1. These are the words of the book written by Baruch, the son of Neriah, descended from Massiah, from Sedekiah, from Hasadiah, from Hilkiah.

2. They were written in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month, at the time when the Chaldeans had taken Jerusalem and burned it.

3. Baruch read the words of this book to Jeconiah, the son of Joachim, the king of Judah, in the presence of all the people who had come together to hear it read.

4. He read it in the hearing of the nobles and the king's sons, of the elders and all the people, from the smallest to the greatest - that is, all those who were living in Babylon near the River Sudi.

5. Then the people wept and fasted and prayed before the Lord.

6. They also collected money according to what each one could afford

7. and this they sent to Jerusalem, to the priest Jehoiakim, son of Hilkiah, the son of Shallum, and to the other priests and people who dwelt in Jerusalem with him.

8. This same Baruch had undertaken to carry back to Judea, on the tenth day of the month of Sivan, the sacred vessels which had been taken away from the Temple of the Lord. These were the silver vessels made by Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah,

9. after Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried off Jeconiah, the artisans, the nobles and the people of the land and had taken them captive to Babylon.

10. The letter said: Look, we are sending you money; buy with it victims for the holocaust and for sin offerings and incense; prepare oblations and offer them on the Altar of the Lord our God.

11. Pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and of Balthasar, his son, so that they may be successful in all that they do.

12. Thus the Lord will give strength and light to our eyes. We will live under the protection of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, and of his son, Balthasar. We shall have a long life serving them and we shall find favor before them.

13. Pray to the Lord our God for us also, for we have sinned against the Lord our God, even to this day the anger of the Lord and his fury have not been turned away from us.

14. Finally, read this book which we are sending to you, so that you can read it publicly in the House of the Lord on the day of the Feast and on other suitable days.

15. You will say: May everyone recognize the justice of our God but, on this day, shame and confusion befit the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem -

16. our kings and princes, our priests, our prophets, and our fathers,

17. because we have sinned before the Lord.

18. We have disobeyed him and have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God, nor have we followed the commandments which the Lord had put before us.

19. From the day that the Lord brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt until this day, we have disobeyed the Lord our God and we have rebelled against him instead of listening to his voice.

20. Because of this, from the day on which the Lord brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, so as to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, the evils and the curse which the Lord pronounced by Moses, his servant, have dogged our footsteps right down to the present day.

21. We did not listen to the voice of the Lord our God speaking through the words of the prophets whom he sent to us,

22. but each one of us followed his perverted heart, serving false gods and doing what displeases the Lord our God.





“A mulher forte é a que tem temor de Deus, a que mesmo à custa de sacrifício faz a vontade de Deus.” São Padre Pio de Pietrelcina