THE HOLY BIBLE
Douay-Rheims Version
THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET BARUCH
The Book of the Prophet Baruch, Chapter 1
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 Sedei, the son of Helcias, wrote in Babylonia.
2 In the fifth year, in the seventh day of the month, at the
time that the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, and burnt it with
fire.
3 And Baruch read the words of this book in the hearing of
Jechonias the son of Joakim king of Juda, and in the
hearing of all the people that came to hear the book.
4 And in the hearing of the nobles, the sons of the kings,
and in the hearing of the ancients, and in the hearing of
the people, from the least even to the greatest of them
that dwelt in Babylonia, by the river Sedi.
5 And when they heard it they wept, and fasted, and prayed
before the Lord.
6 And they made a collection of money, according to every
man's power.
7 And they sent it to Jerusulem to Joakim the priest, the
son of Helcias, the son of Salom, and to the priests, and
to all the people, that were found with him in Jerusalem:
8 At the time when he received the vessels of the temple of
the Lord, which had been taken away out of the temple, to
return them into the land of Juda the tenth day of the
month Sivan, the silver vessels, which Sedecias the son of
Josias king of Juda had made,
9 After that Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon had carried
away Jechonias, and the princes, and all the powerful men,
and the people of the land from Jerusalem, and brought
them bound to Babylon.
10 And they said: Behold we have sent you money, buy with it
holocausts, and frankincense, and make meat offerings, and
offerings for sin at the altar of the Lord our God:
11 And pray ye for the life of Nabuchodonosor the king of
Babylon, and for the life of Balthasar his son, that their
days may be upon earth as the days of heaven:
12 And that the Lord may give us strength, and enlighten our
eyes, that we may live under the shadow of Nabuchodonosor
the king of Babylon, and under the shadow of Balthasar his
son, and may serve them many days, and may find favour in
their sight.
13 And pray ye for us to the Lord our God: for we have sinned
against the Lord our God, and his wrath is not turned away
from us even to this day.
14 And read ye this book, which we have sent to you to be
read in the temple of the Lord, on feasts, and proper
days.
15 And you shall say: To the Lord our God belongeth justice,
but to us confusion of our face: as it is come to pass at
this day to all Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
16 To our kings, and to our princes, and to our priests, and
to our prophets, and to our fathers.
17 We have sinned before the Lord our God, and have not
believed him, nor put our trust in him:
18 And we were not obedient to him, and we have not harkened
to the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his
commandments, which he hath given us.
19 From the day that he brought our fathers out of the land
of Egypt, even to this day, we were disobedient to the
Lord our God: and going astray we turned away from hearing
his voice.
20 And many evils have cleaved to us, and the curses which
the Lord foretold by Moses his servant: who brought our
fathers out of the land of Egypt, to give us a land
flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.
21 And we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God
according to all the words of the prophets whom he sent to
us:
22 And we have gone away every man after the inclinations of
his own wicked heart, to serve strange gods, and to do
evil in the sight of the Lord our God.
The Book of the Prophet Baruch, Chapter 2
1 Wherefore the Lord our God hath made good his word, that
he spoke to us, and to our judges that have judged Israel,
and to our kings, and to our princes, and to all Israel
and Juda:
2 That the Lord would bring upon us great evils, such as
never happened under heaven, as they have come to pass in
Jerusalem, according to the things that are written in the
law of Moses:
3 That a man should eat the flesh of his own son, and the
flesh of his own daughter.
4 And he hath delivered them up to be under the hand of all
the kings that are round about us, to be a reproach, and
desolation among all the people, among whom the Lord hath
scattered us.
5 And we are brought under, and are not uppermost: because
we have sinned against the Lord our God, by not obeying
his voice.
6 To the Lord our God belongeth justice: but to us, and to
our fathers confusion of face, as at this day.
7 For the Lord hath pronounced against us all these evils
that are come upon us:
8 And we have not entreated the face of the Lord our God,
that we might return every one of us from our most wicked
ways.
