The Holy Bible – Knox Translation
The Prophecy of Baruch
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Chapter 2
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1 2 3 4 5 6
1
That is why the Lord our God has made good his threats against us; against the rulers of Israel, whether kings or nobles, and against the common folk of Israel and Juda.
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Here was a threat made in the law of Moses, that went beyond all hitherto seen on earth, and yet in Jerusalem it came true;
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that men would be eating the flesh of their own sons and daughters!
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Neighbouring kings had the mastery, and in all the far countries to which the Lord had banished us, we became a thing of scorn and horror.
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Slaves are we, that might have ruled; and the reason of it? Because by sinning we offended the Lord our God, and left his voice unheeded;
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his was never the fault; for us and for our fathers the blush of shame, as this day can witness.
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No calamity has befallen us but he, the Lord, had prophesied it;
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and still we would not sue for the divine mercy, but each of us went on straying by false paths.
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That is why the Lord’s jealous care was for our undoing; he has but fulfilled what he threatened; in all he has imposed upon us, the Lord our God is without fault.
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It was our fault if we would not listen to his warnings, would not follow the divine commands which he set before us.

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Lord God of Israel, whose constraining hand rescued thy people from Egypt with portents and wonders, with sovereign power signally manifested, and won thee renown that is thine yet,
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we are sinners! We have wronged thee, revolted against every claim thou hast upon us.
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But oh, would thy vengeance give over the pursuit! So wide thou hast parted us, and we are left so few.
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Grant a hearing, Lord, to this our plaint and plea; for thy own honour, be our rescuer still, and win over the hearts of our captors;
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prove to the whole world that thou art the Lord our God, that it was thy name Israel bore, and Israel’s race yet bears.
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Look down upon us, Lord, from the sanctuary where thou dwellest; thine be the attentive ear,
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the watchful eye! Once breath has left body, and a man lies in the grave, honour and devoir is none he can pay thee;
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but let a man be downcast over his great misfortune, so that he goes bowed and tottering, dim eyes and hungry belly, there, Lord, thou shalt have the honour that is thy due.

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Well for us, O Lord our God, as we pour out our supplications for thy mercy, if we could plead that fathers of ours, kings of ours, did loyally thy will.
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But no; thou hadst given them due warning, through those prophets that were servants of thine, before letting thy angry vengeance have its way, and the warning went unheeded.
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Bow shoulder and bow neck, said the divine voice, and be vassals to the king of Babylon; and the land I gave to your fathers shall still be your home.
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Refuse to serve the king of Babylon at my divine bidding, and Jerusalem with her daughter cities shall mourn their loss;
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no more the cry of joy and mirth, no more the voice of bridegroom and of bride; untrodden the whole land shall be, and uninhabited.
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But all thy threats could not persuade them to be the king of Babylon’s vassals; thy servants prophesied in vain. And so thy threats were performed; kings of ours and fathers of ours might not rest quiet in their graves;
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their bones were cast out to endure sun’s heat and night frost, and great anguish they endured in their deaths, from the sword, and famine, and pestilence.
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As for the temple that was the shrine of thy name, thou madest it into the thing it is this day, for Israel’s sin, for Juda’s sin.

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No greater proof we could have had of thy consideration, of that abundant mercy which is thine.
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And merciful was the promise thou didst make to thy servant Moses, when thou badest him write down thy law for Israel’s acceptance.
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Out of all this swarming multitude, thou didst say to him, what a sorry remnant of scattered exiles will be left, if my voice goes unheeded!
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And go unheeded it will; this is a race that ever spurns the yoke. What then if they come back to a right mind, there in the country of their banishment?
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What if they learn to recognize that I, the Lord, am their God (the heedful heart, the listening ear, are mine to give them);
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what if they remember to honour me, to invoke my name, in their exile?
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What if they follow the example of their fathers, that were sinners before them, repent of their stubborn indifference and of all their ill doings?
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Then they shall come home again; back to the country I promised to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; they shall be masters of it, and their dwindled strength shall thrive anew.
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A fresh covenant I will make with them, that shall last for ever; I their God, and they my people; never again will I banish my people, the sons of Israel, from the land I have made theirs.