{N}THE PRAYER OF EXILES{/}
{1}1{/}

{I}1_{/}These are the words of the book written by Baruch, the son of 
Neriah, descended from Massiah, from Sedekiah, from Hasadiah, from 
Hilkiah. {R}_{I}2_{/}They were written in the fifth year, on the seventh 
day of the month, at the time when the Chaldeans had taken 
Jerusalem and burned it.
[=]_{R}_{I}3_{/}Baruch read the words of this book to Jeconiah, the son 
of Joachim, the king of Judah, in the presence of all the people 
who had come together to hear it read. {R}_{I}4_{/}He read it in the 
hearing of the nobles and the king's sons, of the elders and all 
the people, from the smallest to the greatest - that is, all those 
who were living in Babylon near the River Sudi.
{I}5_{/}Then the people wept and fasted and prayed before the Lord. 
{I}6_{/}They also collected money according to what each one could 
afford {R}_{I}7_{/}and this they sent to Jerusalem, to the priest 
Jehoiakim, son of Hilkiah, the son of Shallum, and to the other 
priests and people who dwelt in Jerusalem with him. {R}_{I}8_{/}This same 
Baruch had undertaken to carry back to Judea, on the tenth day of 
the month of Sivan, the sacred vessels which had been taken away 
from the Temple of the Lord. These were the silver vessels made by 
Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah, {R}_{I}9_{/}after Nebuchadnezzar, 
the king of Babylon, had carried off Jeconiah, the artisans, the 
nobles and the people of the land and had taken them captive to 
Babylon.
[=]_{R}_{I}10_{/}The letter said: Look, we are sending you money; buy 
with it victims for the holocaust and for sin offerings and 
incense; prepare oblations and offer them on the Altar of the Lord 
our God. {R}_{I}11_{/}Pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar, king of 
Babylon, and of Balthasar, his son, so that they may be successful 
in all that they do. {R}_{I}12_{/}Thus the Lord will give strength and 
light to our eyes. We will live under the protection of 
Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, and of his son, Balthasar. We 
shall have a long life serving them and we shall find favor before 
them.
{R}_{I}13_{/}Pray to the Lord our God for us also, for we have sinned 
against the Lord our God, even to this day the anger of the Lord 
and his fury have not been turned away from us. {I}14_{/}Finally, read 
this book which we are sending to you, so that you can read it 
publicly in the House of the Lord on the day of the Feast and on 
other suitable days.
[=]_{R}_{I}15_{/}You will say: May everyone recognize the justice of our 
God but, on this day, shame and confusion befit the men of Judah 
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem - {R}_{I}16_{/}our kings and princes, 
our priests, our prophets, and our fathers, {I}17_{/}because we have 
sinned before the Lord. {R}_{I}18_{/}We have disobeyed him and have not 
listened to the voice of the Lord our God, nor have we followed 
the commandments which the Lord had put before us. {R}_{I}19_{/}From the 
day that the Lord brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt 
until this day, we have disobeyed the Lord our God and we have 
rebelled against him instead of listening to his voice.
[=]_{R}_{I}20_{/}Because of this, from the day on which the Lord brought 
our fathers out of the land of Egypt, so as to give them a land 
flowing with milk and honey, the evils and the curse which the 
Lord pronounced by Moses, his servant, have dogged our footsteps 
right down to the present day. {R}_{I}21_{/}We did not listen to the 
voice of the Lord our God speaking through the words of the 
prophets whom he sent to us, {R}_{I}22_{/}but each one of us followed his 
perverted heart, serving false gods and doing what displeases the 
Lord our God.