9 And the Lord hath watched over us for evil, and hath
brought it upon us: for the Lord is just in all his works
which he hath commanded us:
10 And we have not hearkened to his voice to walk in the
commandments of the Lord which he hath set before us.
11 And now, O Lord God of Israel, who hast brought thy people
out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, and with
signs, and with wonders, and with thy great power, and
with a mighty arm, and hast made thee a name as at this
day,
12 We have sinned, we have done wickedly, we have acted
unjustly, O Lord our God, against all thy justices.
13 Let thy wrath be turned away from us: for we are left a
few among the nations where thou hast scattered us.
14 Hear, O Lord, our prayers, and our petitions, and deliver
us for thy own sake: and grant that we may find favour in
the sight of them that have led us away:
15 That all the earth may know that thou art the Lord our
God, and that thy name is called upon Israel, and upon his
posterity.
16 Look down upon us, O Lord, from thy holy house, and
incline thy ear, and hear us.
17 Open thy eyes, and behold: for the dead that are in hell,
whose spirit is taken away from their bowels, shall not
give glory and justice to the Lord:
18 But the soul that is sorrowful for the greatness of evil
she hath done, and goeth bowed down, and feeble, and the
eyes that fail, and the hungry soul giveth glory and
justice to thee the Lord.
19 For it is not for the justices of our fathers that we pour
out our prayers, and beg mercy in thy sight, O Lord our
God:
20 But because thou hast sent out thy wrath, and thy
indignation upon us, as thou hast spoken by the hand of
thy servants the prophets, saying:
21 Thus saith the Lord: Bow down your shoulder, and your
neck, and serve the king of Babylon: and you shall remain
in the land which I have given to your fathers.
22 But if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord your
God, to serve the king of Babylon: I will cause you to
depart out of the cities of Juda, and from without
Jerusalem.
23 And I will take away from you the voice of mirth, and the
voice of joy, and the voice of the bridegroom, and the
voice of the bride, and all the land shall be without any
footstep of inhabitants.
24 And they hearkened not to thy voice, to serve the king of
Babylon: and thou hast made good thy words, which thou
spokest by the hands of thy servants the prophets, that
the bones of our kings, and the bones of our fathers
should be removed out of their place:
25 And behold they are cast out to the heat of the sun, and
to the frost of the night: and they have died in grievous
pains, by famine, and by the sword, and in banishment.
26 And thou hast made the temple, in which thy name was
called upon, as it is at this day, for the iniquity of the
house of Israel, and the house of Juda.
27 And thou hast dealt with us, O Lord our God, according to
all thy goodness, and according to all that great mercy of
thine:
28 As thou spokest by the hand of thy servant Moses, in the
day when thou didst command him to write thy law before
the children of Israel,
29 Saying: If you will not hear my voice, this great
multitude shall be turned into a very small number among
the nations, where I will scatter them:
30 For I know that the people will not hear me, for they are
a people of a stiff neck: but they shall turn to their
heart in the land of their captivity:
31 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God: and I
will give them a heart, and they shall understand: and
ears, and they shall hear.
32 And they shall praise me in the land of their captivity,
and shall be mindful of my name.
33 And they shall turn away themselves from their stiff neck,
and from their wicked deeds: for they shall remember the
way of their fathers, that sinned against me.
34 And I will bring them back again into the land which I
promised with an oath to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, and they shall be masters thereof: and I will
multiply them, and they shall not be diminished.
35 And I will make with them another covenant that shall be
everlasting, to be their God, and they shall be my people:
and I will no more remove my people, the children of
Israel, out of the land that I have given them.
The Book of the Prophet Baruch, Chapter 3
1 And now, O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, the soul in
anguish, and the troubled spirit crieth to thee:
2 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for thou art a merciful God,
and have pity on us: for we have sinned before thee.
3 For thou remainest for ever, and shall we perish
everlastingly?
4 O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, hear now the prayer of
the dead of Israel, and of their children, that have
sinned before thee, and have not hearkened to the voice of
the Lord their God, wherefore evils have cleaved fast to
us.
