Baruch 2

So the Lord has carried out the word he spoke against us, and against our judges who judged Israel, and against our kings, and against our princes, and against the people of Israel and Judah:

1Therefore 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, and against the men of Israel and Juda,

Note"Judges" means the leaders described in the book of Judges, who governed the tribes of Israel in the period before there were kings. "Princes" in the King James does not mean sons of a king; it covers officials, military commanders and heads of leading families.

2to bring on us great disasters, such as have never happened under the whole heaven, as they happened in Jerusalem, according to the things written in the law of Moses:

2To 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 were written in the law of Moses;

Note"Plagues" in the King James means blows or disasters of any kind, not disease in particular. "The law of Moses" is the first five books of the Bible, and the reference is to the lists of curses in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, which spell out what was to follow if Israel broke its agreement with God.

3that a man would eat the flesh of his own son, and the flesh of his own daughter.

3That a man should eat the flesh of his own son, and the flesh of his own daughter.

NoteThis picks up the warning of Deuteronomy 28:53, that a siege could reduce people to eating their own children. Ancient armies took walled cities by starving them out, and 2 Kings 6:28-29 and Lamentations 4:10 report this happening in Israelite cities.

4He also handed them over to be ruled by all the kingdoms around us, to be an object of scorn and a ruin among all the peoples around us, where the Lord has scattered them.

4Moreover he hath delivered them to be in subjection to all the kingdoms that are round about us, to be as a reproach and desolation among all the people round about, where the Lord hath scattered them.

NoteThe scattering refers to the deportations carried out by Babylon, chiefly in 597 and 587 BC, when the population of Judah was marched off in stages, with others fleeing to Egypt and neighboring countries.

5So we were brought down and not lifted up, because we sinned against the Lord our God and did not obey his voice.

5Thus we were cast down, and not exalted, because we have sinned against the Lord our God, and have not been obedient unto his voice.

6Righteousness belongs to the Lord our God, but open shame belongs to us and to our fathers, as is plain today.

6To the Lord our God appertaineth righteousness: but unto us and to our fathers open shame, as appeareth this day.

NoteThe Greek reads literally "shame of face," an idiom for disgrace that everyone can see, rather than private guilt. The King James "open shame" carries the same sense.

7All these disasters have come on us, the ones the Lord spoke against us.

7For all these plagues are come upon us, which the Lord hath pronounced against us

8Yet we have not prayed to the Lord for his favor, with each of us turning away from the thoughts of his own wicked heart.

8Yet have we not prayed before the Lord, that we might turn every one from the imaginations of his wicked heart.

NoteThe Greek says literally that they have not begged "the face of the Lord," a standard idiom for pleading with someone in power for a favorable hearing.

9So the Lord kept watch over these disasters, and the Lord has brought them on us, for the Lord is righteous in all the works he has commanded us.

9Wherefore the Lord watched over us for evil, and the Lord hath brought it upon us: for the Lord is righteous in all his works which he hath commanded us.

Note"Watched over" here does not mean protected. The image, borrowed from Jeremiah 1:12 and 31:28, is of a guard keeping something in view until it is carried out, and what is being guarded is the disaster. "For evil" means for harm, not for wickedness.

10Yet we have not listened to his voice, to live by the commandments of the Lord that he set before 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, Lord, God of Israel, you brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, with signs, with wonders, with great power, and with a raised arm, and you made a name for yourself, as is plain today.

11And now, O Lord God of Israel, that hast brought thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and high arm, and with signs, and with wonders, and with great power, and hast gotten thyself a name, as appeareth this day:

Note"With a mighty hand, and high arm" is a stock phrase for force used openly, the way a raised arm can be seen from a distance; it belongs to the fixed language for the escape from Egypt. "Gotten thyself a name" means built a reputation that other nations know.

12Lord our God, we have sinned. We have acted without honoring you. We have done wrong in all your rules.

