Book of Baruch

The Book of Baruch, sometimes called 1 Baruch, is a deuterocanonical or apocryphal book of the Bible, meaning it is considered part of the Bible by Catholics and members of the Orthodox Church but generally not by Protestants.  Even though it is not in the Hebrew Bible, it is in the Septuagint and in the Vulgate Bible, and also in Theodotion's version of the Bible."Baruch" by P. P. Saydon, revised by T. Hanlon, in A New Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, ed. Reginald C. Fuller, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Publishers, 1953, 1975, §504j. The same source states that "[t]here is also evidence that Baruch was read in Jewish synagogues on certain festivals during the early centuries of the Christian era (Thackeray, 107-11)," i.e. Henry St. John Thackeray, The Septuagint and Jewish Worship, 1923. The Book claims to be have been written by the secretary of the prophet Jeremiah called Baruch in the sixth century BC, which might be true, but the Book was likely only completed in the first century BC. A manuscript of Baruch was found at the Caves of Qumran. The Book of Baruch contains prayer, a request for forgiveness, a recommendation to learn wisdom, a call to be hopeful in the face of Jerusalem's destruction, as well as a reminder to avoid worshiping idols.

Catholic Bibles also add the Letter of Jeremiah to the Book of Baruch as a sixth chapter.

 References 

 Other websites 
Jewish Encyclopedia: Baruch

N.A.B. Introduction to Baruch 
Prophecy of Baruch  Full Text by chapter
Latin Vulgate with Douay-Rheims freeware with bookmarking, search, and other features
The Book of Baruch Full text from http://St-Takla.org (also available in Arabic)
World Wide Study Bible: Baruch
Encyclopedia Britannica: Baruch

Category:Books of the Bible