AncientWord

1 O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the soul in anguish and the troubled spirit cry out to You.

2 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy—for You are a merciful God. Have pity on us, for we have sinned before You.

3 You are enthroned forever, and we are perishing forever.

4 O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the dead of Israel and of the children of those who sinned against You, who did not listen to the voice of the Lord their God. That is why these calamities have clung to us.

5 Do not remember the wickedness of our ancestors, but remember at this time Your power and Your name.

6 For You are the Lord our God, and we will praise You, O Lord.

7 That is why You put Your fear into our hearts—to make us call on Your name. And we will praise You in our exile, for we have turned from the sins of our ancestors, who sinned before You.

8 Look, we are today in our exile, where You have scattered us to be a reproach and a curse and a punishment for all the iniquities of our ancestors, who turned away from the Lord our God.

Wisdom Poem (Baruch 3:9–4:4)

9 Listen, Israel, to the commandments of life; pay attention to understand wisdom.

10 Why is it, Israel, that you are in the land of your enemies, growing old in a foreign land,

11 defiled with the dead, counted among those in the grave?

12 You have abandoned the fountain of wisdom.

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

14 Learn where understanding is, where strength is, where wisdom is, so that you may also know where length of days and life are, where light for the eyes and peace are.

15 Who has found her place? And who has entered her storehouses?

16 Where are the rulers of the nations, those who had dominion over the wild beasts on earth?

17 Those who played with the birds of the air and hoarded silver and gold in which people trust—there is no end to their acquiring.

18 Those who worked with silver and were so anxious about their craft, and whose works are beyond searching out—

19 they have disappeared and gone down to the grave, and others have risen in their place.

20 Young ones have seen the light and lived upon the earth, but they did not know the way of knowledge,

21 they did not understand her paths, nor did they take hold of her. Their children were far from the path.

22 It has not been heard of in Canaan, nor seen in Teman.

23 The sons of Hagar, who seek out earthly wisdom—the merchants of Merran and Teman, the storytellers and searchers of understanding—have not known the way of wisdom, nor remembered her paths.

24 O Israel, how great is the house of God, and how vast is the place of His possession!

25 It is great and has no end; it is high and immeasurable.

26 There were the giants, those famous from the beginning, great in stature and skilled in war.

27 But God did not choose them, nor did He give them the way of knowledge.

28 They perished because they had no wisdom; they perished through their own foolishness.

29 Who has gone up into heaven and taken her, and brought her down from the clouds?

30 Who has crossed the sea and found her, and will bring her for pure gold?

31 No one knows her path, no one thinks of her way.

32 But He who knows all things knows her; He found her by His understanding. He who prepared the earth for all time filled it with four-footed creatures;

33 He sends out the light, and it goes; He called it, and it obeyed Him with trembling.

34 The stars shone in their watches and were glad; He called them, and they said, “Here we are!” They shone with joy for Him who made them.

35 This is our God—no other can be compared to Him.

36 He found the whole way of knowledge and gave it to Jacob His servant and to Israel His beloved.

37 Afterward she appeared on earth and lived among humans.