5 Remember not the iniquities of our fathers, but think upon
thy hand, and upon thy name at this time:
6 For thou art the Lord our God, and we will praise thee, O
Lord:
7 Because for this end thou hast put thy fear in our hearts,
to the intent that we should call upon thy name, and
praise thee in our captivity, for we are converted from
the iniquity of our fathers, who sinned before thee.
8 And behold we are at this day in our captivity, whereby
thou hast scattered us to be a reproach, and a curse, and
an offence, according to all the iniquities of our
fathers, who departed from thee, O Lord our God.
9 Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life: give ear, that
thou mayst learn wisdom.
10 How happeneth it, O Israel, that thou art in thy enemies'
land?
11 Thou art grown old in a strange country, thou art defiled
with the dead: thou art counted with them that go down
into hell.
12 Thou hast forsaken the fountain of wisdom :
13 For if thou hadst walked in the way of God, thou hadst
surely dwelt in peace for ever.
14 Learn where is wisdom, where is strength, where is
understanding: that thou mayst know also where is length
of days and life, where is the light of the eyes, and
peace.
15 Who hath found out her place? and who hath gone in to her
treasures?
16 Where are the princes of the nations, and they that rule
over the beasts that are upon the earth?
17 That take their diversion with the birds of the air.
18 That hoard up silver and gold, wherein men trust, and
there is no end of their getting? who work in silver and
are solicitous, and their works are unsearchable.
19 They are cut off, and are gone down to hell, and others
are risen up in their place.
20 Young men have seen the light, and dwelt upon the earth:
but the way of knowledge they have not known,
21 Nor have they understood the paths thereof, neither have
their children received it, it is far from their face.
22 It hath not been heard of in the land of Chanaan, neither
hath it been seen in Theman.
23 The children of Agar also, that search after the wisdom
that is of the earth, the merchants of Merrha, and of
Theman, and the tellers of fables, and searchers of
prudence and understanding: but the way of wisdom they
have not known, neither have they remembered her paths.
24 O Israel, how great is the house of God, and how vast is
the place of his possession!
25 It is great, and hath no end: it is high and immense.
26 There were the giants, those renowned men that were from
the beginning, of great stature, expert in war.
27 The Lord chose not them, neither did they find the way of
knowledge: therefore did they perish.
28 And because they had not wisdom, they perished through
their folly.
29 Who hath gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought
her down from the clouds?
30 Who hath passed over the sea, and found her, and brought
her preferably to chosen gold?
31 There is none that is able to know her ways, nor that can
search out her paths :
32 But he that knoweth all things, knoweth her, and hath
found her out with his understanding: he that prepared the
earth for evermore, and filled it with cattle and
fourfooted beasts:
33 He that sendeth forth light, and it goeth: and hath called
it, and it obeyeth him with trembling.
34 And the stars have given light in their watches, and
rejoiced:
35 They were called, and they said: Here we are: and with
cheerfuIness they have shined forth to him that made them.
36 This is our God, and there shall no other be accounted of
in comparison of him.
37 He found out all the way of knowledge, and gave it to
Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved.
38 Afterwards he was seen upon earth, and conversed with men.
The Book of the Prophet Baruch, Chapter 4
1 This is the book of the commandments of God, and the law,
that is for ever: all they that keep it, shall come to
life: but they that have forsaken it, to death.
2 Return, O Jacob, and take hold of it, walk in the way by
its brightness, in the presence of the light thereof.
3 Give not thy honour to another, nor thy dignity to a
strange nation.
4 We are happy, O Israel: because the things that are
pleasing to God, are made known to us.
5 Be of good comfort, O people of God, the memorial of
Israel:
6 You have been sold to the Gentiles, not for your
destruction: but because you provoked God to wrath, you
are delivered to your adversaries.
7 For you have provoked him who made you, the eternal God,
offering sacrifice to devils, and not to God.
8 For you have forgotten God, who brought you up, and you
have grieved Jerusalem that nursed you.
9 For she saw the wrath of God coming upon you, and she
said: Give ear, all you that dwell near Sion, for God hath
brought upon me great mourning:
10 For I have seen the captivity of my people, of my sons,
and my daughters, which the Eternal hath brought upon
them.
