For: It will be helpful to render this connector as “So” to express correctly the relationship of this verse with the previous one.

I have put my hope in the Everlasting to save you: Good News Translation “I am confident that the Eternal God will soon set you free” brings the word “soon” up from later in the verse (which soon will come to you). This is legitimate, but still, the emphasis in this line is not on when God will rescue the exiles, but simply that he will do it. Jerusalem has placed her hope (or, confidence) in that rescue. Good News Translation is not wrong to read “I am confident…” (Contemporary English Version “I know without a doubt…”). Translators should use the most natural way to describe this hope. In some languages figurative language is appropriate; for example, “I have set my heart in the Eternal God to set you free.” However, translators in some languages may want to follow Good News Translation or Contemporary English Version.

And joy has come to me from the Holy One: According to this line, Jerusalem already has known joy from expecting the exiles to return. Good News Translation has restructured this in such a way that the joy is still in the future; Jerusalem will be happy when God shows mercy, but presumably not until then. This is not quite the way the Greek text puts it, so Good News Translation should not be followed here. It is possible for a person who is sad and depressed to experience flashes of happiness, of quiet satisfaction if not bliss. The wife of a man held hostage in a foreign land may well be distraught with fear, but news that diplomatic or military action may effect a rescue brings a welcome lightening of the heart, but without lessening the anxiety. This is the picture here. To be sure, Jerusalem is in mourning, but there is light in the darkness, a beam of joy cutting through her grief. It comes to her from the Holy One, when she thinks of the exiles’ coming rescue. But this is more than the hope of diplomatic or military success; it comes from the confidence she has placed in the Eternal God. It is possible to restructure the verse to express this. See the model below.

God is called the Holy One in Bar 4.37 and 5.5 also. This title is frequent in the Old Testament. Holy when used of places or objects means that they have been set aside for religious purposes, but we may not speak about God this way. However, it is possible to speak of God’s holiness in terms of the awe or even fear that people feel when facing the holiness of God. In a number of languages the Holy One in this context will be expressed as “the God that Israel worships” or “the God the people of Israel pray to.” And the whole second line of this verse may be rendered “The God that Israel worships puts joy in my heart.”

Because of the mercy which soon will come to you from your everlasting Savior: For your everlasting Savior, Good News Translation has “your eternal savior.” This phrase can also be translated, as suggested in the translation offered below, “the Eternal God, your savior.” The grammar of this phrase is ambiguous (see Revised Standard Version footnote). “The Eternal One, your savior” can be defended more easily, since the Eternal One is a frequent term for God in this part of Baruch (see the comments on verse 10). We may also compare the Greek text of Psa 24.5 (23.5 in Greek): “He will receive … mercy from God, his savior.” The reference here is of course to God, not to Jesus Christ as Savior. Translators are advised to avoid the use of a word here, which though technically correct, would lead readers to think the writer is referring to Jesus. An interpreter may be on good grounds in seeing Jesus as a fulfilment of this promise, but the author is thinking of God. Even the English word “savior” is something of a problem in this respect. Good News Translation and New Revised Standard Version wisely choose not to capitalize the word as Revised Standard Version did. An alternative way to express the last half of this verse is “when I think how the Eternal God, the one who sets you free, will soon be merciful to you.”

One possibility for the translation of this whole verse is:

• I am confident that the Eternal One will set you free. The Holy One puts joy in my heart when I think of the mercy that he as the Eternal One, your savior, will soon show you.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.