12O Lord our God, we have sinned, we have done ungodly, we have dealt unrighteously in all thine ordinances.

13Let your anger turn away from us, for only a few of us are left among the nations where you have scattered us.

13Let thy wrath turn from us: for we are but a few left among the heathen, where thou hast scattered us.

Note"Heathen" in the King James simply translates the ordinary word for the nations, meaning peoples other than Israel. In 1611 it carried no sneer.

14Hear our prayers, Lord, and the things we ask, and rescue us for your own sake, and make those who led us away look on us with favor,

14Hear our prayers, O Lord, and our petitions, and deliver us for thine own sake, and give us favour in the sight of them which have led us away:

Note"Them which have led us away" are the Babylonians who deported them. Asking that captors look on them with favor echoes Exodus 3:21, where the Israelites leaving Egypt are given favor in the eyes of the Egyptians.

15so that all the earth may know that you are the Lord our God, because Israel and his descendants are called by your name.

15That all the earth may know that thou art the Lord our God, because Israel and his posterity is called by thy name.

NoteTo be "called by" someone's name is an ownership idiom. It marks a person, a city or a building as belonging to the one named, much as a name on a deed does.

16Lord, look down from your holy house and give thought to us. Bend down your ear, Lord, and hear us.

16O Lord, look down from thine holy house, and consider us: bow down thine ear, O Lord, to hear us.

Note"Thine holy house" usually means the temple in Jerusalem, but that temple is described as ruined in verse 26, so the phrase here is often read as God's dwelling in heaven. The Greek allows either.

17Open your eyes and see, for the dead who are in Hades, whose breath has been taken from their bodies, will give the Lord neither glory nor righteousness.

17Open thine eyes, and behold; for the dead that are in the graves, whose souls are taken from their bodies, will give unto the Lord neither praise nor righteousness:

NoteWhere the King James says "graves," the Greek says Hades, the underworld where all the dead were thought to go; in this usage it is the general realm of the dead, not a place of punishment. "Souls" translates a word meaning breath or life, so the line says the dead no longer breathe.

18But the person who is deeply distressed, who walks bent over and weak, and the eyes that are failing, and the hungry soul, these will give you glory and righteousness, Lord.

18But the soul that is greatly vexed, which goeth stooping and feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul, will give thee praise and righteousness, O Lord.

Note"Soul" in these verses means the whole living person, so "the hungry soul" is a person who is actually going hungry. Stooping and failing eyesight are physical signs of starvation and grief.

19So we do not bring our humble requests before you, Lord our God, on the basis of the righteousness of our fathers and of our kings.

19Therefore we do not make our humble supplication before thee, O Lord our God, for the righteousness of our fathers, and of our kings.

20For you have sent out your anger and your fury on us, just as you said through your servants the prophets, who said,

20For thou hast sent out thy wrath and indignation upon us, as thou hast spoken by thy servants the prophets, saying,

21This is what the Lord says: Bend your shoulders and serve the king of Babylon, and you will stay in the land that I gave to your fathers.

21Thus saith the Lord, Bow down your shoulders to serve the king of Babylon: so shall ye remain in the land that I gave unto your fathers.

NoteThe words quoted here and through verse 23 are a compressed version of things said in the book of Jeremiah (27:11-12, 7:34, 16:9, 25:10) rather than a quotation of any single passage. "Bow down your shoulders" pictures an ox putting its neck under the yoke, that is, accepting a master's rule instead of fighting it.

22But if you will not listen to the voice of the Lord and serve the king of Babylon,

22But if ye will not hear the voice of the Lord, to serve the king of Babylon,

23I will make the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, stop in the cities of Judah and in the country around Jerusalem, and the whole land will be left with no one living in it.

23I will cause to cease out of the cites of Judah, and from without Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: and the whole land shall be desolate of inhabitants.

