Read & explore together
The exiles plead for mercy and remember God’s name
In this prayer from the Catholic additional book of Baruch, people in deep trouble cry to God for mercy. They admit sin, remember God’s lasting rule, and ask him to remember his own power and name.
Understanding the passage
The setting of this message
Baruch 3:1–8 is written as prophecy and teaching in the form of a prayer. The speakers describe anguish, sin, captivity, reproach and penalty. They ask the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, to hear, show mercy, and remember his power and name while they remain scattered in captivity.
Baruch 3:1–8Main takeaway
This passage teaches that people in anguish can plead for God’s mercy by honestly confessing sin and appealing to who God is.
Explore the message
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01A cry from anguish to a merciful GodThe prayer opens with pain and urgency: “the soul in anguish” and “the troubled spirit” cry to the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel.
Explanation
The prayer opens with pain and urgency: “the soul in anguish” and “the troubled spirit” cry to the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel. The request is simple and direct: hear and have mercy. The reason given is God’s character, because he is “a merciful God”, while the people openly admit, “we have sinned before you.”
02God remains enthroned while the people are perishingThe prayer contrasts God’s lasting rule with human weakness. God is “enthroned forever”, but the speakers say, “we keep perishing.”
Explanation
The prayer contrasts God’s lasting rule with human weakness. God is “enthroned forever”, but the speakers say, “we keep perishing.” Then the prayer widens to include “the dead Israelites” and “the children of those who were sinners before you”. Their trouble is linked to not listening to God’s voice, and so “these plagues cling to us.”
03Remember your power and your nameThe people ask God not to remember “the iniquities of our fathers”, but instead to remember “your power and your name at this time”.
Explanation
The people ask God not to remember “the iniquities of our fathers”, but instead to remember “your power and your name at this time”. This does not deny sin. Rather, the prayer turns attention to God himself. The next line is confident and worshipful: “you are the Lord our God, and we will praise you, O Lord.”
04Praise in captivity with sin brought to mindThe closing lines say God has put his fear in their hearts so that they should call on his name.
Explanation
The closing lines say God has put his fear in their hearts so that they should call on his name. Even in captivity they say, “We will praise you,” because they have called to mind past iniquity. They are still scattered, living with reproach, curse and penalty, and the prayer plainly connects this with those who “departed from the Lord our God.”
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What reasons does the prayer give for asking God to have mercy?
Look for both God’s character and the people’s confession in the opening lines.
02How does the passage contrast God with the condition of the people?
Notice the difference between God being enthroned forever and the people saying they keep perishing.
03What do the exiles ask God to remember, and what do they themselves call to mind?
Compare the request about God’s power and name with the statement about remembering iniquity in captivity.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Baruch 3:1–8
1O Lord Almighty, you God of Israel, the soul in anguish and the troubled spirit cries to you.
2Hear, O Lord, and have mercy; for you are a merciful God. Yes, have mercy upon us, because we have sinned before you.
3For you are enthroned forever, and we keep perishing.
4O Lord Almighty, you God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the dead Israelites, and of the children of those who were sinners before you, who didn’t listen to the voice of you their God; because of this, these plagues cling to us.
5Don’t remember the iniquities of our fathers, but remember your power and your name at this time.
6For you are the Lord our God, and we will praise you, O Lord.
7For this cause, you have put your fear in our hearts, to the intent that we should call upon your name. We will praise you in our captivity, for we have called to mind all the iniquity of our fathers who sinned before you.
8Behold, we are yet this day in our captivity where you have scattered us, for a reproach and a curse, and to be subject to penalty according to all the iniquities of our fathers who departed from the Lord our God.