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[1] Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem,
and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God (θεοῦ).
[2] Put on the robe of the righteousness that comes from God (θεοῦ);
put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting;
[3] for God (θεὸς) will show your splendor everywhere under heaven.
[4] For God (θεοῦ) will give you evermore the name,
"Righteous Peace, Godly Glory (θεοσεβείας – meaning religious service)."
[5] Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height;
look toward the east,
and see your children gathered from west and east
at the word of the Holy One,
rejoicing that God (θεοῦ) has remembered them.
[6] For they went out from you on foot,
led away by their enemies;
but God (θεὸς) will bring them back to you,
carried in glory, as on a royal throne.
[7] For God (θεὸς) has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low
and the valleys filled up, to make level ground,
so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God (θεοῦ).
[8] The woods and every fragrant tree
have shaded Israel at God’s (θεοῦ) command.
[9] For God (θεὸς) will lead Israel with joy,
in the light of his glory,
with the mercy and righteousness that come from him.
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This is an optional First Reading offering that might be read aloud on the second Sunday of Advent, Year C, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. If chosen for reading, then the Response will come from Canticle 16 (The Song of Zechariah, found in Luke 1), which sings: “Through his holy prophets he promised of old, that he would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us.” That pair will precede a reading from Philippians 1, where Paul wrote, “God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.” All will accompany a reading from Luke, where it is written: “In the fifteenth year … the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness; so, he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
The Book of Baruch is not readily available in Hebrew, as it is found either in Greek (one of the Septuagint) or Latin (one of the Vulgate), as translations freely made of the Hebrew, which would have been its original language. This book is not considered canonical, in the sense it is omitted from the Old Testament, although it is placed between Jeremiah and Lamentations, in the section of “Prophets.”
Baruch is said to be the secretary of Jeremiah, who fled to Egypt and wrote messages for Baruch to deliver to the captives in Babylon. This reading is said to be that which led the wayward Judeans to repent their sins against Yahweh and return to a commitment to being His wives. Thus, the theme of this lesson is repentance; and, repentance is necessary before a soul can marry Yahweh, become His wife, and give birth to His Son – the theme of Advent.
You will note the bold type above, where I have made “God” stand out. I have followed those translations into English with the Greek written, translated as “God.” In the Greek text, six times the word “θεοῦ” is written and another four times is found “θεὸς,” [both transliterated as “Theos”] meaning “God.” One can assume, based on the regularity of Jeremiah writing “יְהוָ֛ה” [transliterated as “Yah-weh”], twenty times in Jeremiah 33 alone, that the Greek translation to “Theos” would be from “Yahweh,” meaning that would degenerate that specificity written to the simplicity of “God.” However, in the world of demonic scholarship calling itself religious [the reason for the exile to Babylon], that is only an assumption made on my part. Take it or leave it.
I have also numbered the verses, where the Episcopal Church sees no need to keep up with such matters. From looking at Baruch only in Greek and my rudimentary translations of that shown, it is easy to see this English translation as a paraphrase. As it is with paraphrases of Scripture, the basic truth shines forth, but the hidden truth remains hidden. Thus, this offering on the second Sunday of Advent acts like a reflection of a pregnancy, where something is going on within, but not much is yet visible on the outside.
The first verse, as translated, is a recommendation to change. From the “garment of sorrow and affliction” – the sins of the world – one is told to be clothed in the “beauty of the glory from Yahweh.” In terms of souls changing, the recommendation says wearing the old ways will not remove “sorrow and affliction.” Only Yahweh’s presence [His presence as one’s clothing] will do this.
Verse two is then the promise that changing to serve Yahweh will cause one soul to “put on the robe of the righteousness that comes” from Him. This signifies a change from sinner to saint, which can only come from Yahweh’s presence, through a marriage that vows to keep His Commandments.
When Baruch wrote, “for God will show your splendor everywhere under heaven,” a different way to read these words would be slowly, bit by bit. This then says that “God will show,” where this equates to the halo or glow that a soul - having become pregnant with Yahweh’s love - will “sparkle,” as His “splendor” within. As the soul of one’s body of flesh reaches all extremities of the body, “everywhere” says Yahweh’s Spirit envelops the soul totally. This is not visible for others to see, as it is “under.” It is not a physical presence that can be seen. It is spiritual, or of “heaven.”
Verse four then sings, “For Yahweh will give you evermore the name, "Righteous Peace,” which echoes the words of Yahweh through Jeremiah (last Sunday’s Old Testament reading), where many believe Yahweh prophesied a name coming that would be “Yahweh our righteousness” [“tsidkenu”]. Here, the name is Yahweh also, such that being married and taking on His name makes a soul find “righteous peace.”
The names “Jerusalem” and “Israel” need to be read as their root meanings, rather than places. The “children” had been forced to travel from “west” to the “east,” which is where they then needed to look for Yahweh. Yahweh is not locked into a place on the map. Wherever His children go, His “word” will be there. Baruch delivered them that “word.” They had been led to Babylon by themselves, who were their true “enemies.” To overthrow themselves and again become a “throne” for Yahweh to possess, the Judeans had to take their own souls off their thrones of self and welcome Yahweh to be seated there.
The mountains and valleys are the changing nature of human life on earth. By marrying a soul to Yahweh, those who Retain Yahweh as His elohim [Israel] will be able to walk safely; and, the highs and lows of a sinful world will no longer threaten them.
In the end, the true children of Yahweh will become trees of fragrance that produce good fruit. Those children will be true Christians, who will shade Israel in all times to come. They will all be reborn in the name of Yahweh’s Son, walking righteously as His saints.
In a season of renewal, when one’s soul is expected to see the folly of one’s waywardness and repent, bringing Yahweh to find the sincerity of those confessions, the purpose is to have reached the depths of despair so Yahweh becomes one’s hope. This is not a helping hand to return to Jerusalem and try to resist another siege. It is a submissive stance that commits fully to slavery to Yahweh, rather than slavery to a world in the flesh. Either way, one admits one cannot change the world alone. To find the joy of salvation, one must find love in one’s heart for Yahweh and swear to always serve Him totally.
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