{1}2{/}

{R}_{I}1_{/}That is why the Lord our God has carried out the word which 
he spoke against us, against the judges who have governed Israel, 
against our kings, our princes and the men of Israel and Judah.
{R}_{I}2_{/}No one under the sky has ever seen the like of what happened 
in Jerusalem, according to what is written in the book of Moses. 
{I}3_{/}For people among us came to eat their son's and daughter's 
flesh. [=]_{R}_{I}4_{/}And he handed them over into the power of all the 
surrounding kingdoms, so that they were cursed and humiliated 
among the neighboring peoples among whom the Lord had scattered 
them. [=]_{R}_{I}5_{/}Submission and not command has been our lot, 
because we have sinned against the Lord our God and have not 
listened to his voice.
{R}_{I}6_{/}Just is the Lord our God, whereas shame and confusion befit 
us and our fathers right down to this day. {I}7_{/}All those evils 
which the Lord prophesied concerning us have fallen upon us. 
{I}8_{/}And we have not begged the Lord to make each of us turn away 
from the thoughts of our evil hearts. {I}9_{/}Then the Lord kept watch 
over the evils and allowed them to come upon us, for the Lord is 
just in all that he has commanded us to{I}_{/}do. {I}10_{/}We have not 
listened to his voice nor followed the commands which the Lord has 
ordered us to keep.
[=]_{R}_{I}11_{/}And now, Lord God of Israel, you who brought your people 
out of Egypt with a strong hand, with miracles and wonders and 
great power, you who stretched out your arm and made for yourself 
a name such as you have today, {I}12_{/}we have sinned. We have been 
godless and unjust, Lord, careless about all your commands. 
{I}13_{/}May your fury be turned away from us, for there are very few 
of us left among the nations in which you have scattered us.
{I}14_{/}Hear our supplication and our prayer, O Lord, deliver us for 
your own honor and let us find favor with those who deported us. 
{R}_{I}15_{/}Let all the earth know that you are the Lord our God, 
because Israel and its people bear your name. {I}16_{/}Lord, look down 
from your holy dwelling place and think of us; Lord, incline your 
ear and listen; {R}_{I}17_{/}Lord, open your eyes and consider: it is not 
the dead, lying in the netherworld, who will praise your glory and 
justice, {R}_{I}18_{/}since their spirit has been taken from their 
breast. Grieving under his burden, and walking bowed down and 
exhausted, the man with eyes sore from weeping and who is hungry - 
these are they, who can give you glory and justice, O Lord.
[=]_{R}_{I}19_{/}For it is not on account of the merits of our fathers 
and of our kings that we pour out our cry for pity before you, O 
Lord our God. {R}_{I}20_{/}You have sent down on us your fury and your 
anger as you announced through your servants, the prophets, 
saying, [=]_{R}_{I}21_{/}"Thus says the Lord: Bend your shoulders and 
serve the king of Babylon and you will dwell in the land that I 
gave to your fathers. {R}_{I}22_{/}But if you do not listen to the voice 
of the Lord your God and serve the king of Babylon, [=]_{R}_{I}23_{/}I 
will bring to an end in the towns of Judah and in Jerusalem the 
song of joy and gladness, the song of the bridegroom and the 
bride, and the whole country will become a desert without 
inhabitants. [=]_{R}_{I}24_{/}We did not listen to your invitation to 
serve the king of Babylon and so you carried out what you had 
foretold by your servants, the prophets, that the bones of our 
kings and our fathers would be taken from their graves. {I}25_{/}See, 
they have been exposed to the heat of the day and the cold of the 
night; they died in cruel sufferings, by famine, by the sword and 
by plagues. {R}_{I}26_{/}And you have reduced the nation which bears your 
name to the state in which it is today because of the wickedness 
of the people of Judah.
{R}_{I}27_{/}However, you have acted towards us, O Lord our God, 
indulgently and with great tenderness, {R}_{I}28_{/}as you foretold by 
your servant Moses, the day you ordered him to write down your Law 
in the presence of the children of Israel saying: [=]_{I}29_{/}If you 
do not listen to my voice, this great and vast multitude will be 
reduced to a small remnant among the nations where I shall scatter 
them; [=]_{I}30_{/}for I know well that they will not listen to me 
because they are a stiff-necked people. But in the land of their 
exile their hearts will be converted {R}_{I}31_{/}and they will know that 
I am the Lord their God. {I}32_{/}And I will give them a heart and 
listening ears, that they may praise me in the land of their exile 
and remember my name. {I}33_{/}They will repent of their stiff-necked 
obstinacy and their evil deeds, because they will remember what 
happened to their fathers who had sinned before the Lord. 
[=]_{R}_{I}34_{/}And I will lead them into the land which I have promised 
by oath to their fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and they 
will take possession of it. I will increase their number and it 
will no longer diminish. [=]_{R}_{I}35_{/}I will make with them an 
everlasting covenant; I will be their God and they shall be my 
people. I will no longer drive my people Israel from the land 
which I have given them.

