The book of Prophet Baruch
Chapter 1
1. These are the words of the book that Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah son of Zedekiah son of Hasadiah son of Hilkiah wrote in Babylon, 2. in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month, at the time when the Chaldeans took Jerusalem and burned it with fire.
(Book of Prophets Baruch Chapter 1 verses 1 to 2)
Oh God my Father may we all be prophets to each other and remind each other of Your presence and action in our life, especially during moments of crisis or what may appear to be pending doom. May we all speak words of encouragement and not be prophets of doom who speak only negative outcomes that cause others to feel more depressed than ever Amen. May we be beacons of light faith and inspiration to others Amen.
3. Baruch read the words of this book to Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and to all the people who came to hear the book, 4. and to the nobles and princes, and to the elders, and to all the people, small and great, all who lived in Babylon by the river Sud.
(Book of the Prophet Baruch Chapter 1 verses 3 to 4)
Oh God my Father Your Word is so powerful that it has the power to penetrate far beneath the skin and reach our souls and spirit, so much that it can lead to our repentance if we totally accept You as our God and Father. Amen.
5. Then they wept, and fasted, and prayed before the LORD; 6. they collected as much money as each could give, 7. and sent it to Jerusalem to the high priest Jehoiakim son of Hilkiah son of Shallum, and to the priests, and to all the people who were present with him in Jerusalem.
(Book of the Prophet Baruch Chapter 1 verses 5 to 7)
Oh God my Father it is simply not enough to feel sorry for people in need. It is more fruitful to see in which way we can be of help and act immediately according to our resources and abilities Amen.
8. At the same time, on the tenth day of Sivan, Baruch took the vessels of the house of the Lord, which had been carried away from the temple, to return them to the land of Judah-the silver vessels that Zedekiah son of Josiah, the king of Judah, had made, 9. after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had carried away from Jerusalem Jeconiah and the princes and the prisoners and the nobles and the people of the land, and brought them to Babylon.
(Book of the Prophet Baruch Chapter 1 verses 8 to 9)
Oh God my Father as much as Baruch had returned the vessels to the temple, the house of God, may we also make friends with at least one individual each and also return that person back to the temple of God.
10. They said: Here we send you money; so buy with the money burnt offerings dan sin offerings and incense, and prepare a grain offering, and offer them on the altar of the Lord our God; 11. and pray for the life of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and for the life of his son Belshazzar, so that their days on earth may be like the days of heaven.
(Book of Prophet Baruch Chapter 1 verses 10 to 11)
Oh God, my Father I admire the people who sent money to the people of Jerusalem. In the letter that they sent them, they did not tell the people to invest the money on their physical needs, but in order to cater for, their spiritual needs. Oh that we all learn how to make You a priority of our life my God and Father Amen.
12. The Lord will give us strength, and light to our eyes; we shall live under the protection of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and under the protection of his son Belshazzar, and we shall serve them many days and find favor in their sight.
(Book of Prophet Baruch Chapter 1 verse 12)
Today and as for all the days of my life my God and Father I place myself and even the protection and well being of my family under Your protection. Although we are sinners we will do our very best to be of service to You in any way we can Amen.
13. Pray also for us to the Lord our God, for we have sinned against the Lord our God, and to this day the anger of the Lord and his wrath have not turned away from us. 14. And you shall read aloud this scroll that we are sending you, to make your confession in the house of the Lord on the days of the festivals and at appointed seasons.
(Book of the Prophet Baruch Chapter 1 verses 13 to 14)
And along with the people of Israel in such circumstances, we are also to seek repentance and plead for the forgiveness of God, for we have also sinned against You my God and Father. In some way or another if we stop and think, either by our thoughts, feelings and or behaviour we will remember those moments when our behaviour and actions were not according to Your will Amen. Therefore let us seek confession and repentance by means of the sacrament of reconciliation as one whole family of sinners say the following prayer together that we may have been taught as children by clicking on the following link:-
Prayer; An act of contrition
15. And you shall say: The Lord our God is in the right, but there is open shame on us today, on the people of Judah, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 16. and on our kings, our rulers, our priests, our prophets, and our ancestors, 17. because we have sinned before the Lord. 18. We have disobeyed him, and have not heeded the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the statutes of the Lord that he set before us. 19. From the time when the Lord brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until today, we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, and we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, and we have been negligent, in not heeding his voice. 20. So to this day there have clung to us the calamities and the curse that the Lord declared through his servant Moses at the time when he brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt to give to us a land flowing with milk and honey. 21. We did not listen to the voice of the Lord our God in all the words of the prophets whom he sent us, 22. but all of us followed the intent of our own wicked hearts by serving other gods and doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord our God.
(Book of the Prophet Baruch Chapter 1 verses 15 to 22)
Oh God the moment we start praying and reflecting on the 'Good News' as in the Bible, we start realising how great is Your love and how much we have sinned against You. When reflecting on verses 15 to 22 we have an overview of our sins that in some way or another we have all violated.
