the Eternal One for the rest of my days.18
4:21 Be courageous, my children.
Cry out to God,
and he will rescue you from domination
at the hand of your enemies.
4:22 For I have placed my hope in the Eternal One for your salvation.
Joy has come to me from the Holy One
for the mercy that will quickly come to you
from your eternal Savior.
4:23 For I sent you out with mourning and weeping,
and God will return you to me
with delight and gladness forever.
4:24 For just as at the present time the neighbors of Zion have seen your captivity,
so they will soon see your deliverance19 from God,
which will come to you with great glory and with the splendor of the Eternal One.
4:25 My children, patiently endure the wrath
that has come upon you from God.
Your enemy has persecuted you,
but you will soon see their destruction,
and you will place your foot on20 their necks.
4:26 My spoiled21 children have traveled rough roads.
They have been carried away like sheep snatched up by enemies.
4:27 Be courageous, children, and call out to God.
For the one who brought this upon you will remember you.22
4:28 For just as your minds were given to wandering away from God,
turn now23 with tenfold sincerity24 to seek him.
4:29 For the one who has brought these misfortunes upon you
will bring you everlasting gladness along with your deliverance.
4:30 Be courageous, O Jerusalem.
The one who named you will comfort you.
4:31 Those who have treated you badly
and rejoiced at your downfall25 are fearful.26
4:32 The cities that enslaved your children are fearful;
she who took your sons is fearful.
4:33 For just as she rejoiced over your downfall
and was glad over your disaster,27
so she will be grieved over her own desolation.
4:34 I will remove from her the rejoicing of the crowds,
and her insolence28 will be reduced to mourning.
4:35 For fire will come upon her from the Eternal One,
lasting for a long time;
she will be inhabited by demons for a long time.29
4:36 Look to the east, O Jerusalem!
See the gladness coming to you from God.
4:37 Look! Your sons whom you sent away are coming back,
being gathered from east to west
by the word of the Holy One,
rejoicing in the glory of God.