Note"The voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride" is a set phrase in Jeremiah for the ordinary sounds of weddings and celebration, so its silence means a country emptied of normal life. "Mirth" in the King James means merrymaking or festivity.

24But we would not listen to your voice and serve the king of Babylon. So you carried out the words you spoke through your servants the prophets, that the bones of our kings and the bones of our fathers would be taken out of the places where they lay.

24But we would not hearken unto thy voice, to serve the king of Babylon: therefore hast thou made good the 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 place.

NoteTo have bones "taken out of their place" is to have a tomb broken open and the remains thrown out, the worst dishonor that could be done to the dead. Jeremiah 8:1-2 threatens exactly this against the kings and people of Jerusalem.

25And look, they are thrown out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. And they died in great misery, by famine, by the sword, and by disease.

25And, lo, they are cast out to the heat of the day, and to the frost of the night, and they died in great miseries by famine, by sword, and by pestilence.

NoteExposure to sun and frost describes bones left lying unburied. "Pestilence" means epidemic disease. Famine, sword and pestilence together are a fixed trio in Jeremiah for the three ways a besieged population dies.

26And the house that is called by your name you have made into what it is today, as can be seen, because of the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

26And the house which is called by thy name hast thou laid waste, as it is to be seen this day, for the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of Juda.

Note"The house which is called by thy name" is the temple in Jerusalem, burned by the Babylonians in 587 BC.

27Yet, Lord our God, you have treated us according to all your kindness and according to all that great mercy of yours,

27O Lord our God, thou hast dealt with us after all thy goodness, and according to all that great mercy of thine,

28as you said through your servant Moses, on the day when you commanded him to write your law in front of the children of Israel, saying,

28As thou spakest by thy servant Moses in the day when thou didst command him to write the law before the children of Israel, saying,

NoteWhat follows in verses 29 to 35 is not a quotation of any one passage of Moses but a summary of the pattern set out in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 4, 28 and 30, where both exile and a later return are described.

29If you will not listen to my voice, then this very great crowd of people will surely be turned into a small number among the nations where I will scatter them.

29If 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 knew that they would not listen to me, because they are a stubborn people. But in the land where they are held captive they will take it to heart,

30For I knew that they would not hear me, because it is a stiffnecked people: but in the land of their captivities they shall remember themselves.

Note"Stiffnecked" is a farming image: an animal that stiffens its neck against the yoke or the reins and refuses to be steered. The King James "remember themselves" means come to their senses.

31and they will know that I am the Lord their God. And I will give them a heart, and ears to hear.

31And shall know that I am the Lord their God: for I will give them an heart, and ears to hear:

Note"Heart" in this language means the mind and the will, the place where a person thinks and decides, rather than the seat of feelings. Giving a heart and ears to hear echoes Deuteronomy 29:4 and Jeremiah 24:7.

32And they will praise me in the land where they are held captive, and they will think about my name,

32And they shall praise me in the land of their captivity, and think upon my name,

33and they will turn back from their stubbornness and from their wicked deeds, for they will remember the way their fathers went, who sinned before the Lord.

33And 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 back into the land that I promised with an oath to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they will rule over it. And I will make them many, and they will not become few.

34And I will bring them again into the land which I promised with an oath unto their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they shall be lords of it: and I will increase them, and they shall not be diminished.

NoteAbraham, Isaac and Jacob are the three ancestors to whom, in Genesis, God promised the land under oath. Naming all three is a way of saying the promise goes back to the beginning of the people.

35And I will make an agreement with them that lasts forever: I will be their God, and they will be my people. And I will never again drive my people Israel out of the land that I have given them.

35And I will make an everlasting covenant with them to be their God, and they shall be my people: and I will no more drive my people of Israel out of the land that I have given them.

NoteA covenant is a binding agreement with obligations on both sides, of the kind a king made with a subject people. "I will be their God, and they shall be my people" is the standard formula for that agreement between God and Israel, used in the same words at Jeremiah 31:33 and elsewhere.