1Esto es lo que el profeta Jeremías le dijo a Baruc hijo de Nerías cuando escribió en un pergamino estos mensajes que le dictaba Jeremías. (Esto sucedió en el cuarto año de Joacim hijo de Josías, rey de Judá).
2Esto es lo que el Señor, el Dios de Israel, te dice, Baruc:
3Te has estado quejando, diciendo: “¡Tengo tantos problemas porque el Señor me ha dado tristeza para agravar mi dolor! Me he agotado con mis gemidos. No consigo ningún alivio”.
4Esto es lo que se le dijo a Jeremías que le dijera a Baruc: Esto es lo que dice el Señor: En todo el país voy a derribar lo que he construido y a arrancar lo que he plantado.
5En tu caso, ¿crees que tendrás un trato especial? ¡Deja de buscar algo así! Voy a hacer caer el desastre sobre todo ser viviente, declara el Señor. Sin embargo, te prometo que tu recompensa será que seguirás viviendo, vayas donde vayas.
📖 Chapter study
Summary
A short, personal chapter dedicated to Baruch, Jeremiah's scribe, who was exhausted and distressed over his own suffering. God promises to preserve his life amid the general collapse.
Explanation
This brief chapter functions almost like an emotional parenthesis within the book, giving special attention to Jeremiah's closest collaborator, who carried the emotional weight of writing down and witnessing all these harsh prophecies for decades. God's gentle rebuke ('do you seek great things for yourself? do not seek them') reminds us that in times of widespread national crisis, seeking personal security or prominence is not a wise priority. The final promise that Baruch would have 'his life as a prize' (that is, would survive) wherever he went is a direct, personal comfort within a book dominated by collective judgments.
Fun facts
- This chapter, though short, is dated to the same period as chapter 36 (the fourth year of Jehoiakim), making it chronologically one of the earliest events in the book, even though it is placed near the end of the final text.
- The expression 'his life as a prize' (having one's life as the only thing saved, but still saved) appears in almost identical form in Jeremiah 21:9, 38:2, and 39:18, forming a recurring theme of survival amid catastrophe.