Baruch, 2

1. And so the Lord has carried out the sentence which he passed on us, on our judges who governed Israel, on our kings and leaders and on the people of Israel and of Judah;

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. what he did to Jerusalem has never been paralleled under the wide heavens -- in conformity with what was written in the Law of Moses;

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;

3. we were each reduced to eating the flesh of our own sons and daughters.

3. That a man should eat the flesh of his own son, and the flesh of his own daughter.

4. Furthermore, he has handed them over into the power of all the kingdoms that surround us, to be the contempt and execration of all the neighbouring peoples among whom the Lord scattered them.

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.

5. Instead of being masters, they found themselves enslaved, because we had sinned against the Lord our God by not listening to his voice.

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.

6. Saving justice is the Lord's; we and our ancestors have only the look of shame we bear today.

6. To the Lord our God appertaineth righteousness: but unto us and to our fathers open shame, as appeareth this day.

7. All those disasters which the Lord pronounced against us have now befallen us.

7. For all these plagues are come upon us, which the Lord hath pronounced against us

8. And yet we have not tried to win the favour of the Lord by each of us renouncing the dictates of our own wicked heart;

8. Yet have we not prayed before the Lord, that we might turn every one from the imaginations of his wicked heart.

9. so the Lord has been alert to our misdeeds and has brought disaster down on us, since the Lord is upright in everything he had commanded us to do,

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.

10. and we have not listened to his voice so as to follow the commandments which the Lord had ordained for us.

10. Yet we have not hearkened unto his voice, to walk in the commandments of the Lord, that he hath set before us.

11. And now, Lord, God of Israel, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand, with signs and wonders, with great power and with outstretched arm, to win yourself a name such as you have today,

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:

12. we have sinned, we have committed sacrilege; Lord our God, we have broken all your precepts.

12. O Lord our God, we have sinned, we have done ungodly, we have dealt unrighteously in all thine ordinances.

13. Let your anger turn from us since we are no more than a little remnant among the nations where you have dispersed us.

13. Let thy wrath turn from us: for we are but a few left among the heathen, where thou hast scattered us.

14. Listen, Lord, to our prayers and our entreaties; deliver us for your own sake and let us win the favour of the people who have deported us,

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:

15. so that the whole world may know that you are the Lord our God, since Israel and his descendants bear your name.

15. That all the earth may know that thou art the Lord our God, because Israel and his posterity is called by thy name.

16. Look down, Lord, from your holy dwelling-place and think of us, bow your ear and listen,

16. O Lord, look down from thine holy house, and consider us: bow down thine ear, O Lord, to hear us.

17. open your eyes, Lord, and look; the dead down in Sheol, whose breath has been taken from their bodies, are not the ones to give glory and due recognition to the Lord;

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:

18. whoever is overcome with affliction, who goes along bowed down and frail, with failing eyes and hungering soul, that is the one to give you glory and due recognition, Lord.

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.

19. We do not rely on the merits of our ancestors and of our kings to offer you our humble plea, Lord our God.

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.

20. No, you have sent down your anger and your fury on us, as you threatened through your servants the prophets when they said,

20. For thou hast sent out thy wrath and indignation upon us, as thou hast spoken by thy servants the prophets, saying,

21. 'The Lord says this: Bend your necks and serve the king of Babylon, and you will remain in the country which I gave to your ancestors.

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.

22. But if you do not listen to the voice of the Lord and serve the king of Babylon

22. But if ye will not hear the voice of the Lord, to serve the king of Babylon,

23. then I shall silence the shouts of rejoicing and mirth and the voices of bridegroom and bride in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, and the whole country will be reduced to desert, with no inhabitants.'

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.

24. But we would not listen to your voice and serve the king of Babylon, and so you carried out what you had threatened through your servants the prophets: that the bones of our kings and of our ancestors would be dragged from their resting places.

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.

25. They were indeed tossed out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. And people died in dreadful agony, from famine, sword and plague.

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.

26. And so, because of the wickedness of the House of Israel and the House of Judah, you have made this House, that bears your name, what it is today.

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.

27. And yet, Lord our God, you have treated us in a way worthy of all your goodness and boundless tenderness,

27. O Lord our God, thou hast dealt with us after all thy goodness, and according to all that great mercy of thine,

28. just as you had promised through your servant Moses, the day you told him to write your Law in the presence of the Israelites, and said,

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,

29. 'If you do not listen to my voice, this great and innumerable multitude will certainly be reduced to a tiny few among the nations where I shall scatter them-

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.

30. for I knew that, being an obstinate people, they would not listen to me. But in the country of their exile, they will come to themselves

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.

31. and acknowledge that I am the Lord their God. I shall give them a heart and an attentive ear,

31. And shall know that I am the Lord their God: for I will give them an heart, and ears to hear:

32. and they will sing my praises in the country of their exile, they will remember my name;

32. And they shall praise me in the land of their captivity, and think upon my name,

33. they will stop being obstinate and, remembering what became of their ancestors who sinned before the Lord, will turn from their evil deeds.

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.

34. Then I shall bring them back to the country which I promised on oath to their ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and make them masters in it. I shall make their numbers grow; they will not dwindle again.

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.

35. And I shall make an everlasting covenant with them; so that I am their God and they are my people. And never again shall I drive my people Israel out of the country which I have given them.'

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.