{1}3{/}

{R}_{I}1_{/}Almighty Lord, God of Israel, a soul in anguish and a 
discouraged spirit cries out to you. {I}2_{/}Listen, Lord, and have 
pity for we have sinned against you; {I}3_{/}for you reign forever 
while we perish forever. {R}_{I}4_{/}Lord, all-powerful God of Israel, 
listen then to the prayers of the dead of Israel. We are the sons 
of those who sinned against you, who did not listen to the voice 
of their God, and this is why disgrace has come upon us. {I}5_{/}Do 
not remember any longer the wrongdoing of our fathers, but 
remember at this time your power and your name; {R}_{I}6_{/}for you are 
the Lord, our God and we will praise you, Lord. {I}7_{/}That is why 
you have put your fear into our hearts and we call upon your name. 
And we will praise you in our exile for we have removed from our 
hearts all the wrong of our fathers who sinned against you. 
{R}_{I}8_{/}We are here today in our exile where you have scattered us to 
be insulted, cursed and condemned for the wrongdoing of our 
fathers, who separated themselves from the Lord our God.

{N}WHO HAS FOUND WISDOM?{/}

[\u0095]_{R}_{I}9_{/}Listen, Israel, to the commands of life, give ear so as 
to learn prudence,
{R}_{I}10_{/}Why, Israel! Why are you in the land of your foes? Why are 
you growing old in a foreign country, contaminated by pagans,
[=]_{I}11_{/}counted among those who go to the pit?
{I}12_{/}You have abandoned the source of Wisdom.
{R}_{I}13_{/}If you had walked in the way of God, peace would be your 
dwelling place forever.
[=]_{I}14_{/}Learn where is Wisdom, where is Strength and 
Understanding,
that you may know, at the same time, where are length of days and 
life,
light of the eyes and Peace.
[=]_{I}15_{/}Who will find Wisdom's dwelling?
Who will enter her storage rooms?
[=]_{I}16_{/}Where are the leaders of the nations, those who commanded 
the beasts of the earth,
{I}17_{/}who played with the birds of the heavens,
who piled up silver and gold - in which men put their trust -
and who never tired of collecting it?
{I}18_{/}Amassing money was their only concern,
their business beyond measure.
{R}_{I}19_{/}But they have disappeared,
they have gone down to the dead
and others have risen in their place.
{I}20_{/}A younger generation is there
on the earth and enjoys the light,
but they have not known the ways of knowledge;
they have not seen his tracks nor have they met him,
{I}21_{/}and their sons after them did not leave their paths.
[=]_{R}_{I}22_{/}No one in Canaan has heard of Wisdom, no one has seen 
her in Teman.
{I}23_{/}The sons of Agar, who seek knowledge of the earth,
the traders of Madian and Teman,
the tellers of fables and philosophers,
they have not known the path of Wisdom,
they have not discovered her ways.
{R}_{I}24_{/}O Israel, how great is the house of God, how vast his 
dominion!
{I}25_{/}It is great and has no limits.
It is lofty, wide and immeasurable.
{I}26_{/}There were born the ancient and famous giants
of high stature and skillful in war.
{R}_{I}27_{/}God did not choose them,
he did not teach them the ways of Wisdom,
{I}28_{/}and they perished because of their folly, because they lacked 
knowledge.
[=]_{I}29_{/}Who has ascended to Heaven that he may lay hold of her
and bring her down from the clouds?
[=]_{I}30_{/}Who has crossed seas and found her, and bought her with 
the purest of gold?
{I}31_{/}There is no one who knows her path, no one who thinks of her 
way.
[=]_{I}32_{/}But he who knows everything recognizes her.
He has found her in his own intellect.
He who created the earth, for all time, and has filled it with 
four-footed beings.
{I}33_{/}He who sends the light, and it goes, who recalls it, and 
trembling it obeys.
[=]_{I}34_{/}The stars shine, full of joy, to keep their night 
watches.
He calls them and they answer, "Here we are."
They shine with joy for their Creator.
{R}_{I}35_{/}It is he who is our God, no other can be compared with him.
{R}_{I}36_{/}He has found the way of understanding and has given her to 
Jacob his servant and to Israel his well-beloved.
[=]_{I}37_{/}Then Wisdom was seen on earth and lived among men.

