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Baruch Reads His Book to the Jews in Babylon
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1 I am Baruch son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah, and my ancestors include Zedekiah, Hasadiah, and Hilkiah. I wrote this book in the city of Babylon 
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The Book of
Baruch
including the Epistle of Jeremiah
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1 And these are the words of the book, which Baruch the son of Nerias, the son of Maasias, the son of Sedecias, the son of Asadias, the son of Chelcias, wrote in Babylon,
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2 on the seventh day of the month of Ab, a 1.2 the month of Ab: Greek “the month”; probably Ab, the fifth month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-July to mid-August. This was the anniversary of Jerusalem's capture and destruction (see 2 Kings 25.1-12), and the people of Judah, whether living there or in Babylonia, remembered it by praying and by going without eating to show their sorrow (see Zechariah 7.3).b 1.2 five years after ... Jerusalem: Probably 581 B.C.
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2 In the fifth year, and in the seventh day of the month, what time as the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, and burnt it with fire.
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3 I read the book to King Jehoiachin c 1.3 Jehoiachin: The Greek text has “Jeconiah,” another form of Jehoiachin's name (ruled 598 B.C.). of Judah, son of Jehoiakim, and to everyone who came to listen: 1.3,4 2K 24.8-17.
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3 And Baruch did read the words of this book in the hearing of Jechonias the son of Joachim king of Juda, and in the ears of all the people that came to hear the book,
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4 the government officials and the religious leaders, together with all the people of Israel, both young and old, who lived in Babylon near the Sud River. d 1.4 Sud River: Nothing is known about this river.
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4 And in the hearing of the nobles, and of the king's sons, and in the hearing of the elders, and of all the people, from the lowest unto the highest, even of all them that dwelt at Babylon by the river Sud.
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5 After they had listened to me read the book, everyone cried and prayed to the Lord, then went without eating to show their sorrow.
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5 Whereupon they wept, fasted, and prayed before the Lord.
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6 They collected as much money as they could
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6 They made also a collection of money according to every man's power:
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7 and sent it to Jerusalem for Priest Jehoiakim e 1.7 Priest Jehoiakim: Greek “Priest Jehoiakim son of Hilkiah and grandson of Shallum.” and the other priests, as well as for the people living there.
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7 And they sent it to Jerusalem unto Joachim the high priest, the son of Chelcias, son of Salom, and to the priests, and to all the people which were found with him at Jerusalem,
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8 On the tenth day of the month of Sivan, f 1.8 Sivan: The third month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-May to mid-June. I got together all the sacred things that had been taken from the Lord's temple in Jerusalem and took them back to Judah. These included the silver things that King Zedekiah of Judah g 1.8 King Zedekiah of Judah: Greek “King Zedekiah of Judah, the son of Josiah.” had made
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8 At the same time when he received the vessels of the house of the Lord, that were carried out of the temple, to return them into the land of Juda, the tenth day of the month Sivan, namely, silver vessels, which Sedecias the son of Josias king of Jada had made,
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9 and that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia h 1.9 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia: Ruled 605-562 B.C. had taken from Jerusalem. He brought these to Babylon, along with King Jehoiachin, the important leaders of Judah, the prisoners, and most of the people.
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9 After that Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away Jechonias, and the princes, and the captives, and the mighty men, and the people of the land, from Jerusalem, and brought them unto Babylon.
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A Letter to the Jews in Jerusalem
10 The Jews living in Babylon wrote the following letter for Baruch to take with him to Judah:
Please use the money we are sending to buy animals for sacrifices to please the Lord i 1.10 sacrifices to please the Lord: These sacrifices have traditionally been called “burnt offerings” because the whole animal was burned on the altar. A main purpose of such sacrifices was to please the Lord with the smell of the sacrifice, and so in the CEV they are often called “sacrifices to please the Lord.” and sacrifices for sin, as well as to buy incense and to prepare grain offerings. These sacrifices and offerings must be offered on the altar built to honor the Lord our God.
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10 And they said, Behold, we have sent you money to buy you burnt offerings, and sin offerings, and incense, and prepare ye manna, and offer upon the altar of the Lord our God;
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11 Pray that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his son Belshazzar will live forever, like the heavens above.
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11 And pray for the life of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and for the life of Balthasar his son, that their days may be upon earth as the days of heaven:
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12 And pray that the Lord will keep our people strong and show us how to be faithful. Then King Nebuchadnezzar and King Belshazzar will be pleased with us and protect us, and in return we will be loyal to them.
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12 And the Lord will give us strength, and lighten our eyes, and we shall live under the shadow of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and under the shadow of Balthasar his son, and we shall serve them many days, and find favour in their sight.
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13 Finally, pray for us—we have sinned against the Lord our God, and he is still angry.
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13 Pray for us also unto the Lord our God, for we have sinned against the Lord our God; and unto this day the fury of the Lord and his wrath is not turned from us.
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14 When you go to the temple during festivals and other religious celebrations to confess your sins to the Lord, be sure to have this book read aloud.
A Prayer To Confess Sins to the Lord
The people also wrote:
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14 And ye shall read this book which we have sent unto you, to make confession in the house of the Lord, upon the feasts and solemn days.
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15 Pray the following prayer when you confess your sins to the Lord:
The Lord our God always does right, but we are deeply ashamed of what we have done. We are the people of Judah and Jerusalem, but all of us,
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15 And ye shall say, To the Lord our God belongeth righteousness, but unto us the confusion of faces, as it is come to pass this day, unto them of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
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16 including our kings and rulers, our priests and prophets, are guilty. Even our ancestors did what was wrong!
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16 And to our kings, and to our princes, and to our priests, and to our prophets, and to our fathers:
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17 We have all sinned against the Lord our God.
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17 For we have sinned before the Lord,
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18 We have disobeyed him and have refused to follow the laws he has given.
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18 And disobeyed him, and have not hearkened unto the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the commandments that he gave us openly:
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19 In fact, ever since the Lord brought our ancestors out of Egypt, we have been unfaithful and have ignored him.
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19 Since the day that the Lord brought our forefathers out of the land of Egypt, unto this present day, we have been disobedient unto the Lord our God, and we have been negligent in not hearing his voice.
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20 The Lord rescued our ancestors from Egypt, so that he could give them a land that is rich with milk and honey. He also warned his servant Moses that terrible things would happen, if our ancestors refused to obey the Lord. And so, because they disobeyed him, we are suffering from those curses.
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20 Wherefore the evils cleaved unto us, and the curse, which the Lord appointed by Moses his servant at the time that he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, to give us a land that floweth with milk and honey, like as it is to see this day.
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21 Even when the Lord's prophets came and told us how the Lord our God wanted us to live, we refused to listen.
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21 Nevertheless we have not hearkened unto the voice of the Lord our God, according unto all the words of the prophets, whom he sent unto us:
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22 Instead, we did what we wanted and followed our own evil ways—we worshiped other gods and did what the Lord hated.
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22 But every man followed the imagination of his own wicked heart, to serve strange gods, and to do evil in the sight of the Lord our God.
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© 1999 American Bible Society |
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