Fourth Baruch

And Baruch arose and went out from the tomb and found the eagle sitting outside the tomb.

And the eagle answered him with a human voice, saying, “Hail, Baruch, steward of the faith.”

And Baruch said to him, “You are chosen, you who speak among all the birds of the air, for it is evident from the brilliance of your eyes. Show me, then, what are you doing here?”

And the eagle said to him, “I was sent here so that you may send any message you wish through me.”

And Baruch said to him, “Can you carry this message to Jeremiah in Babylon?”

And the eagle said to him, “Indeed, for this very purpose I was sent.”

And Baruch took the letter and fifteen figs from Abimelech’s basket, and he tied them around the neck of the eagle, and he said to him, “I say to you, king of birds, go in peace with health, and bring me the message.

Do not be like the raven, which Noah sent out and it did not return again to him in the ark, but be like the dove, which for a third time brought a message to the righteous man.

Likewise, you, carry this good message to Jeremiah and to the prisoners with him, so that it may be well with you; carry this paper to the people and to the chosen one of God.

If all the birds of the sky encircle you and wish to wage war with you, contend! May the Lord give you strength.

And do not turn aside to the right or to the left, but go straight like an arrow. Depart in the power of God, and the glory of the Lord will be with you on every way you go.”

Then the eagle flew, carrying the letter around its neck, and went to Babylon, and when it arrived, it rested on a certain tree outside the city in a desolate place.

And it was silent until Jeremiah passed by, for he and some other people were going out to bury a dead person outside the city.

For Jeremiah had asked King Nebuchadnezzar, saying, “Give me a place where I may bury the dead of my people”; and the king gave it to him.

As they were going and weeping with the dead, they came opposite the eagle.

And the eagle cried out with a loud voice, saying, “I say to you, Jeremiah, chosen of God, go, gather the people, and come here so that they may hear the letter that I brought you from Baruch and Abimelech.”

When Jeremiah heard this, he glorified God; and he went and gathered the people with women and children, and came to where the eagle was.

And the eagle descended upon the deceased person, and he revived.

This happened so that they might believe.

And all the people marveled at what had happened, saying, “Is this not the God who appeared to our fathers in the wilderness through Moses, and now has appeared to us through this eagle?”

And the eagle said, “I say to you, Jeremiah, come, unbind this letter and read it to the people.” So he unbound the letter and read it to the people.

And when the people heard, they wept and put dust on their heads, and they said to Jeremiah, “Save us and tell us what we should do so that we may enter our city again.”

And Jeremiah answered them, “All that you heard from the letter, keep, and the Lord will bring us into our city.”

And Jeremiah wrote a letter to Baruch, saying thus: “My beloved son, do not neglect your prayers, entreating God on our behalf, so that he may prosper our way until we emerge from the decrees of this lawless king.”

“For you were found righteous before God, and he did not permit you to come here, so that you might not see the evil that has come upon the people by the Babylonians.”

“For just as a father, having an only son, when this son is given over to punishment, those who see his father and console him cover his face, so that he may not see how the son himself is punished and suffer more from grief.”

“In this way, God pitied you and did not permit you to come to Babylon, so that you might not see the evil of the people.”

“For from the time we came here, grief has not ceased from us, sixty-six years today.”

“For often, when I went out, I found some of the people hanging by King Nebuchadnezzar, weeping and saying, ‘Have mercy on us, O god Zar!’”

“Hearing these things, I was grieved and wept a double lamentation, not only because they were hanging, but because they invoked a foreign god, saying, ‘Have mercy on us!’”

“And I remembered the festival days that we kept in Jerusalem before we were taken captive; and remembering, I groaned, and returned to my house in pain and weeping.”

“Now therefore, pray in the place where you are, you and Abimelech, for this people, so that they may listen to my voice and the judgments of my mouth, and we may come out from here.”

“For I tell you that all the time we have spent here, they hold us, saying, ‘Sing us a song from the songs of Zion, the song of your God!’”

“And we say to them, ‘How can we sing to you while we are in a foreign land?’”

And after these things, Jeremiah tied the letter to the neck of the eagle, saying, “Go in peace, and may the Lord visit both of us.”

And the eagle flew, and came to Jerusalem and gave the letter to Baruch, and he untied it and read it and kissed it and wept when he heard it, because of the griefs and evils of the people.

And Jeremiah took the figs and distributed them to the sick of the people, and he remained teaching them to keep away from the pollutions of the nations of Babylon.