{1}4{/}

[=]_{R}_{I}1_{/}She herself is the book of the commands of God, the law 
which endures forever.
All who hold fast to her will have life
but those who abandon her will die.
[=]_{R}_{I}2_{/}Come back, Jacob, and embrace her, walk towards 
brightness under her light.
{I}3_{/}Do not give up what is your glory or sell your privileges to 
any strange nation.
{R}_{I}4_{/}We are fortunate, O Israel, for we know what pleases the 
Lord!

{N}CONSOLATION FOR JERUSALEM{/}

{R}_{I}5_{/}Take courage, my people, you who preserve the memory of 
Israel. {R}_{I}6_{/}You have been sold to the nations but not for your 
destruction; because you had aroused the anger of God, you were 
delivered to your enemies. [=]_{R}_{I}7_{/}For you displeased your 
Creator in sacrificing to demons and not to God. {R}_{I}8_{/}You have 
forgotten the Eternal God, the one who nourished you. You have 
filled Jerusalem with sadness, she who brought you up. {R}_{I}9_{/}For 
she saw the anger of God fall on you and she said, "Listen, you 
neighboring cities of Zion, God has sent me a great sorrow. {I}10_{/}I 
have seen the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the 
Eternal one brought on them. {I}11_{/}I had nurtured them in joy; with 
tears and sadness I saw them leave. [=]_{R}_{I}12_{/}Let no one rejoice 
on seeing me a widow and abandoned by all. Because of the sins of 
my children I am now alone, because they have turned away from the 
law of God.
{I}13_{/}They have not remembered its precepts; nor have they walked 
in the ways of his commandments, and followed the discipline which 
leads to uprightness.
{I}14_{/}Let them come, the neighbors of Zion, and remember the 
captivity which the Eternal One laid on my sons and daughters.
[=]_{I}15_{/}For he caused a distant nation to come against them, a 
ruthless nation with an unknown language.
They had no respect for the old, and no pity for the infant; 
{I}16_{/}they took away the only son of the widow, as well as her 
daughter, and left her alone.
{I}17_{/}But as for myself, how can I help you? {I}18_{/}He who caused 
these evils to come upon you will deliver you from the hands of 
your enemies.
{I}19_{/}Well, my children, go on your way; as for me, I am left 
alone.
{I}20_{/}I have taken off the garment of peace and put on again the 
sackcloth of penance and prayer. I will cry out to the Eternal One 
all the rest of my days.
{R}_{I}21_{/}Come, take courage, my children, cry out to God. He will 
deliver you from the violence of the enemy.
{I}22_{/}Because I hoped for your salvation from the Eternal One, joy 
has come to me from the Holy One, because of the mercy that will 
come to you soon from the Eternal One, our Savior.
{R}_{I}23_{/}In tears and mourning, I saw you leave, but in joy and 
gladness God will bring you back to me forever.
{R}_{I}24_{/}As the neighbors of Zion have seen your captivity so they 
will soon see your salvation from God, when he manifests to you 
the great glory and the splendor of the Eternal God.
[=]_{R}_{I}25_{/}Children, bear patiently this punishment which came on 
you from God. The enemy has persecuted you, but you will soon see 
his downfall and you will trample him underfoot.
{I}26_{/}My well-beloved children have walked by difficult paths, 
carried off like a herd stolen by enemies. {R}_{I}27_{/}Take courage, my 
children, cry out to God, for he who sent you into exile will 
remember you.
{R}_{I}28_{/}Thus, as you distanced yourself from God, return to him and 
seek him ten times more earnestly. {I}29_{/}For he who caused these 
evils to fall on you will bring you salvation and eternal joy.
[=]_{R}_{I}30_{/}Take courage, Jerusalem. He who has named you will 
console you.
{I}31_{/}Cursed be those who did evil to you and rejoiced in your 
downfall. {I}32_{/}Cursed be those cities in which your children were 
slaves, cursed the nation in which they had to live.
{R}_{I}33_{/}Just as that nation rejoiced in your downfall and took 
pleasure in your destruction so will she be afflicted and 
destroyed.
{I}34_{/}I will take from her the joy of being a numerous people; her 
pride will be turned into mourning.
[\u0095]_{I}35_{/}A fire will descend on her from the Eternal One and burn 
for many days. She will be inhabited by demons for a long time.
{R}_{I}36_{/}Jerusalem, look towards the East, and see the joy which is 
coming to you from God.
[=]_{R}_{I}37_{/}Look, your sons who were scattered are returning. They 
are assembling, coming together, from the East and from the West, 
at the voice of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God.

