The Prophecy of Baruch

Translated by RH Charles, 1917

<sup>Read: The Book of Enoch
Messianic Prophecy Edition

“Time-Capsule to the Last Generation”</sup>

Baruch Reads His Book to the Jews in Babylon

1 And these are the words of the book, which Baruch the son of Nerias, the son of Maaseas, the son of Sedekias, 2the son of Asadias, the son of Helkias, wrote in Babylon, in the fifth year, and in the seventh day of the month, what time as the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, and burnt it with fire. 3And Baruch did read the words of this book in the hearing of Jechonias the son of Joakim king of Judah, 4and in the hearing of all the people that came to hear the book, and in the hearing of the mighty men, and of the kings’ sons, and in the hearing of the elders, and in the hearing of all the people, from the least unto the greatest, even of all them that dwelt at Babylon by the river Sud.

5And they wept, 6and fasted, and prayed before the Lord; they made also a collection of money according to every man’s power: 7and they sent it to Jerusalem unto Joakim the high priest, the son of Helkias, the son of Salom, and to the priests, and to all the people which were found with him at Jerusalem, 8at the same time when he took the vessels of the house of the Lord, that had been carried out of the temple, to return them into the land of Judah, the tenth day of the month Sivan, namely, 9silver vessels, which Sedekias the son of Josias king of Judah had made, 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.

10And they said, Behold, we have sent you money; buy you therefore with the money burnt offerings, and sin offerings, and incense, and prepare an oblation, and offer upon the altar of the Lord our God; 11and pray for the life of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and for the life of Baltasar his son, that their days may be as the days of heaven above the earth: 12and 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 Baltasar his son, and we shall serve them many days, and find favour in their sight. 13Pray for us also unto the Lord our God, for we have sinned against the Lord our God; and unto this day the wrath of the Lord and his indignation is not turned from us. 14And ye shall read this book which we have sent unto you, to make confession in the house of the Lord, upon the day of the feast and on the days of the solemn assembly.

15And ye shall say, To the Lord our God belongeth righteousness, but unto us confusion of face, as at this day, 16unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to our kings, and to our princes, and to our priests, and to our prophets, and to our fathers: 17for that we have sinned before the Lord, 18and disobeyed him, and have not hearkened unto the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the commandments of the Lord that he hath set before us: 19since the day that the Lord brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, unto this present day, we have been disobedient unto the Lord our God, and we have dealt unadvisedly in not hearkening unto his voice. 20Wherefore the plagues clave unto us, and the curse, which the Lord commanded Moses his servant to pronounce in the day that he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, to give us a land that floweth with milk and honey, as at this day. 21Nevertheless we hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord our God, according unto all the words of the prophets, whom he sent unto us: 22but we walked every man in the imagination of his own wicked heart, to serve strange gods, and to do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord our God.      {Top}

2 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, 2and against the men of Israel and Judah, 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 are written in the law of Moses; 3that we should eat every man the flesh of his own son, and every man the flesh of his own daughter. 4Moreover he hath given them to be in subjection to all the kingdoms that are round about us, to be a reproach and a desolation among all the people round about, where the Lord hath scattered them. 5Thus were they cast down, and not exalted, because we sinned against the Lord our God, in not hearkening unto his voice.

6To the Lord our God belongeth righteousness: but unto us and to our fathers confusion of face, as at this day. 7For all these plagues are come upon us, which the Lord hath pronounced against us. 8Yet have we not intreated the favour of the Lord, in turning every one from the thoughts of his wicked heart. 9Therefore hath the Lord kept watch over the plagues, and the Lord hath brought them upon us; for the Lord is righteous in all his works which he hath commanded us. 10Yet we have not hearkened unto his voice, to walk in the commandments of the Lord that he hath set before us.

11And now, O Lord, thou God of Israel, that hast brought thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with signs, and with wonders, and with great power, and with a high arm, and hast gotten thyself a name, as at this day: 12O Lord our God, we have sinned, we have done ungodly, we have dealt unrighteously in all thine ordinances. 13Let thy wrath turn from us: for we are but a few left among the heathen, where thou hast scattered us. 14Hear our prayer, O Lord, and our petition, and deliver us for thine own sake, and give us favour in the sight of them which have led us away captive: 15that all the earth may know that thou art the Lord our God, because Israel and his posterity is called by thy name. 16O Lord, look down from thine holy house, and consider us: 17incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear: open thine eyes, and behold: for the dead that are in the grave, whose breath is taken from their bodies, will give unto the Lord neither glory nor righteousness: 18but the soul that is greatly vexed, which goeth stooping and feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul, will give thee glory and righteousness, O Lord. 19For we do not present our supplication before thee, O Lord our God, for the righteousness of our fathers, and of our kings. 20For thou hast sent thy wrath and thine indignation upon us, as thou hast spoken by thy servants the prophets, saying, 21“Thus saith the Lord, Bow your shoulders to serve the king of Babylon, and remain in the land that I gave unto your fathers. 22But if ye will not hear the voice of the Lord, to serve the king of Babylon, 23I will cause to cease out of the cities of Judah, and from without Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: and the whole land shall be desolate without inhabitant.”

