Baruch - Chapter 3

¹Almighty Lord, God of Israel, a soul in anguish and a discouraged spirit cries out to you. ²Listen, Lord, and have pity for we have sinned against you; ³for you reign forever while we perish forever. ⁴Lord, all-powerful God of Israel, listen then to the prayers of the dead of Israel. We are the sons of those who sinned against you, who did not listen to the voice of their God, and this is why disgrace has come upon us. ⁵Do not remember any longer the wrongdoing of our fathers, but remember at this time your power and your name; ⁶for you are the Lord, our God and we will praise you, Lord. ⁷That is why you have put your fear into our hearts and we call upon your name. And we will praise you in our exile for we have removed from our hearts all the wrong of our fathers who sinned against you. ⁸We are here today in our exile where you have scattered us to be insulted, cursed and condemned for the wrongdoing of our fathers, who separated themselves from the Lord our God.

Who has found wisdom?

^{9 ①} Listen, Israel, to the commands of life, give ear so as to learn prudence,

¹⁰Why, Israel! Why are you in the land of your foes? Why are you growing old in a foreign country, contaminated by pagans,

¹¹counted among those who go to the pit?

¹²You have abandoned the source of Wisdom.

¹³If you had walked in the way of God, peace would be your dwelling place forever.

¹⁴Learn where is Wisdom, where is Strength and Understanding,
that you may know, at the same time, where are length of days and life,
light of the eyes and Peace.

¹⁵Who will find Wisdom’s dwelling?
Who will enter her storage rooms?

¹⁶Where are the leaders of the nations, those who commanded the beasts of the earth,

¹⁷who played with the birds of the heavens,
who piled up silver and gold – in which people put their trust –
and who never tired of collecting it?

¹⁸Amassing money was their only concern,
their business beyond measure. ¹⁹But they have disappeared, they have gone down to the dead and others have risen in their place. ²⁰A younger generation is there on the earth and enjoys the light,
but they have not known the ways of knowledge;
they have not seen his tracks nor have they met him,

²¹and their children after them did not leave their paths.

²²No one in Canaan has heard of Wisdom, no one has seen her in Teman.

²³The sons of Agar, who seek knowledge of the earth,
the traders of Madian and Teman, the tellers of fables and philosophers, they have not known the path of Wisdom, they have not discovered her ways.

²⁴O Israel, how great is the house of God, how vast his dominion!

²⁵It is great and has no limits. It is lofty, wide and immeasurable.

²⁶There were born the ancient and famous giants
of high stature and skillful in war.

²⁷God did not choose them,
he did not teach them the ways of Wisdom,

²⁸and they perished because of their folly, because they lacked knowledge.

²⁹Who has ascended to Heaven that he may lay hold of her
and bring her down from the clouds?

³⁰Who has crossed seas and found her, and bought her with the purest of gold?

³¹There is no one who knows her path, no one who thinks of her way.

³²But he who knows everything recognizes her.
He has found her in his own intellect.
He who created the earth, for all time, and has filled it with four-footed beings.

³³He who sends the light, and it goes, who recalls it, and trembling it obeys.

³⁴The stars shine, full of joy, to keep their night watches.
He calls them and they answer, “Here we are.”
They shine with joy for their Creator.

³⁵It is he who is our God, no other can be compared with him.

³⁶He has found the way of understanding and has given her to Jacob his servant and to Israel his well-beloved.

³⁷Then Wisdom was seen on earth and lived among humans.