{1}5{/}

{R}_{I}1_{/}Jerusalem, put off your garment of mourning and unhappiness, 
put on the splendor and glory of God forever.
{R}_{I}2_{/}Wrap yourself in the mantle of holiness that comes from God, 
put on your head the crown of glory of the Eternal One.
[=]_{R}_{I}3_{/}For God will show your splendor to every being under 
Heaven.
{I}4_{/}He will call your name forever, "Peace in Justice" and "Glory 
in the Fear of the Lord."
{R}_{I}5_{/}Rise up, Jerusalem, stand on the heights. Look towards the 
East and see your children gathered together from the setting of 
the sun to its rising, by the voice of the Holy One, rejoicing 
because God has remembered them.
{R}_{I}6_{/}They left you on foot, taken away by the enemy. God will lead 
them back, carried gloriously like royal princes.
[=]_{R}_{I}7_{/}For God has resolved to bring low every high mountain and 
the everlasting hills, to fill up the valleys and level out the 
ground, in order that Israel may walk in safety under the Glory of 
God.
{R}_{I}8_{/}Even the forests and the fragrant trees will give shade to 
Israel at God's command. {R}_{I}9_{/}For God will lead Israel with joy by 
the light of his Glory, escorting them with his mercy and justice.

{N}THE LETTER OF JEREMIAH{/}

{1}6{/}

[\u0095]_{R}_{I}1_{/}A copy of the letter which Jeremiah sent to those who 
were to be taken captive to Babylon by the king of the 
Babylonians, to let them know what God had ordered him.
"Because of the sins you have committed against God, you will be 
led captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonians. 
{I}2_{/}After your arrival in Babylon you will remain there for a 
number of years - a long time, for seven generations; but after 
that I shall bring you home in peace.
{I}3_{/}In Babylon you will see gods of silver, gold and wood, carried 
on men's shoulders and filling the people with fear. {I}4_{/}Take care 
not to copy what foreigners do and not to let yourselves be 
terrified by them {I}5_{/}when you see the crowds pressing in front 
and behind to adore them. [=]_{I}6_{/}Say rather to yourselves: 
'Master, it is you we are to adore.' My angel is with you to take 
care of your lives.
[=]_{I}7_{/}Their tongues have been polished by a craftsman and even 
if they are of gold and silver, they are false and are unable to 
speak. {I}8_{/}As for a maiden conscious of her appearance, these 
pagans make golden crowns for their gods. {R}_{I}9_{/}Yet at times the 
priests steal the gold and silver from their gods for their own 
use and for the prostitutes in their temples.
{I}10_{/}They give clothes to these gods as if they were men, but they 
are only things of gold, silver and wood, which cannot defend 
themselves from rust or woodworm. {I}11_{/}So, after clothing them in 
purple, they wipe their faces because of the thick dust of the 
temple that covers them.
{I}12_{/}The god has a scepter like a governor of a province, but he 
cannot destroy the person who has wronged him. {I}13_{/}He carries 
sword and axe in his right hand, but he is helpless both in war 
and against thieves. {I}14_{/}This clearly proves they are not gods; 
have no fear of them.
{I}15_{/}A broken pot is useless for anyone. So are those gods 
enshrined in their temples. {I}16_{/}Their eyes are full of the dust 
raised by those who enter. {R}_{I}17_{/}Just as doors are carefully 
closed on a man who has offended the king or on a convict 
sentenced to death, in the same way the priests lock and bolt the 