24But we would not hearken unto thy voice, to serve the king of Babylon: therefore hast thou made good thy 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 places. 25And, lo, they are cast out to the heat by day, and to the frost by night, and they died in great miseries by famine, by sword, and by pestilence. 26And the house which is called by thy name hast thou laid waste, as at this day, for the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

27Yet, O Lord our God, thou hast dealt with us after all thy kindness, and according to all that great mercy of thine, 28as thou spakest by thy servant Moses in the day when thou didst command him to write thy law before the children of Israel, saying, 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. 30For I know that they will not hear me, because it is a stiffnecked people: but in the land of their captivity they shall lay it to heart, 31and shall know that I am the Lord their God: and I will give them a heart, and ears to hear: 32and they shall praise me in the land of their captivity, and think upon my name, 33and shall return from their stiff neck, and from their wicked deeds: for they shall remember the way of their fathers, which sinned before the Lord. 34And I will bring them again into the land which I sware unto their fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and they shall be lords of it: and I will increase them, and they shall not be diminished. 35And I will make an everlasting covenant with them to be their God, and they shall be my people: and I will no more remove my people of Israel out of the land that I have given them.”      {Top}

3 O Lord Almighty, thou God of Israel, the soul in anguish, the troubled spirit, crieth unto thee. 2Hear, O Lord, and have mercy; for thou art a merciful God: yea, have mercy upon us, because we have sinned before thee. 3For thou sittest as king for ever, and we perish evermore. 4O Lord Almighty, thou God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the dead Israelites, and of the children of them which were sinners before thee, that hearkened not unto the voice of thee their God: for the which cause these plagues clave unto us. 5Remember not the iniquities of our fathers: but remember thy power and thy name now at this time. 6For thou art the Lord our God, and thee, O Lord, will we praise. 7For for this cause thou hast put thy fear in our hearts, to the intent that we should call upon thy name: and we will praise thee in our captivity, for we have called to mind all the iniquity of our fathers, that sinned before thee. 8Behold, we are yet this day in our captivity, where thou hast scattered us, for a reproach and a curse, and to be subject to penalty, according to all the iniquities of our fathers, which departed from the Lord our God.

9Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life: Give ear to understand wisdom.
10How happeneth it, O Israel, that thou art in thine enemies’ land,
That thou art waxen old in a strange country,
11That thou art defiled with the dead,
That thou art counted with them that go down into the grave?
12Thou hast forsaken the fountain of wisdom.
13For if thou hadst walked in the way of God,
Thou shouldst have dwelled in peace for ever.
14Learn 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.

15Who hath found out her place?
And who hath come into her treasuries?
16Where are the princes of the heathen,
And such as ruled the beasts that are upon the earth;
17They that had their pastime with the fowls of the air,
And they that hoarded up silver
And gold, wherein men trust
And of whose getting there is no end?
18For they that wrought in silver, and were so careful,
And whose works are past finding out,
19They are vanished and gone down to the grave,
And others are come up in their steads.

20Younger men have seen the light,
And dwelt upon the earth:
But the way of knowledge have they not known,
21Neither understood they the paths thereof:
Neither have their children laid hold of it:
They are far off from their way.
22It hath not been heard of in Canaan,
Neither hath it been seen in Teman.
23The sons also of Agar that seek understanding, [which are in the land,]
The merchants of Merran and Teman,
And the authors of fables, and the searchers out of understanding;
None of these have known the way of wisdom,
Or remembered her paths.

24O Israel, how great is the house of God!
And how large is the place of his possession!
25Great, and hath none end;
High, and unmeasurable.
26There were the giants born that were famous of old,
Great of stature, and expert in war.
27These did not God choose,
Neither gave he the way of knowledge unto them:
28So they perished, because they had no wisdom,
They perished through their own foolishness.

29Who hath gone up into heaven, and taken her,
And brought her down from the clouds?
30Who hath gone over the sea, and found her,
And will bring her for choice gold?
31There is none that knoweth her way,
Nor any that comprehendeth her path.
32But he that knoweth all things knoweth her,
He found her out with his understanding:
He that prepared the earth for evermore
Hath filled it with four-footed beasts:
33He that sendeth forth the light, and it goeth;
He called it, and it obeyed him with fear:
34And the stars shined in their watches, and were glad:
When he called them, they said, Here we be;
They shined with gladness unto him that made them.
35This is our God,
And there shall none other be accounted of in comparison of him.
36He hath found out all the way of knowledge,
37And hath given it unto Jacob his servant,
And to Israel that is beloved of him.      {Top}

4 [Afterward did she appear upon earth,
And was conversant with men.]
This is the book of the commandments of God,
And the law that endureth for ever:
2All they that hold it fast are appointed to life;
But such as leave it shall die.
3Turn thee, O Jacob, and take hold of it:
Walk towards her shining in the presence of the light thereof.
4Give not thy glory to another,
Nor the things that are profitable unto thee to a strange nation.
O Israel, happy are we:
For the things that are pleasing to God are made known unto us.

