4 Baruch

Chapter 6

  1. 1 After these things Abimelech went out of the city and prayed unto the Lord. And behold, an angel of the Lord came and set him down where Baruch was; and he found him sitting in a tomb.
  2. 2 And when they saw one another, they both wept and kissed one another. And Baruch looked up and saw the figs covered in the basket; and lifting up his eyes to heaven he prayed, saying: There is a God who gives reward to his holy ones.
  3. 3 Make thyself ready, my heart, and be glad and rejoice in thy tabernacle, I say, in thy house of flesh; for thy mourning is turned into joy. For the Mighty One is coming, and he shall take thee up out of thy tabernacle; for there hath been no sin in thee.
  4. 4 Revive, my virgin faith, and believe that thou shalt live.
  5. 5 Look upon this basket of figs; for behold, sixty-six years have they been so, and they have not withered nor grown rank, but they drip with milk.
  6. 6 So shall it be with thee, my flesh, if thou doest the things commanded thee by the angel of righteousness.
  7. 7 He who kept the basket of figs, he shall keep thee also by his power.
  8. 8 When Baruch had said these things, he said to Abimelech: Arise, and let us pray that the Lord may make known to us how we may send word to Jeremiah in Babylon of the shelter that was given thee.
  9. 9 And Baruch prayed, saying: Our strength, our God, O Lord, the chosen light that came forth from his mouth: I beseech and entreat thy goodness, thou great name which no one is able to know:
  10. 10 hear the voice of thy servant, and be knowledge in my heart. What wilt thou have us do? How shall I send to Jeremiah in Babylon?
  11. 11 And while Baruch was yet praying, behold, an angel of the Lord came and said to Baruch:
  12. 12 Baruch, counsellor of the light, be not anxious how thou shalt send to Jeremiah; for tomorrow at the hour of light an eagle is coming to thee, and thou shalt send it to Jeremiah.
  13. 13 Write therefore in the letter: Speak to the children of Israel: Let him who has become a stranger among you be set apart, and let them keep fifteen days; and after this I will bring you into your city, saith the Lord.
  14. 14 He that is not set apart from Babylon, O Jeremiah, shall not enter into the city; and I will rebuke them, that they be not received again by the Babylonians, saith the Lord.
  15. 15 And when the angel had said these things, he departed from Baruch.
  16. 16 And Baruch sent to the market of the Gentiles and got paper and ink, and wrote a letter, which ran thus:
  17. 17 Baruch the servant of God writes to Jeremiah. Thou that art in the captivity of Babylon, rejoice and be glad, for God has not let us depart out of this body grieving for the city that was laid waste and outraged.
  18. 18 Therefore the Lord has had compassion on our tears, and has remembered the covenant which he established with our fathers Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
  19. 19 For he has sent his angel to me, and he has told me these words, which I have sent to thee.
  20. 20 These then are the words which the Lord the God of Israel has spoken, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, out of the great furnace:
  21. 21 Because ye kept not my ordinances, but your heart was lifted up and ye stiffened your necks before me, I was angered, and in wrath I delivered you to the furnace in Babylon.
  22. 22 If then ye will hearken to my voice, saith the Lord, from the mouth of Jeremiah my servant, him that hearkens I will bring up out of Babylon; but he that hearkens not shall become a stranger both to Jerusalem and to Babylon.
  23. 23 And thou shalt test them by the water of the Jordan; he that hearkens not shall be made manifest. This is the sign of the great seal.