Second Baruch

And I, Baruch, went from there and came to the people,

and I gathered them together, from the greatest to the least,

and I said to them:

"Hear, children of Israel,

see how few you have remained of the twelve tribes of Israel.

For to you and to your fathers the Lord gave

the Law more than to all the nations.

And because your brothers transgressed the commandments of the Most High,

he brought retribution upon you and upon them, and he did not spare the former,

but also gave the latter into captivity,

and did not leave a remnant of them.

And behold, you are

here

with me.

If, therefore, you make straight your ways, you will not

go as your brothers went;

rather, they will come to you.

For he whom you serve is merciful,

and compassionate

is he in whom you hope,

and he is true to do good and not evil.

Have you not seen what has happened to Zion?

Or do you suppose that the place sinned,

and on account of this was overthrown?

Or that the earth committed any fault,

and on account of this was surrendered?

Do you not know that on account of you who sinned,

that which did not sin was overthrown,

and on account of those who acted wickedly, was surrendered to the enemies

that which had not offended?"

And all the people answered and said to me:

"As much as we are able, we will

remember

the good things which the Mighty One has done with us.

we remember,

and what we do not remember, he in his mercy knows.

Yet this

do

for us, your people:

Write also to our brothers in Babylon

a letter

of instruction and a scroll of hope,

so that you may strengthen them also before you depart from us.

For the shepherds of Israel have perished,

and the lamps that gave light are extinguished,

and the fountains have withheld their flow from which we used to drink.

And we have been left

in darkness,

and in the gloom of the forest,

and in the thirst of the wilderness.

And I answered and said to them:

‘Shepherds and lamps and fountains were from the Law,

and though we depart, the Law abides.

If, therefore, you look to the Law and are

intent

upon wisdom,

there will not be lacking

a lamp,

and a shepherd

will not depart,

and a fountain will not dry up.

Nevertheless, as you have said to me,

I will write also to your brothers in Babylon,

and I will send by means of men;

and to the nine and a half tribes I will write likewise,

and send

by means of a bird.’

And it happened on the twenty-first day of the eighth month, I, Baruch, came

and sat under an oak tree in the shadow of the branches,

and no one was with me,

except I alone.

And I wrote these two letters:

one I sent by means of an eagle to the nine and a half tribes,

and the other I sent to those in Babylon by means of three men.

And I called the eagle and said to it these words:

‘The Most High made you to be higher than all birds.

And now go, and do not alight in any place,

and do not enter a nest,

and do not settle on any

tree,

until you have crossed the breadth of the many waters of the river Euphrates,

and go to that people who dwell there,

and drop

this letter to them.’

Remember, then, that in the time of the flood, Noah received from the dove the fruit

of the olive,

when he had sent it forth from the ark.

And the ravens also served Elijah, bringing him sustenance,

as was commanded them.

Solomon also, in the time of his kingdom, to every

place he wished to send or to seek anything,

gave command

to a bird,

and it obeyed him,

as he commanded it.

And now, do not delay,

and do not turn to the right or to the left,

but fly and go on a straight way, that you may keep

the commandment of the Mighty One, as I told you.