11 For I nourished them with joy: but I sent them away with
weeping and mourning.
12 Let no man rejoice over me, a widow, and desolate: I am
forsaken of many for the sins of my children, because they
departed from the law of God.
13 And they have not known his justices, nor walked by the
ways of God's commandments, neither have they entered by
the paths of his truth and justice.
14 Let them that dwell about Sion come, and remember the
captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Eternal hath
brought upon them.
15 For he hath brought a nation upon them from afar, a wicked
nation, and of a strange tongue:
16 Who have neither reverenced the ancient, nor pitied
children, and have carried away the beloved of the widow,
and have left me all alone without children.
17 But as for me, what help can I give you?
18 But he that hath brought the evils upon you, he will
deliver you out of the hands of your enemies.
19 Go your way, my children, go your way: for I am left
alone.
20 I have put off the robe of peace, and have put upon me the
sackcloth of supplication, and I will cry to the most High
in my days.
21 Be of good comfort, my children, cry to the Lord, and he
will deliver you out of the hand of the princes your
enemies.
22 For my hope is in the Eternal that he will save you: and
joy is come upon me from the Holy One, because of the
mercy which shall come to you from our everlasting
Saviour.
23 For I sent you forth with mourning and weeping: but the
Lord will bring you back to me with joy and gladness for
ever.
24 For as the neighbours of Sion have now seen your captivity
from God: so shall they also shortly see your salvation
from God, which shall come upon you with great honour, and
everlasting glory.
25 My children, suffer patiently the wrath that is come upon
you: for thy enemy hath persecuted thee, but thou shalt
quickly see his destruction: and thou shalt get up upon
his neck.
26 My delicate ones have walked rough ways, for they were
taken away as a flock made a prey by the enemies.
27 Be of good comfort, my children, and cry to the Lord: for
you shall be remembered by him that hath led you away.
28 For as it was your mind to go astray from God; so when you
return again you shall seek him ten times as much.
29 For he that hath brought evils upon you, shall bring you
everlasting joy again with your salvation.
30 Be of good heart, O Jerusalem: for he exhorteth thee, that
named thee.
31 The wicked that have afflicted thee, shall perish: and
they that have rejoiced at thy ruin, shall be punished.
32 The cities which thy children have served, shall be
punished: and she that received thy sons.
33 For as she rejoiced at thy ruin, and was glad of thy fall:
so shall she be grieved for her own desolation.
34 And the joy of her multitude shall be cut off: and her
gladness shall be turned to mourning.
35 For fire shall come upon her from the Eternal, long to
endure, and she shall be inhabited by devils for a great
time.
36 Look about thee, O Jerusalem, towards the east, and behold
the joy that cometh to thee from God.
37 For behold thy children come, whom thou sentest away
scattered, they come gathered together from the east even
to the west, at the word of the Holy One rejoicing for the
honour of God.
The Book of the Prophet Baruch, Chapter 5
1 Put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of thy mourning, and
affliction: and put on the beauty, and honour of that
everlasting glory which thou hast from God.
2 God will clothe thee with the double garment of justice,
and will set a crown on thy head of everlasting honour.
3 For God will shew his brightness in thee, to every one
under heaven.
4 For thy name shall be named to thee by God for ever: the
peace of justice, and honour of piety.
5 Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand on high: and look about
towards the east, and behold thy children gathered
together from the rising to the setting sun, by the word
of the Holy One rejoicing in the remembrance of God.
6 For they went out from thee on foot, led by the enemies:
but the Lord will bring them to thee exalted with honour
as children of the kingdom.
7 For God hath appointed to bring down every high mountain,
and the everlasting rocks, and to fill up the valleys to
make them even with the ground: that Israel may walk
diligently to the honour of God.
8 Moreover the woods, and every sweet-smelling tree have
overshadowed Israel by the commandment of God.
9 For God will bring Israel with joy in the light of his
majesty, with mercy, and justice, that cometh from him.