Oh God my Father, I would like to end this chapter with the following prayer:
Oh Holy God my Father hallowed be they name, I pray oh God that we let the Bible judge us instead of judging the Bible ourselves. Oh God Your the message of the 'Good News' is valid for all times. It is one of the means that You use to reach our hearts and minds Amen.
3. Baruch read the words of this book to Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and to all the people who came to hear the book, 4. and to the nobles and princes, and to the elders, and to all the people, small and great, all who lived in Babylon by the river Sud.
(Book of the Prophet Baruch Chapter 1 verses 3 to 4)
Oh God my Father Your Word is so powerful that it has the power to penetrate far beneath the skin and reach our souls and spirit, so much that it can lead to our repentance if we totally accept You as our God and Father. Amen.
5. Then they wept, and fasted, and prayed before the LORD; 6. they collected as much money as each could give, 7. and sent it to Jerusalem to the high priest Jehoiakim son of Hilkiah son of Shallum, and to the priests, and to all the people who were present with him in Jerusalem.
(Book of the Prophet Baruch Chapter 1 verses 5 to 7)
Oh God my Father it is simply not enough to feel sorry for people in need. It is more fruitful to see in which way we can be of help and act immediately according to our resources and abilities Amen.
8. At the same time, on the tenth day of Sivan, Baruch took the vessels of the house of the Lord, which had been carried away from the temple, to return them to the land of Judah-the silver vessels that Zedekiah son of Josiah, the king of Judah, had made, 9. after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had carried away from Jerusalem Jeconiah and the princes and the prisoners and the nobles and the people of the land, and brought them to Babylon.
(Book of the Prophet Baruch Chapter 1 verses 8 to 9)
Oh God my Father as much as Baruch had returned the vessels to the temple, the house of God, may we also make friends with at least one individual each and also return that person back to the temple of God.
10. They said: Here we send you money; so buy with the money burnt offerings dan sin offerings and incense, and prepare a grain offering, and offer them on the altar of the Lord our God; 11. and pray for the life of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and for the life of his son Belshazzar, so that their days on earth may be like the days of heaven.
(Book of Prophet Baruch Chapter 1 verses 10 to 11)
Oh God, my Father I admire the people who sent money to the people of Jerusalem. In the letter that they sent them, they did not tell the people to invest the money on their physical needs, but in order to cater for, their spiritual needs. Oh that we all learn how to make You a priority of our life my God and Father Amen.
12. The Lord will give us strength, and light to our eyes; we shall live under the protection of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and under the protection of his son Belshazzar, and we shall serve them many days and find favor in their sight.
(Book of Prophet Baruch Chapter 1 verse 12)
Today and as for all the days of my life my God and Father I place myself and even the protection and well being of my family under Your protection. Although we are sinners we will do our very best to be of service to You in any way we can Amen.
13. Pray also for us to the Lord our God, for we have sinned against the Lord our God, and to this day the anger of the Lord and his wrath have not turned away from us. 14. And you shall read aloud this scroll that we are sending you, to make your confession in the house of the Lord on the days of the festivals and at appointed seasons.
(Book of the Prophet Baruch Chapter 1 verses 13 to 14)
And along with the people of Israel in such circumstances, we are also to seek repentance and plead for the forgiveness of God, for we have also sinned against You my God and Father. In some way or another if we stop and think, either by our thoughts, feelings and or behaviour we will remember those moments when our behaviour and actions were not according to Your will Amen. Therefore let us seek confession and repentance by means of the sacrament of reconciliation as one whole family of sinners say the following prayer together that we may have been taught as children by clicking on the following link:-
Prayer; An act of contrition
15. And you shall say: The Lord our God is in the right, but there is open shame on us today, on the people of Judah, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 16. and on our kings, our rulers, our priests, our prophets, and our ancestors, 17. because we have sinned before the Lord. 18. We have disobeyed him, and have not heeded the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the statutes of the Lord that he set before us. 19. From the time when the Lord brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until today, we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, and we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, and we have been negligent, in not heeding his voice. 20. So to this day there have clung to us the calamities and the curse that the Lord declared through his servant Moses at the time when he brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt to give to us a land flowing with milk and honey. 21. We did not listen to the voice of the Lord our God in all the words of the prophets whom he sent us, 22. but all of us followed the intent of our own wicked hearts by serving other gods and doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord our God.
(Book of the Prophet Baruch Chapter 1 verses 15 to 22)
Oh God the moment we start praying and reflecting on the 'Good News' as in the Bible, we start realising how great is Your love and how much we have sinned against You. When reflecting on verses 15 to 22 we have an overview of our sins that in some way or another we have all violated.
Oh God my Father, I would like to end this chapter with the following prayer:
Oh Holy God my Father hallowed be they name, I pray oh God that we let the Bible judge us instead of judging the Bible ourselves. Oh God Your the message of the 'Good News' is valid for all times. It is one of the means that You use to reach our hearts and minds Amen.
