Encounter Baruch's Oracles!
The themes of ruin and restoration are at the core of the Jewish apocalyptic genre. Even the most bitter laments are accompanied by hope when one is tethered to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That is precisely what you will find in The Books of Baruch. This edition presents you with a new, easy-to-read, and culturally nuanced English translation of four ancient oracles: 1 - The Book of Baruch, 2 - The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch, 3 - The Slavonic Apocalypse of Baruch, and 4 - The Rest of the Words of Baruch.
This compilation of four books, ascribed to Jeremiah's scribe by tradition, may pleasantly surprise you. It's everything one can expect: prophecies, visions, angelic interpretations, parables, and gut-wrenching prayers searching for mercy from above. While thoroughly rooted in traditions of Jeremiah's lament, the message mourns not Babylon's calamity, but the destruction of the Second Temple. The oracles span the era from the second century BCE to the second century CE.
In addition to the freshly revised text, I have supplied some study footnotes to aid those who wish to delve deeper, beyond the oracles themselves. The book is now available in print, on Kindle, and in audio format. It's not a light read, but I hope it will speak to you in some way, since many others have found its message uplifting through the ages.
The Books of Baruch: Four Oracles in New Translation
Because 1 Baruch was incorporated into the Greek Septuagint (LXX), some are familiar with this ancient text. But many do not realize there are actually four books of Baruch in existence. Therefore, this edition presents a collection of four ancient texts attributed to Baruch in a new, modern, and culturally nuanced translation: The Book of Baruch, The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch, the Slavonic Apocalypse of Baruch, and the Rest of the Words of Baruch. The compilation of the four oracles in one volume was created with the hope that an easy-to-read translation would enable readers from all walks of life to explore the ancient lore.
