Baruch 1

1 These are the words of the book Baruch wrote in Babylon. He was the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, son of Zedekiah, son of Hasadiah, son of Hilkiah. 2 He wrote it in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month, when the Chaldeans captured Jerusalem and burned it with fire. 3 Baruch read the words of this book within the hearing of Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the people who came to hear the book. 4 The nobles, the king’s sons, the elders, and all the people—from the least to the greatest—heard it, all who lived in Babylon by the River Sud.

5 Then they wept, fasted, and prayed before the Lord. 6 They also collected as much money as each person could give. 7 They sent it to Jerusalem, to Jehoiakim the priest, son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, and to the priests and all the people who were with him in Jerusalem. [a] 8 At that time he received the vessels of the Lord’s house that had been carried out of the temple, so that he could return them to the land of Judah. This was on the tenth day of the month of Sivan. These were silver vessels that Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, had made. [b] 9 This happened after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon carried Jeconiah, the rulers, the captives, the mighty men, and the people of the land from Jerusalem to Babylon.

10 They said, “Look, we have sent you money. Buy whole burnt offerings and offerings for sin, buy incense, prepare a grain offering, and bring them up on the altar of the Lord our God. [c] 11 Pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and for the life of his son Belshazzar, so that their days on earth may be like the days of heaven. 12 The Lord will give us strength and light to our eyes. We will live under the shadow of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and under the shadow of his son Belshazzar. We will serve them many days and find favor before them. 13 Pray for us also to the Lord our God, because we have sinned against the Lord our God. To this day the Lord’s fury and anger have not turned away from us. 14 Read this book that we have sent you, so that you may make confession in the Lord’s house on the feast day and on the appointed days.”

15 You are to say: “Righteousness belongs to the Lord our God, but open shame belongs to us today—to the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem, 16 to our kings, rulers, priests, prophets, and fathers. 17 We have sinned before the Lord. 18 We disobeyed him and did not listen to the voice of the Lord our God or walk in the decrees he set before us.

19 From the day the Lord brought our fathers out of Egypt until today, we have disobeyed the Lord our God and neglected to listen to his voice. 20 So the disasters and the curse have clung to us—the curse the Lord appointed through his servant Moses when he brought our fathers out of Egypt to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as can be seen today. 21 We did not listen to the voice of the Lord our God in any of the words of the prophets he sent to us. 22 Instead, each person followed the imagination of his own wicked heart, served foreign gods, and did evil before the Lord our God.