The Bible – Old Testament
Jeremiah
Chapter 45
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1 This is the message that the prophet Jeremiah gave to Baruch, son of Neriah, when he wrote in a book the prophecies that Jeremiah dictated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah:
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Thus says the LORD, God of Israel, to you, Baruch,
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because you said, «Alas! the LORD adds grief to my pain; I am weary from groaning, and can find no rest»:
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say this to him, says the LORD: What I have built, I am tearing down; what I have planted, I am uprooting: even the whole land.
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And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not! I am bringing evil on all mankind, says the LORD, but your life I will leave you as booty, wherever you may go.
1 [1-5] At the conclusion of his narrative, Baruch appends a prophecy given him personally by Jeremiah when he first wrote down Jeremiah’s words (cf Jer 36). The future revealed by the prophet had depressed Baruch; this prophecy was to assure him of his personal safety, while repeating the Lord’s determination to destroy Judah.