The Holy Scripture
Chapter LXXVII
And I, Baruch, went there and came to the people, and assembled them together from the greatest to the least, and said unto them:
'Hear, you children of Israel, behold how many you are who remain of the twelve tribes of Israel.
For to you and to your fathers the Lord gave a law more excellent than to all peoples.
And because your brethren transgressed the commandments of the Most High, And He spared not the former, And the latter also He gave into captivity: And He left not a residue of them,
But behold! you are here with me.
If, therefore, you direct your ways aright, Ye also shall not depart as your brethren departed, But they shall come to you.
For He is merciful whom you worship, And He is gracious in whom you hope, And He is true, so that He shall do good and not evil.
Have you not seen here what has befallen Zion?
Or do you perchance think that the place had sinned, And that on this account it was overthrown? Or that the land had wrought foolishness, And that therefore it was delivered up?
And know you not that on account of you who did sin, That which sinned not was overthrown, And, on account of those who wrought wickedly, That which wrought not foolishness was delivered up to (its) enemies?'
And the whole people answered and said unto me: 'So far as we can recall the good things which the Mighty One has done unto us, we do recall them; and those things which we do not remember He in His mercy knows.
Nevertheless, do this for us your people: write also to our brethren in Babylon an epistle of doctrine and a scroll of hope, that you may confirm them also before you do depart from us.
For the shepherds of Israel have perished, And the lamps which gave light are extinguished, And the fountains have withheld their stream whence we used to drink.
And we are left in the darkness, And amid the trees of the forest, And the thirst of the wilderness.'
And I answered and said unto them 'Shepherds and lamps and fountains come from the law: And though we depart, yet the law abides.
If therefore you have respect to the law, And are intent upon wisdom, A lamp will not be wanting, And a shepherd will not fail, And a fountain will not dry up.
Nevertheless, as you said unto me, I will write also unto your brethren in Babylon, and I will send by means of men, and I will write in like manner to the nine tribes and a half, and send by means of a bird.'
And it came to pass on the one and twentieth day in the eighth month that I, Baruch, came and sat down under the oak under the shadow of the branches, and no man was with me, but I was alone.
And I wrote these two epistles: one I sent by an eagle to the nine and a half tribes; and the other I sent to those that were at Babylon by means of three men.
And I called the eagle and spoke these words unto it:
'The Most High hath made you that you should be higher than all birds.
And now go and tarry not in (any) place, nor enter a nest, nor settle upon any tree, till you have passed over the breadth of the many waters of the river Euphrates, and have gone to the people that dwell there, and cast down to them this epistle.
Remember, moreover, that, at the time of the deluge, Noah received from a dove the fruit of the olive, when he sent it forth from the ark.
Yea, also the ravens ministered to Elijah, bearing him food, as they had been commanded.
Solomon also, in the time of his kingdom, whithersoever he wished to send or seek for anything, commanded a bird (to go thither), and it obeyed him as he commanded it.
And now let it not weary you, and turn not to the right hand nor the left, but fly and go by a direct way, that you may preserve the command of the Mighty One, according as I said unto you.' 78-86. THE EPISTLE OF BARUCH THE SON OF NERIAH WHICH HE WROTE TO THE NINE AND A HALF TRIBES