The Book of the Prophet Baruch, Chapter 6
A copy of the epistle that Jeremias sent to them that were to be led away captives into Babylon, by the king of Babylon, to declare to them according to what was commanded him by God. 1 For the sins that you have committed before God, you shall
be carried away captives into Babylon by Nabuchodonosor
the king of Babylon.
2 And when you are come into Babylon, you shall be there
many years, and for a long time, even to seven
generations: and after that I will bring you away from
thence with peace.
3 But now, you shall see in Babylon gods of gold, and of
silver, and of stone, and of wood borne upon shoulders,
causing fear to the Gentiles.
4 Beware therefore that you imitate not the doings of
others, and be afraid, and the fear of them should seize
upon you.
5 But when you see the multitude behind, and before, adoring
them, say you in your hearts: Thou oughtest to be adored,
O Lord.
6 For my angel is with you: And I myself will demand an
account of your souls.
7 For their tongue that is polished by the craftsman, and
themselves laid over with gold and silver, are false
things, and they cannot speak.
8 And as if it were for a maiden that loveth to go gay: so
do they take gold and make them up.
9 Their gods have golden crowns upon their heads: whereof
the priests secretly convey away from them gold, and
silver, and bestow it on themselves.
10 Yea and they give thereof to prostitutes, and they dress
out harlots: and again when they receive it of the
harlots, they adorn their gods.
11 And these gods cannot defend themselves from the rust, and
the moth.
12 But when they have covered them with a purple garment,
they wipe their face because of the dust of the house,
which is very much among them.
13 This holdeth a sceptre as a man, as a judge of the
country, but cannot put to death one that offendeth him.
14 And this hath in his hand a sword, or an axe, but cannot
save himself from war, or from robbers, whereby be it
known to you, that they are not gods.
15 Therefore fear them not. For as a vessel that a man uses
when it is broken becometh useless, even so are their
gods:
16 When they are placed in the house, their eyes are full of
dust by the feet of them that go in.
17 And as the gates are made sure on every side upon one that
hath offended the king, or like a dead man carried to the
grave, so do the priests secure the doors with bars and
locks, lest they be stripped by thieves.
18 They light candles to them, and in great number, of which
they cannot see one: but they are like beams in the house.
19 And they say that the creeping things which are of the
earth, gnaw their hearts, while they eat them and their
garments, and they feel it not.
20 Their faces are black with the smoke that is made in the
house.
21 Owls, and swallows, and other birds fly upon their bodies,
and upon their heads, and cats in like manner.
22 Whereby you may know that they are no gods. Therefore fear
them not.
23 The gold also which they have, is for shew, but except a
man wipe off the rust, they will not shine: for neither
when they were molten, did they feel it.
24 Men buy them at a high price, whereas there is no breath
in them.
25 And having not the use of feet they are carried upon
shoulders, declaring to men how vile they are. Be they
confounded also that worship them.
26 Therefore if they fall to the ground, they rise not up
again of themselves, nor if a man set them upright, will
they stand by themselves, but their gifts shall be set
before them, as to the dead.
27 The things that are sacrificed to them, their priests sell
and abuse: in like manner also their wives take part of
them, but give nothing of it either to the sick, or to the
poor.
28 The childbearing and menstruous women touch their
sacrifices: knowing therefore by these things that they
are not gods, fear them not.
29 For how can they be called gods? because women set
offerings before the gods of silver, and of gold, and of
wood:
30 And priests sit in their temples, having their garments
rent, and their heads and beards shaven, and nothing upon
their heads.
31 And they roar and cry before their gods, as men do at the
feast when one is dead.
32 The priests take away their garments, and clothe their
wives and their children.
33 And whether it be evil that one doth unto them, or good,
they are not able to recompense it: neither can they set
up a king nor put him down:
34 In like manner they can neither give riches, nor requite
evil. If a man make a vow to them, and perform it not,
they cannot require it.
35 They cannot deliver a man from death nor save the weak
from the mighty.
36 They cannot restore the blind man to his sight: nor
deliver a man from distress.
