And Baruch arose, and went forth out of the tomb.
2And the eagle, answering with a human voice, said: Hail, Baruch, steward of the faith.
3And Baruch said unto him: Thou art chosen, thou that speakest, out of all the birds of heaven; for it is manifest from the brightness of thine eyes.
4Show me therefore, what doest thou here?
5And the eagle said unto him: I was sent hither, that whatsoever message thou wilt, thou mayest send by me.
6And Baruch said unto him: Art thou able to bear this message to Jeremiah into Babylon?
7And the eagle said unto him: For this very thing was I sent.
8And Baruch took the letter, and fifteen figs out of the basket of Abimelech, and bound them upon the neck of the eagle, and said unto him:
9To thee I say, king of the birds, go in peace with health, and bring me the tidings.
10Be not like the raven, which Noah sent forth, and it returned no more unto him into the ark; but be like the dove, which the third time brought tidings to the righteous man;
11so also do thou, bear this good tidings to Jeremiah and to them that are with him, that it may be well with thee; bear this letter to the chosen people of God.
12If all the birds of heaven encircle thee, and all the enemies of the truth, wishing to war against thee, contend; may the Lord give thee power. And turn not aside to the right hand, nor to the left, but as an arrow going straight, so go in the power of God.
13Then the eagle flew, having the letter, and went unto Babylon, and rested upon a certain tree outside the city in a desert place; and he kept silence until Jeremiah passed by, himself and certain others of the people:
14for they were going forth to bury a dead man; for Jeremiah had asked of Nebuchadnezzar, saying: Give me a place, where I may bury the dead of my people. And he gave it to him.
15And as they went away, weeping with the dead man, they came opposite the eagle; and the eagle cried, saying: To thee I say, Jeremiah, the chosen of God, go, gather all the people, and let them come hither, that they may hear the good proclamation which I have brought thee from Baruch and from Abimelech.
16And Jeremiah, hearing it, glorified God; and going away he gathered the people with women and children, and came where the eagle was.
17And the eagle came down upon the dead man, and he lived again; and this was done that they might believe.
18And all the people marvelled at that which was done, saying: Can this be the God who appeared to our fathers in the wilderness by Moses, and made himself in the form of an eagle, and appeared unto us by this great eagle?
19And the eagle said unto Jeremiah: Come hither, unloose this letter, and read it to the people.
20So having unloosed the letter, he read it to the people. And when the people heard, they wept, and put dust upon their heads; and they said unto Jeremiah:
21Save us, and tell us what we shall do, that we may enter again into our city.
22And Jeremiah answered and said unto them: All that ye have heard out of the letter, keep; and he will bring us into our city.
23And Jeremiah wrote also a letter unto Baruch, saying thus: My beloved son, neglect not, in thy prayers, to entreat for us, that he may prosper our way, until we go out from the commandments of this lawless king; for thou wast found righteous before him, and he suffered thee not to come in hither with us, that thou shouldest not see the affliction which hath befallen the people from the Babylonians;
24for as a father, having an only-begotten son, and he being delivered up to punishment; they therefore who see the father, and comfort him, cover his face, that he may not see how his son himself is punished, and be the more destroyed by grief; for even so hath God had mercy on thee, and suffered thee not to come into Babylon, that thou shouldest not see the affliction of the people; for from the time that we entered into this city the grief hath not ceased from us, sixty and six years this day.
25For often, as I went forth, I found some of the people hanging by Nebuchadnezzar the king, weeping and saying: Have mercy upon us, O God Zar.
26Hearing these things, I was grieved, and wept a twofold weeping; not only because they were hanged, but because they called upon a strange god, saying: Have mercy upon us.
27And I remembered the days of feast which we kept in Jerusalem before we were carried captive. And remembering, I groaned, and returned to my house in pain and weeping.
28Now therefore pray, unto the place where thou art, thou and Abimelech, for this people, that they may hearken unto my voice and the judgments of my mouth, and that we may go out from hence.
29For I say unto thee, that all the time which we have spent here, they hold us fast, saying: Sing us a song from the songs of Zion, and the song of your God. And we answered them: How shall we sing unto you, being in a strange land?
30And after these things he bound the letter upon the neck of the eagle, saying: Go in peace; may the Lord visit both.
31And the eagle flew, and brought the letter, and gave it to Baruch. And having unloosed it, he read it, and kissed it, and wept, having heard, because of the griefs and the afflictions of the people.
32And Jeremiah, taking the figs, distributed them to the sick of the people. And he abode teaching them to abstain from the defilements of the nations of Babylon.