Single lesson
Baruch 2: The afflicted ask God to hear and deliver them
Baruch 2:11–18; Baruch 2:19–26; Baruch 2:27–35
In this prayer, the speakers ask God to hear them and rescue them. They remember God’s past power, confess their sin, and plead for mercy so that God’s name will be known. This lesson also brings together The prayer acknowledges the rejected warning about Babylon, The prayer recalls a promise of repentance and restoration.
Before you teach
Baruch 2:11–18 is a prayer in the Catholic additional books. In these verses, the speakers address the Lord as the God of Israel, recall that he brought his people out of Egypt, confess sin, ask for wrath to turn away, and ask God to hear, look, and deliver. The passage stays in the form of prayer and teaching.
Explain the central teaching of Baruch 2: The afflicted ask God to hear and deliver them, using two details from the reading. This passage teaches that the afflicted come to God by confessing sin, appealing to his name, and asking him to hear and deliver them. This prayer confesses that the Lord’s warning was ignored and that his spoken judgement has proved true. This prayer recalls that God’s mercy includes a promised turning back from sin and a restored relationship with his people.
Welcome: Baruch 2: The afflicted ask God to hear and deliver them
5 minIntroduce “The afflicted ask God to hear and deliver them”, “The prayer acknowledges the rejected warning about Babylon”, “The prayer recalls a promise of repentance and restoration” and locate Baruch 2:11–18; Baruch 2:19–26; Baruch 2:27–35. This passage teaches that the afflicted come to God by confessing sin, appealing to his name, and asking him to hear and deliver them. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for.
Baruch 2:11, Baruch 2:15, Baruch 2:18
Read and explain the passage
12 minThe afflicted ask God to hear and deliver them (Baruch 2:11–18): The prayer begins by naming the Lord as the God of Israel and recalling that he brought his people out of Egypt. The language is full of strength: mighty hand, signs, wonders, great power, and a high arm. This opening looks back to what God has done and to the name he has made for himself.
The prayer acknowledges the rejected warning about Babylon (Baruch 2:19–26): The prayer begins by saying the supplication is not presented because of “the righteousness of our fathers and of our kings”. That means the speaker is not resting the request on the goodness of earlier generations or rulers. The prayer starts with humility rather than family honour or inherited standing.
The prayer recalls a promise of repentance and restoration (Baruch 2:27–35): The prayer begins by speaking to “the Lord our God” and saying he has dealt with the people according to his kindness and great mercy. That opening matters because the rest of the passage remembers warning and scattering, yet it starts by naming God’s mercy rather than ignoring it.
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “The afflicted ask God to hear and deliver them”, “The prayer acknowledges the rejected warning about Babylon”, “The prayer recalls a promise of repentance and restoration”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
Baruch 2:11, Baruch 2:19, Baruch 2:27
Discuss the details and their meaning
8 minUse the three questions below. Begin with “Why does the prayer begin by speaking about God bringing his people out of Egypt?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. This prayer recalls that God’s mercy includes a promised turning back from sin and a restored relationship with his people. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
Baruch 2:11, Baruch 2:21, Baruch 2:22, Baruch 2:33, Baruch 2:34, Baruch 2:35
Make and respond: Vision and message evidence map
12 minWork on “Baruch 2: The afflicted ask God to hear and deliver them: Vision and message evidence map”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “The afflicted ask God to hear and deliver them”, “The prayer acknowledges the rejected warning about Babylon”, “The prayer recalls a promise of repentance and restoration” as reading headings. Each learner should include at least two accurate details and their verse references. Share one observation from the finished sheet and explain how it connects with the central teaching.
Baruch 2:11, Baruch 2:23, Baruch 2:35
Closing: return to The prayer recalls a promise of repentance and restoration
3 minRevisit Baruch 2:27–35. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about The prayer recalls a promise of repentance and restoration and another to support the summary with a verse. Give learners a moment to complete their response sheet. They can share a question or, if appropriate for the group, join the optional prayer.
Baruch 2:27, Baruch 2:31, Baruch 2:35
Questions to explore
Why does the prayer begin by speaking about God bringing his people out of Egypt?
Notice how Baruch 2:11 recalls God’s mighty acts before the speakers ask him to act again.
Baruch 2:11
What instruction about Babylon is quoted before the warning of judgement?
Look at Baruch 2:21 for the command, then Baruch 2:22 for the consequence if the Lord’s voice was not heard.
Baruch 2:21, Baruch 2:22
How does the passage connect repentance with restoration?