37 They shall not pity the widow, nor do good to the
fatherless.
38 Their gods, of wood, and of stone, and of gold, and of
silver, are like the stones that are hewn out of the
mountains: and they that worship them shall be confounded.
39 How then is it to be supposed, or to be said, that they
are gods?
40 Even the Chaldeans themselves dishonour them: who when
they hear of one dumb that cannot speak, they present him
to Bel, entreating him, that he may speak,
41 As though they could be sensible that have no motion
themselves: and they, when they shall perceive this, will
leave them: for their gods themselves have no sense.
42 The women also with cords about them, sit in the ways,
burning olive stones.
43 And when any one of them, drawn away by some passenger,
lieth with him, she upbraideth her neighbour, that she was
not thought as worthy as herself, nor her cord broken.
44 But all things that are done about them, are false: how is
it then to be thought, or to be said, that they are gods?
45 And they are made by workmen, and by goldsmiths. They
shall be nothing else but what the priests will have them
to be.
46 For the artificers themselves that make them, are of no
long continuance. Can those things then that are made by
them be gods?
47 But they have left false things and reproach to them that
come after.
48 For when war cometh upon them, or evils, the priests
consult with themselves where they may hide themselves
with them.
49 How then can they be thought to be gods, that can neither
deliver themselves from war, nor save themselves from
evils?
50 For seeing they are but of wood, and laid over with gold,
and with silver, it shall be known hereafter that they are
false things, by all nations and kings: and it shall be
manifest that they are no gods, but the work of men's
hands, and that there is no work of God in them.
51 Whence therefore is it known that they are not gods, but
the work of men's hands, and no work of God is in them?
52 They cannot set up a king over the land, nor give rain to
men.
53 They determine no causes, nor deliver countries from
oppression; because they can do nothing, and are as daws
between heaven and earth.
54 For when fire shall fall upon the house of these gods of
wood, and of silver, and of gold, their priests indeed
will flee away, and be saved: but they themselves shall be
burnt in the midst like beams.
55 And they cannot withstand a king and war. How then can it
be supposed, or admitted that they are gods?
56 Neither are these gods of wood, and of stone, and laid
over with gold, and with silver, able to deliver
themselves from thieves or robbers: they that are stronger
than them
57 Shall take from them the gold, and silver, and the raiment
wherewith they are clothed, and shall go their way,
neither shall they help themselves.
58 Therefore it is better to be a king that sheweth his
power: or else a profitable vessel in the house, with
which the owner thereof will be well satisfied: or a door
in the house, to keep things safe that are therein, than
such false gods.
59 The sun, and the moon, and the stars being bright, and
sent forth for profitable uses, are obedient.
60 In like manner the lightning, when it breaketh forth, is
easy to be seen: and after the same manner the wind
bloweth in every country.
61 And the clouds when God commandeth them to go over the
whole world, do that which is commanded them.
62 The fire also being sent from above to consume mountains
and woods, doth as it is commanded. But these neither in
shew, nor in power are like to any one of them.
63 Wherefore it is neither to be thought, nor to be said,
that they are gods: since they are neither able to judge
causes, nor to do any good to men.
64 Knowing therefore that they are not gods, fear them not.
65 For neither can they curse kings, nor bless them.
66 Neither do they shew signs in the heaven to the nations,
nor shine as the sun, nor give light as the moon.
67 Beasts are better than they, which can fly under a covert,
and help themselves.
68 Therefore there is no manner of appearance that they are
gods: so fear them not.
69 For as a scarecrow in a garden of cucumbers keepeth
nothing, so are their gods of wood, and of silver, and
laid over with gold.
70 They are no better than a white thorn in a garden, upon
which every bird sitteth. In like manner also their gods
of wood, and laid over with gold, and with silver, are
like to a dead body cast forth in the dark.
71 By the purple also and the scarlet which are motheaten
upon them, you shall know that they are not gods. And they
themselves at last are consumed, and shall be a reproach
in the country.
72 Better therefore is the just man that hath no idols: for
he shall be far from reproach.
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