Third Baruch

And he took me and led me to where the sun comes out.

And he showed me a four-horsed chariot, which was fiery. And on the chariot sat a man wearing a crown of fire, the chariot being driven by forty angels. And behold, a bird circling before the sun, like nine mountains.

And I said to the angel, “What is this bird?” And he said to me, “This is the guardian of the inhabited world.”

And I said, “Lord, how is it the guardian of the inhabited world? Teach me.”

And the angel said to me, “This bird runs alongside the sun, and spreading its wings, it receives its fiery rays.

For if it did not receive them, neither the human race nor any other living creature would be preserved. But God commanded this bird.

And it spread its wings, and I saw on its right wing letters of immense size, having a measure like a space of about four thousand measures of grain; and the letters were golden.

And the angel said to me, “Read these.” And I read them. And they said thus: “Neither earth nor heaven gives birth to me, but wings of fire give birth to me.”

And I said, “Lord, what is this bird, and what is its name?”

And the angel said to me, “Its name is Phoenix.”

“And what does it eat?” And he said to me, “The manna of heaven and the dew of the earth.”

And I said, “Does the bird defecate?” And he said to me, “It defecates a worm, and the worm’s defecation becomes cinnamon, which kings and rulers use. But wait, and you will see the glory of God.”

And as he was speaking, there was a thunder like the sound of thunder, and the place where we were standing was shaken. And I asked the angel, “My Lord, what is this sound?” And the angel said to me, “Now the angels are opening the three hundred sixty-five gates of heaven, and the light is being separated from the darkness.”

And a voice came, saying, “Giver of light, give the world its radiance.”

And hearing the sound of the bird, I said, “Lord, what is this sound?”

And he said, “This is what awakens the roosters on earth; for just as they are two-mouthed, so also the rooster announces to those in the world in its own language. For the sun is being prepared by the angels, and the rooster crows.”