doors of the temple for fear of thieves. {I}18_{/}They light lamps, 
far more numerous than what they need for themselves, and yet the 
god sees no one. {I}19_{/}He is no more than any of the beams of the 
temple and some whisper that the inner part is gnawed by termites; 
worms out of the ground devour both the god and his clothes, but 
he feels nothing. {I}20_{/}Their faces have become black because of 
the smoke of the temple. {I}21_{/}Owls alight on their heads and 
shoulders, swallows and other birds perch on them and cats prowl 
around them. {I}22_{/}This tells you they are not gods, so have no 
fear of them.
{I}23_{/}If the rust on the gold that adorns them is not removed, they 
cannot shine. Yet what does it matter? Even when they were cast 
they felt nothing. {I}24_{/}They may be bought at a high price but 
there is not a breath of life in them. {I}25_{/}As they are without 
feet, they are carried on men's shoulders, showing publicly their 
shame. What a confusion for their worshipers if the god falls! 
They must lift him up. [=]_{R}_{I}26_{/}Once he has been stood up, he 
does not move. If tilted, he is helpless to straighten up. So you 
make offerings to these gods as you make to dead men.
{R}_{I}27_{/}The priests collect what has been offered for sacrifice, 
selling it, while the wives salt some of it but give nothing to 
the poor and helpless. Do you think these are true offerings? Even 
women giving birth or who are ritually unclean touch them. 
[=]_{I}28_{/}See that they are not gods and have no fear of them.
{I}29_{/}How can they be called gods? Women carry offerings to things 
made of silver, wood and gold. {R}_{I}30_{/}The priests remain seated in 
the temple, their garments torn, head and beard shaved, and no 
covering on their heads. {I}31_{/}They roar and cry in the presence of 
their gods as do certain people during funeral meals. {R}_{I}32_{/}With 
the garments taken from the gods the priests clothe their wives 
and their children. {R}_{I}33_{/}Whether they are treated well or 
shabbily, the gods can make no return, neither can they make or 
unmake a king. {I}34_{/}They are incapable of bestowing riches or 
money. If someone fails to keep a vow, he is not called to 
account. [=]_{R}_{I}35_{/}They can neither save a man from death nor 
rescue a helpless person from the clutch of the powerful. 
{I}36_{/}They cannot restore sight to the blind or save someone in 
distress. [=]_{I}37_{/}They will show no compassion to the widow nor 
do good to the orphan.
{I}38_{/}These pieces of wood plated with gold and silver are no more 
worthy than rocks hewn out of a mountain and their worshipers 
shall be humiliated. {I}39_{/}How then can anyone believe they are 
gods? How can they be called gods?
{I}40_{/}The Chaldeans themselves have put them to shame. If they see 
someone who is dumb, unable to speak, they bring him before Bel, 
entreating him to make him speak, as if the god could hear them! 
{I}41_{/}And yet these thinking people are unable to abandon gods that 
are completely devoid of sense. {I}42_{/}Women with cord round their 
waists sit in the street burning bran. {I}43_{/}When one of them has 
been picked up by a passerby and has slept with him, she taunts 
her companion for not having been so highly regarded as herself 
and for failing to have her cord broken. {I}44_{/}All that goes on 
anywhere near these gods is false. How can they be considered or 
