Baruch chapter 2

[This chapter is in Orthodox and Catholic Bibles] They confess their sins, continued. They ask the LORD God to deliver them. They recall God’s promises to them.

 


 

The Book of Baruch is recognized as Deuterocanonical Scripture by the Orthodox and Catholic Churches

 


 

THEY CONFESS THEIR SINS, CONTINUED

 

VERSE 1. Therefore the Lord has 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 Judah,

 

VERSE 2. 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;

such as never happened under the whole heaven. The events in Jerusalem were unsurpassed.

 

VERSE 3. That we should eat every man the flesh of his own son, and every man the flesh of his own daughter.

eat … the flesh of his own son. If God’s people break the covenant, they will eventually spiral downward to cannibalism. They will eat their own children. This is an outcome of their own sin. Read more »

 

VERSE 4. Moreover he has 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 has scattered them.

 

VERSE 5. Thus were they cast down, and not exalted, because we sinned against the Lord our God, in not listening to his voice.

 

VERSE 6. To the Lord our God belongs righteousness: but to us and to our fathers confusion of face, as at this day.

 

VERSE 7. For all these plagues are come upon us, which the Lord has pronounced against us.

 

VERSE 8. Yet have we not entreated the favor of the Lord, in turning every one from the thoughts of his wicked heart.

 

VERSE 9. Therefore has the Lord kept watch over the plagues, and the Lord has brought them upon us; for the Lord is righteous in all his works which he has commanded us.

 

VERSE 10. Yet we have not listened to his voice, to walk in the commandments of the Lord that he has set before us.

 

THEY ASK THE LORD GOD TO DELIVER THEM

 

VERSE 11. And now, O Lord, you God of Israel, that have brought your 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 have gotten yourself a name, as at this day:

 

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

 

VERSE 13. Let your wrath turn from us: for we are but a few left among the heathen, where you have scattered us.

Let your wrath turn from us. Their predicament is their own doing. It is the result of their own sins. They have reaped what they sowed.

There is a law of “sowing and reaping” throughout the Bible. How shall we reconcile it with grace and mercy? Here are the verses we’ve found »

 

VERSE 14. Hear our prayer, O Lord, and our petition, and deliver us for your own sake, and give us favor in the sight of them which have led us away captive:

 

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

that all the earth may know. The Old Testament foresees Gentiles coming to faith in the One God of Israel and bringing gifts to Jerusalem. Here are the key Bible verses about this »

 

VERSE 16. O Lord, look down from your holy house, and consider us: incline your ear, O Lord, and hear:

 

VERSE 17. open your eyes, and behold: for the dead that are in the grave, whose breath is taken from their bodies, will give to the Lord neither glory nor righteousness:

 

VERSE 18. but the soul that is greatly vexed, which goes stooping and feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul, will give you glory and righteousness, O Lord.

This verse reminds us of Psalm 1 and Psalm 15.

 

VERSE 19. For we do not present our supplication before you, O Lord our God, for the righteousness of our fathers, and of our kings.

 

VERSE 20. For you have sent your wrath and your indignation upon us, as you have spoken by your servants the prophets, saying,

 

VERSE 21. The Lord says, Bow your shoulders to serve the king of Babylon, and remain in the land that I gave to your fathers.

 

VERSE 22. But if you will not hear the voice of the Lord, to serve the king of Babylon,

 

VERSE 23. I 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.

DRA translation. 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.

the voice of joy. Some Christians have a sad face and a somber demeanor. We wish they could know the joy of their Lord. Holiness is marked by joy. Joy equals strength! Read more »

 

VERSE 24. But we would not listen to your voice, to serve the king of Babylon: therefore have you made good your words that you spoke by your servants the prophets, namely, that the bones of our kings, and the bones of our fathers, should be taken out of their places.

 

VERSE 25. And, behold, 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.

 

VERSE 26. And the house which is called by your name have you laid waste, as at this day, for the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

the house which is called by your name. That is, the temple in Jerusalem.

 

THEY RECALL GOD’S PROMISES TO THEM

 

VERSE 27. Yet, O Lord our God, you have dealt with us after all your kindness, and according to all that great mercy of yours,

that great mercy of yours. Even in this miserable situation, they see the LORD God as merciful.

 

VERSE 28. as you spoke by your servant Moses in the day when you did command him to write your law before the children of Israel, saying,

 

VERSE 29. If you 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.

 

VERSE 30. For I know that they will not hear me, because it is a stiff-necked people: but in the land of their captivity they shall take it to heart,

 

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

 

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

 

VERSE 33. and 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.

 

VERSE 34. And I will bring them again into the land which I sware to 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.

NAB translation. And I will bring them back to the land which with my oath I promised to their fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and they shall rule it. I will make them increase; they shall not then diminish.

I will bring them back. Even in this most difficult of times, they are given a glimmer of hope. The LORD God’s mercy continues.

 

VERSE 35. And 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.

 


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BARUCH

CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06

RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize

Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.