Third Baruch

And I, Baruch, said, “Behold, Lord, you have shown me great and wonderful things; and now show me everything for the Lord’s sake.”

And the angel said to me, “Come, let us go through <...> with the angel from that place, as if traveling a journey of one hundred and eighty-five days.”

And he showed me Hades, and its appearance was dark and profane.

And I said, “Who is this dragon? And who is this fierce one around him?”

And the angel said, “The dragon is the one who eats the bodies of those who lived their lives evilly; and he is nourished by them.”

“And this is Hades, who is himself similar to him, and from whom he drinks from the sea as if one cubit; and nothing from it diminishes.”

Baruch said, “And how?” And the angel said, “Listen: The Lord God made three hundred and sixty rivers, of which the first of all are Alphias and Abyros and the Gerikos; and from these the sea does not diminish.”

And I said, “I beg you, show me what tree it was that deceived Adam?”

And the angel said, “It is the vine, which the angel Samael planted, with which the Lord God was angered; and he cursed him and his planting. For this reason he did not permit Adam to touch it. And for this reason the devil, being envious, deceived him through his vine.”

And I, Baruch, said, “And since the vine has been the cause of so much evil, and is liable to a curse from God, and the destruction of the first-formed human, how is it now of such great utility?”

And the angel said, “You ask correctly. When God brought the flood upon the earth, and destroyed all flesh and the four hundred nine thousand giants, and the water rose above the high places for fifteen cubits, the water entered into Paradise and carried away every flower. But the vine branch he banished completely and cast it outside.

And when the earth appeared from the water and Noah came out of the ark, he began to plant from the plants that were found.

And he found the vine branch as well, and taking it, he pondered within himself what it might be. And I came and told him about it.

And he said, “Should I plant it, or what? Since Adam perished because of it, lest I also incur the wrath of God because of it.” And saying these things, he prayed that God would reveal to him concerning it what he should do.

And when he had completed his prayer for forty days, and had earnestly pleaded and wept, he said, “Lord, I entreat you to reveal to me what I should do concerning this plant.”

And God sent the angel Sarasael and said to him, “Arise, Noah, plant the vine branch, for thus says the Lord: ‘Its bitterness shall be changed into sweetness, and its curse shall become a blessing, and that which is born from it shall become the blood of God, and just as by it the human race received condemnation, again through Jesus Christ, Immanuel, in him they are about to receive recall and entrance into Paradise.’

Therefore, know, O Baruch, that just as Adam received condemnation through that tree and was stripped of the glory of God, so also now humans, excessively indulging in the wine produced from it, commit a worse transgression than Adam, and become far removed from the glory of God, and prepare themselves for eternal fire.

For every good thing comes about through it. For those who drink it to excess do these things: neither does brother pity brother, nor father son, nor children parents, but through the downfall caused by wine, all things occur, such as murders, adulteries, fornications, perjuries, thefts, and things similar to these. And no good thing is accomplished through it.”