Baruch 4
The people of Israel are urged to return to the law of God and walk in its ways, for those who keep it will attain life, while those who forsake it will face death. Israel has been sold to the nations due to their sins, but God will rescue them from their enemies. Jerusalem laments the captivity of her sons and daughters, but is reassured that God will bring them back with joy and gladness. The chapter ends with a message of hope and restoration, as Jerusalem is told to look to the east and see the happiness that comes from God, as her sons return, gathered together from all directions.
1" ‘This is the book of the commandments of God and of the law, which exists in eternity. All those who keep it will attain to life, but those who have forsaken it, to death2Convert, O Jacob, and embrace it, walk in the way of its splendor, facing its light3Do not surrender your glory to another, nor your value to a foreign people4We have been happy, O Israel, because the things that are pleasing to God have been made clear to us5Be ever more peaceful in soul, O people of God, the memorial of Israel6You have been sold to the nations, not into destruction, but because of this, in resentment, you provoked God to wrath, and so you have been delivered to adversity7For you have exasperated him who made you, the eternal God, by sacrificing to evil spirits, and not to God8For you have forgotten God, who nurtured you, and you have saddened Jerusalem, your nurse9For she saw the wrath of God approaching you, and she said, "Listen, region of Zion, for God has brought upon me great sorrow10For I have seen the captivity of my people, my sons and daughters, which the Eternal has led over them11For I nurtured them with joy, but I sent them away with weeping and sorrow12Let no one rejoice over me, a widow and a desolation, for I am forsaken by many because of the sins of my sons, because they strayed from the law of God13And they have not known his righteousness, nor walked in the ways of the commandments of God, nor have they advanced with justice along the paths of his truth14Let the region of Zion approach, and remember the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Eternal led over them15For he has brought a far away people upon them, a guilty people, and of another language16who have not reverenced the aged, nor had mercy on the children, and who have led away the beloved of the widow, leaving me deserted and alone, without sons17But as for me, how am I able to help you18For he who has brought these evils upon you, will rescue you from the hands of your enemies19Walk on, sons, walk on, for I have been abandoned and I am alone20I have taken off the garment of peace and have put on the sackcloth of supplication, and I will cry out to the most High in my days21Be ever more peaceful, sons. Cry out to the Lord, and he will rescue you from the hand of the hostile leaders22For I have placed my hope in your eternal salvation, and joy approaches me from the Holy One, over the mercy which will come to you by our eternal salvation23For I sent you forth with sorrow and weeping, but the Lord will restore you to me with joy and gladness for eternity24For just as the neighbors of Zion have seen your captivity from God, so also will they soon see your salvation from God, which will overcome you with great honor and eternal splendor25Sons, endure patiently the wrath that has come upon you, for your enemy has persecuted you, but you will quickly see his destruction and you will climb over his neck26My delicate ones have walked rough ways, for they were regarded as a flock torn apart by enemies27Be ever more peaceful in soul, sons, and call out to the Lord, for you will be remembered by him who led you away28For as much as you thought to go astray from God, ten times as much again he will require of you when converting29For he who led you into evil, he himself will again lead you to eternal happiness with your salvation.30Be ever more peaceful in soul, Jerusalem, for he who has named you, has been affected by you31The criminals who have troubled you, will perish, and those who rejoiced in your ruin, will be punished32The cities that your sons have served, will be punished, and also, she who received your sons33For just as she was glad at your ruin, and she rejoiced in your fall, so also will she be grieved in her own desolation34and the exaltation of her multitude will be cut off, and her gladness will be turned to sorrow35For fire will overcome her from the Eternal for many days, and she will be inhabited by evil spirits for a long time36Look around, Jerusalem, towards the east, and see the happiness that comes to you from God37For behold, your sons approach, whom you sent away scattered. They approach, gathering together, from the east all the way to the west, at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the honor of God
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