declared to be gods?
{I}45_{/}They have been fashioned by craftsmen and goldsmiths; they 
are nothing more than what the artisans decided they were to be. 
{I}46_{/}Those who made them haven't long to live; so how could the 
work of their hands be gods? {I}47_{/}What they leave to their 
descendants is nothing more than illusion and shame.
{I}48_{/}For when war or other disasters come upon them, they discuss 
among themselves where they, with their gods, will hide. {I}49_{/}How 
could anyone fail to be convinced that what cannot save from war 
and disaster is not a god? {R}_{I}50_{/}Later on, these pieces of wood 
plated with silver and gold will be known to be false. It will be 
plain to all kings and nations that they are not gods, but merely 
the handicraft of men and God does nothing through them. {I}51_{/}Is 
there anyone unconvinced that these are not gods?
{R}_{I}52_{/}They are incapable of establishing a king in a country or of 
sending rain to people. {I}53_{/}They are unable to discern what is 
just or to rescue a person who has been wronged. They are as 
helpless as crows between the sky and the ground. {R}_{I}54_{/}When fire 
breaks out in the temple of these wooden gods plated with silver 
and gold, the priests flee to safety but their gods are burnt with 
the beams in the midst of the flames. {R}_{I}55_{/}They can neither 
resist a king nor a hostile army. {I}56_{/}How can it be admitted or 
believed that they are gods?
{I}57_{/}These gods cannot escape either from thieves or brigands. 
These are more powerful and despoil them of their gold, their 
silver and their robes. Such gods are unable to defend themselves.
{R}_{I}58_{/}Better to be a king with a show of power, or even a 
household pot that is of some use to its owner than to be a false 
god; better even to be the door of a house that guards what is 
within, or a wooden column in a royal palace than to be a false 
god. [=]_{R}_{I}59_{/}The sun, moon and stars that shine and serve us are 
obedient to God; [=]_{I}60_{/}likewise the lightning that is beautiful 
to see, and the wind that blows over the country {R}_{I}61_{/}and the 
clouds passing over the earth at God's command, fire sent from on 
high to consume mountain and forest - all do what is commanded. 
{I}62_{/}But these wooden objects can in no way compare with them, 
{I}63_{/}that is why it must not be either believed or said that these 
are gods, since they are powerless to administer justice or 
benefit mankind in any way. {I}64_{/}Since you know they are not gods, 
have no fear of them.
{I}65_{/}They can neither curse {R}_{I}66_{/}nor bless kings, nor bring about 
signs in the heavens for the nations to see. They can neither 
shine like the sun nor give light like the moon. {I}67_{/}Animals are 
of more worth, since by taking cover they can look after 
themselves. {I}68_{/}So in no way whatever is it evident to us that 
these are gods; for that reason have no fear of them.
{I}69_{/}For like a scarecrow in a field of melons, these gods plated 
with silver and gold protect nothing. {I}70_{/}Again these wooden gods 
may be compared to a thornbush in a garden where any bird can 
perch, or to a corpse thrown into a dark place. {I}71_{/}You know by 
the purple and scarlet robes rotting on them that they are not 
gods. They end up by being eaten away and become a disgrace to the 
country. {R}_{I}72_{/}Better then a just man who has no idols, he will 
not be dishonored.

