Baruch, 4

1. She is the book of the precepts of God, the law that endures forever; All who cling to her will live, but those will die who forsake her.

1. She is the book of God's commandments, the Law that stands for ever; those who keep her shall live, those who desert her shall die.

2. Turn, O Jacob, and receive her: walk by her light toward splendor.

2. Turn back, Jacob, seize her, in her radiance make your way to light:

3. Give not your glory to another, your privileges to an alien race.

3. do not yield your glory to another, your privilege to a people not your own.

4. Blessed are we, O Israel; for what pleases God is known to us!

4. Israel, blessed are we: what pleases God has been revealed to us!

5. Fear not, my people! Remember, Israel,

5. Take courage, my people, memorial of Israel!

6. You were sold to the nations not for your destruction; It was because you angered God that you were handed over to your foes.

6. You were sold to the nations, but not for extermination. You provoked God; and so were delivered to your enemies,

7. For you provoked your Maker with sacrifices to demons, to no-gods;

7. since you had angered your Creator by offering sacrifices to demons, and not to God.

8. You forsook the Eternal God who nourished you, and you grieved Jerusalem who fostered you.

8. You had forgotten the eternal God who reared you. You had also grieved Jerusalem who nursed you,

9. She indeed saw coming upon you the anger of God; and she said: "Hear, you neighbors of Zion! God has brought great mourning upon me,

9. for when she saw God's anger falling on you, she said: Listen, you neighbours of Zion: God has sent me great sorrow.

10. For I have seen the captivity that the Eternal God has brought upon my sons and daughters.

10. I have seen my sons and daughters taken into captivity, which the Eternal brought down on them.

11. With joy I fostered them; but with mourning and lament I let them go.

11. I had reared them joyfully; in tears, in sorrow, I watched them go away.

12. Let no one gloat over me, a widow, bereft of many: For the sins of my children I am left desolate, because they turned from the law of God,

12. Do not, any of you, exult over me, a widow, deserted by so many; I am bereaved because of the sins of my children, who turned away from the Law of God,

13. and did not acknowledge his statutes; In the ways of God's commandments they did not walk, nor did they tread the disciplined paths of his justice.

13. who did not want to know his precepts and would not follow the ways of his commandments or tread the paths of discipline as his justice directed.

14. "Let Zion's neighbors come, to take note of the captivity of my sons and daughters, brought upon them by the Eternal God.

14. Come here, neighbours of Zion! Remember my sons' and daughters' captivity, which the Eternal brought down on them.

15. He has brought against them a nation from afar, a nation ruthless and of alien speech, That has neither reverence for age nor tenderness for childhood;

15. How he brought a distant nation down on them, a ruthless nation speaking a foreign language, they showed neither respect for the aged, nor pity for the child;

16. They have led away this widow's cherished sons, have left me solitary, without daughters.

16. they carried off the widow's cherished sons, they left her quite alone, bereft of her daughters.

17. What can I do to help you?

17. For my part, how could I help you?

18. He who has brought this evil upon you must himself deliver you from your enemies' hands.

18. He who brought those disasters down on you, is the one to deliver you from your enemies' clutches.

19. Farewell, my children, farewell: I am left desolate.

19. Go, my children, go your way! I must stay bereft and lonely;

20. I have taken off the garment of peace, have put on sackcloth for my prayer of supplication, and while I live I will cry out to the Eternal God.

20. I have taken off the clothes of peace and put on the sackcloth of entreaty; all my life I shall cry to the Eternal.

21. "Fear not, my children; call upon God, who will deliver you from oppression at enemy hands.

21. Take courage, my children, call on God: he will deliver you from tyranny, from the clutches of your enemies;

22. I have trusted in the Eternal God for your welfare, and joy has come to me from the Holy One Because of the mercy that will swiftly reach you from your eternal savior.

22. for I look to the Eternal for your rescue, and joy has come to me from the Holy One at the mercy soon to reach you from your Saviour, the Eternal.

23. With mourning and lament I sent you forth, but God will give you back to me with enduring gladness and joy.

23. In sorrow and tears I watched you go away, but God will give you back to me in joy and gladness for ever.

24. As Zion's neighbors lately saw you taken captive, so shall they soon see God's salvation come to you, with great glory and the splendor of the Eternal God.

24. As the neighbours of Zion have now witnessed your captivity, so will they soon see your rescue by God, which will come upon you with great glory and splendour of the Eternal.

25. "My children, bear patiently the anger that has come from God upon you; Your enemies have persecuted you, and you will soon see their destruction and trample upon their necks.

25. My children, patiently bear the anger brought on you by God. Your enemy has persecuted you, but soon you will witness his destruction and set your foot on his neck.

26. My pampered children have trodden rough roads, carried off by their enemies like sheep in a raid.

26. My favourite children have travelled by rough roads, carried off like a flock by a marauding enemy.

27. Fear not, my children; call out to God! He who brought this upon you will remember you.

27. Take courage, my children, call on God: he who brought this on you will remember you.

28. As your hearts have been disposed to stray from God, turn now ten times the more to seek him;

28. As by your will you first strayed from God, so now turn back and search for him ten times harder;

29. For he who has brought disaster upon you will, in saving you, bring you back enduring joy."

29. for as he has been bringing down those disasters on you, so will he rescue you and give you eternal joy.

30. Fear not, Jerusalem! He who gave you your name is your encouragement.

30. Take courage, Jerusalem: he who gave you your name will console you.

31. Fearful are those who harmed you, who rejoiced at your downfall;

31. Disaster will come to all who have ill-treated you and gloated over your fall.

32. Fearful are the cities where your children were enslaved, fearful the city that took your sons.

32. Disaster will come to the cities where your children were slaves; disaster to whichever one received your children,

33. As that city rejoiced at your collapse, and made merry at your downfall, so shall she grieve over her own desolation.

33. for just as she rejoiced at your fall and was happy to see you ruined, so will she grieve over her own desolation.

34. I will take from her the joyous throngs, and her exultation shall be turned to mourning:

34. I shall deprive her of the joy of a populous city, and her insolence will turn to mourning;

35. For fire shall come upon her from the Eternal God, for a long time, and demons shall dwell in her from that time on.

35. fire from the Eternal will befall her for many a day, and demons will dwell in her for ages.

36. Look to the east, Jerusalem! behold the joy that comes to you from God.

36. Jerusalem, turn your eyes to the east, see the joy that is coming to you from God.

37. Here come your sons whom you once let go, gathered in from the east and from the west By the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God.

37. Look, the children you watched go away are on their way home; reassembled from east and west, they are on their way home at the Holy One's command, rejoicing in God's glory.