5Be of good cheer, my people,
The memorial of Israel.
6Ye were sold to the nations,
But not for destruction:
Because ye moved God to wrath,
Ye were delivered unto your adversaries.
7For ye provoked him that made you
By sacrificing unto demons, and not to God.
8Ye forgat the everlasting God, that brought you up;
Ye grieved also Jerusalem, that nursed you.
9For she saw the wrath that is come upon you from God,
And said, Hearken, ye women that dwell about Sion:
For God hath brought upon me great mourning;
10For I have seen the captivity of my sons and daughters,
Which the Everlasting hath brought upon them.
11For with joy did I nourish them;
But sent them away with weeping and mourning.
12Let no man rejoice over me,
A widow, and forsaken of many:
For the sins of my children am I left desolate;
13Because they turned aside from the law of God,
And had no regard to his statutes,
Neither walked they in the ways of God’s commandments,
Nor trod in the paths of discipline in his righteousness.
14Let them that dwell about Sion come,
And remember ye the captivity of my sons and daughters,
Which the Everlasting hath brought upon them.
15For he hath brought a nation upon them from far,
A shameless nation, and of a strange language,
Who neither reverenced old man,
Nor pitied child.
16And they have carried away the dear beloved sons of the widow,
And left her that was alone desolate of her daughters.
17But I, what can I help you?
17For he that brought these plagues upon you
Will deliver you from the hand of your enemies.
19Go your way, O my children, go your way:
For I am left desolate.
20I have put off the garment of peace,
And put upon me the sackcloth of my petition:
I will cry unto the Everlasting as long as I live.

21Be of good cheer, O my children, cry unto God,
And he shall deliver you from the power and hand of the enemies.
22For I have trusted in the Everlasting, that he will save you;
And joy is come unto me from the Holy One,
Because of the mercy which shall soon come unto you
From the Everlasting your Saviour.
23For I sent you out with mourning and weeping:
But God will give you to me again with joy and gladness for ever.
24For like as now they that dwell about Sion have seen your captivity:
So shall they see shortly your salvation from our God,
Which shall come upon you with great glory, and brightness of the Everlasting.
25My children, suffer patiently the wrath that is come upon you from God:
For thine enemy hath persecuted thee;
But shortly thou shalt see his destruction,
And shalt tread upon their necks.
26My delicate ones have gone rough ways;
They were taken away as a flock carried off by the enemies.

27Be of good cheer, O my children, and cry unto God:
For ye shall be remembered of him that hath brought these things upon you.
28For as it was your mind to go astray from God:
So, return and seek him ten times more.
29For he that brought these plagues upon you
Shall bring you everlasting joy again with your salvation.

30Be of good cheer, O Jerusalem:
For he that called thee by name will comfort thee.
31Miserable are they that afflicted thee,
And rejoiced at thy fall.
32Miserable are the cities which thy children served:
Miserable is she that received thy sons.
33For as she rejoiced at thy fall,
And was glad of thy ruin:
So shall she be grieved for her own desolation.
34And I will take away her exultation in her great multitude,
And her boasting shall be turned into mourning.
35For fire shall come upon her from the Everlasting, long to endure;
And she shall be inhabited of devils for a great time.

36O Jerusalem, look about thee toward the east,
And behold the joy that cometh unto thee from God.
37Lo, thy sons come, whom thou sentest away,
They come gathered together from the east to the west [at the word of the Holy One],
Rejoicing in the glory of God.      {Top}

“Arise, O Jerusalem, and Stand on the Height!”

5 Put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of thy mourning and affliction,
And put on the comeliness of the glory that cometh from God for ever.
2Cast about thee the robe of the righteousness which cometh from God;
Set a diadem on thine head of the glory of the Everlasting.
3For God will show thy brightness unto every region under heaven.
4For thy name shall be called of God for ever
The peace of righteousness, and the glory of godliness.

5Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand upon the height,
And look about thee toward the east,
And behold thy children gathered from the going down of the sun unto the rising thereof [at the word of the Holy One],
Rejoicing that God hath remembered them.
6For they went from thee on foot,
Being led away of their enemies:
But God bringeth them in unto thee
Borne on high with glory, as on a royal throne.
7For God hath appointed that every high mountain,
and the everlasting hills, should be made low,
And the valleys filled up, to make plain the ground,
That Israel may go safely in the glory of God.
8Moreover the woods and every sweet-smelling tree have overshadowed Israel [by the commandment of God].
9For God shall lead Israel with joy in the light of his glory
With the mercy and righteousness that cometh from him.      {Top}