Hear, Israel, the commandments of life:  give ear to understand wisdom.  Let them that dwell about Sion come, and remember the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Everlasting hath brought upon them.  Be of good cheer, O my children, crying unto the Lord, and He shall deliver you from the power and hand of the enemies.  I sent you out with mourning and weeping:  but God will give you to me again with joy and gladness for ever.  Put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of thy mourning and affliction, and put on the comeliness of the glory that cometh from God for ever; for behold, thy children gathereth from the west and from the east and return out of captivity with glory.

[With this book of Baruch there is an Epistle of Jeremy, which he sent unto them that were to be led captive into Babylon because of their sins.  The prophet describes the idols and the conduct of the priests and those who attend the heathen temples and warns the captives not to worship the false gods in Babylon.]

SONG OF THE THREE HOLY CHILDREN

[This Song is not in the Hebrew of the Book of Daniel.]

They walked in the midst of the fire praising God and blessing the Lord.  Azarias opened his mouth in the midst of the flame and made confession of sins, and prayer for deliverance to the confusion of their enemies.  Whereupon, the king’s servants that put them in ceased not to make the oven hot with rosin, pitch, tow, and small wood, so that the flame passed through and burned those Chaldeans it found about the furnace.  But the Angel of the Lord came down into the oven and made the midst of the furnace as it had been a moist whistling wind, so that the fire touched Azarias and his fellows not at all, neither hurt nor troubled them.  Then the three, as out of one mouth, praised, glorified, and blessed God in the furnace, saying:  The Lord hath delivered us from hell, and saved us from the hand of death:  for his mercy endureth for ever.

THE HISTORY OF SUSANNA

There dwelt a man in Babylon called Joacim.  And he took a wife whose name was Susanna, a very fair woman, and one that feared the Lord.  The same year were appointed two of the ancients of the people to be judges; and they saw Susanna walking in her husband’s garden, and their lust was inflamed towards her.  Now, Susanna went into the garden to bathe, for it was hot, and dismissed her maids.  The two elders, who had hidden in the garden, rose up and said:  Consent and lie with us.  If thou wilt not, we will bear witness against thee that a young man was with thee, and therefore thou didst send thy maids away.  Then Susanna cried with a loud voice, and the two elders cried out against her, and declared their matter.  The servants rushed in at the privy door and were greatly ashamed, for there was never such a report made of Susanna.  It came to pass the next day when the people were