Second Baruch

And it came to pass after these things,

that behold, the heavens were opened,

and I saw, and power was given to me,

and a voice was heard from the heights and said to me:

"Baruch, Baruch,

why are you troubled?

Does he who travels on a road not complete it,

or he who sets sail

on the sea,

can he find comfort unless he reaches the harbor?

Or he who promises to give someone a gift, unless he fulfills

it,

is it not deprivation?

Or he who sows the ground, unless he reaps in its season

its fruits,

does he not destroy

it all?

Or he who plants

a planting,

unless it grows until its proper time,

does he who planted it expect to take fruit from it?

Or a woman who is pregnant, if she gives birth before her time, does she

not kill her child?

Or he who builds a house, unless he roofs it and completes it,

can it be called a house?

Tell me these things first."