Baruch 2:33 speaks of turning from wicked deeds and remembering earlier sin, and Baruch 2:34-35 follows with return to the land and an everlasting covenant.
Baruch 2:33, Baruch 2:34, Baruch 2:35
Make, think or respond
Baruch 2: The afflicted ask God to hear and deliver them: Vision and message evidence map
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or pens
- a Bible or the source reading on this page
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels or draw three columns. Label them “What the passage describes”, “What is explained in the text”, “What question remains”.
- Read Baruch 2:11–18; Baruch 2:19–26; Baruch 2:27–35. Use “The afflicted ask God to hear and deliver them”, “The prayer acknowledges the rejected warning about Babylon”, “The prayer recalls a promise of repentance and restoration” as your reading headings and add a short quotation or detail with its verse reference to each panel.
- Compare your notes with a partner. Check that every quotation is accurate and every conclusion has support in the passage.
- Circle an explanation the passage itself provides. Leave unexplained details as questions for further reading.
The finished sheet keeps the details of Baruch 2: The afflicted ask God to hear and deliver them connected to their Bible references and gives the group a way to explain what they noticed.
Adapt for your group
- For learners who need more support, prepare the reading headings “The afflicted ask God to hear and deliver them”, “The prayer acknowledges the rejected warning about Babylon”, “The prayer recalls a promise of repentance and restoration” and let them match short quotations to the correct heading.
- For confident readers, compare two sections of Baruch 2:11–18; Baruch 2:19–26; Baruch 2:27–35. Ask for a written explanation with two supporting references and one question that the text leaves open.
An optional closing prayer
“God, help us listen carefully as we read Baruch 2:11–18; Baruch 2:19–26; Baruch 2:27–35. Help us understand what we have read, ask thoughtful questions and respond with care for others. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Baruch 2
11 And now, O Lord, you God of Israel who have brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, with signs, with wonders, with great power, and with a high arm, and have gotten yourself a name, as at this day:
12 O Lord our God, we have sinned. We have been ungodly. We have done wrong in all your ordinances.
13 Let your wrath turn from us, for we are but a few left among the heathen where you have scattered us.
14 Hear our prayer, O Lord, and our petition, and deliver us for your own sake. Give us favor in the sight of those who have led us away captive,
15 that all the earth may know that you are the Lord our God, because Israel and his posterity is called by your name.
16 O Lord, look down from your holy house and consider us. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear.
17 Open your eyes, and see; for the dead that are in Hades, whose breath is taken from their bodies, will give to the Lord neither glory nor righteousness;
18 but the soul who is greatly vexed, who goes stooping and feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul, will declare your glory and righteousness, O Lord.
19 For we do not present our supplication before you, O Lord our God, for the righteousness of our fathers and of our kings.
20 For you have sent your wrath and your indignation upon us, as you have spoken by your servants the prophets, saying,
21 “The Lord says, ‘Bow your shoulders to serve the king of Babylon, and remain in the land that I gave to your fathers.
22 But if you won’t hear the voice of the Lord to serve the king of Babylon,
23 I will cause to cease out of the cities of Judah and from the region near Jerusalem the voice of mirth, the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride. The whole land will be desolate without inhabitant.’ ”
24 But we wouldn’t listen to your voice, to serve the king of Babylon. Therefore you have made good your words that you spoke by your servants the prophets, that the bones of our kings and the bones of our fathers would be taken out of their places.
25 Behold, they are cast out to the heat by day and to the frost by night. They died in great miseries by famine, by sword, and by pestilence.
26 You have made the house that is called by your name as it is today because of the wickedness of the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
27 Yet, O Lord our God, you have dealt with us after all your kindness and according to all your great mercy,
28 as you spoke by your servant Moses in the day when you commanded him to write your law in the presence of the children of Israel, saying,
29 “If you won’t hear my voice, surely this very great multitude will be turned into a small number among the nations where I will scatter them.
30 For I know that they will not hear me, because they are a stiff-necked people; but in the land of their captivity they will take it to heart,
31 and will know that I am the Lord their God. I will give them a heart and ears to hear.
32 Then they will praise me in the land of their captivity, and think about my name,
33 and will return from their stiff neck and from their wicked deeds; for they will remember the way of their fathers who sinned before the Lord.
34 I will bring them again into the land which I promised to their fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and they will rule over it. I will increase them, and they won’t be diminished.
35 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them to be their God, and they will be my people. I will no more remove my people Israel out of the land that I have given them.”
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.