What does Jeremias Chapter 45 say, and which statements belong to its speaker?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

An earlier dated word records Baruch’s complaint. Destruction imagery precedes a warning against great things. A personal life promise remains distinct from universal guarantees.

Chapter breakdown

Jeremias 45 dates a word to Baruch son of Nerias to Joakim’s fourth year, when he wrote Jeremias’s dictated words in a book. This date must not be mistaken for a later event simply because it follows the Egyptian chapters. Baruch says the Lord added sorrow to sorrow, that he is weary with groaning and has found no rest.

The Lord’s reply says he destroys what he built and plucks up what he planted throughout the land. Baruch is told not to seek great things for himself. The text does not identify a particular office, ambition, clinical condition or external danger as the meaning of his complaint.

The Lord announces evil on all flesh but promises Baruch his life in all places he goes. The promise is not described as payment in exchange for surrendering ambition or as an already narrated reward for transcription. It does not guarantee ease or safety for every minister.

The story inside

Opening: An earlier dated word records Baruch’s complaint. Development: Destruction imagery precedes a warning against great things. Conclusion: A personal life promise remains distinct from universal guarantees.

Lessons worth keeping

1
An earlier dated word records Baruch’s complaint.
2
Destruction imagery precedes a warning against great things.
3
A personal life promise remains distinct from universal guarantees.

Test your recall

Which images and requests does the speaker use, and what does the chapter leave unresolved?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 88764–88766
45:3. Thou hast said: Woe is me, wretch that I am, for the Lord hath added sorrow to my sorrow: I am wearied with my groans, and I find no rest.
Lines 88768–88774
45:4. Thus saith the Lord: Thus shalt thou say to him: Behold, them whom I have built, I do destroy: and them whom I have planted, I do pluck up, and all this land. 45:5. And dost thou seek great things for thyself? Seek not: for behold I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord! but I will give thee thy life, and save thee in all places whithersoever thou shalt go.