Second Baruch

And I went from there and sat in the valley of Kidron,

in a cave of the earth,

and I sanctified myself there.

And bread I did not eat,

yet I did not hunger;

and water I did not drink, yet I did not thirst.

And I was there until the seventh day,

as he had commanded me.

And after this,

I came to that place where he had spoken with me.

And it came to pass at the setting of the sun,

my soul took

much thought,

and I began to speak before the Mighty One,

and I said:

O you who made the earth, hear me,

you who established the firmament

by your word,

and confirmed the height of the heavens

by the Spirit,

who called from the beginning of the world what did not yet exist,

and they obey

you.

You who commanded the air with your nod,

and saw what is to come

as those things

that have passed.

You

who the hosts

that stand

before you

direct with great care,

and the holy living creatures that are without number,

which you made from of old of flame and fire,

those that stand around your throne, you direct with trembling.

To you alone belongs this: to do in an instant everything that you will.

He who by number causes the raindrops to fall upon the earth,

and the consummation

of the times before they arrive,

you alone know.

Look upon my prayer!

For you alone are able to sustain

all those who exist,

and those

who pass away,

and those who are to come,

those who sin and those who are justified,

as the unsearchable Living One.

For you alone are the Living One,

immortal and unsearchable,

and you know the number of humankind.

And if in time

many

have sinned,

and others, not a few, have been justified,

you know where the end of those who sinned is kept,

or the consummation of those who have been justified.

For if this

were the only life

alone

that is here for everyone,

there would be nothing more bitter than this.

For what profit is strength that turns to illness,

or

fullness of food

that turns to hunger,

or beauty that turns into ugliness?

For at all times the nature of humankind changes.

For not

at all as we were formerly;

now we were not; and just as

we are

now,

afterwards we shall not remain.

For if it were not destined

that there would be

an end

to everything, in vain would have been

our beginning.

Rather, make known to me everything that comes from you,

and enlighten me concerning that which I ask of you.

How long will that which is corruptible endure,

and how long will the time of mortals prosper,

and until what

time

will those who pass through the world wallow in great wickedness?

Command therefore in mercy,

and accomplish all that you said you would bring,

so that your power may be made known to those who think that your longsuffering is weakness.

And show

to those

who do not know,

and have seen what has happened to us and to our city until now,

the longsuffering

of your dominion,

because you have named us after your name, a beloved people.

Restrain

therefore from

now on

nature

which is mortal.

And rebuke now the angel of death,

and let your glory appear,

and let the greatness of your beauty be made known, and let be sealed

Sheol, that from now on it may not receive the dead,

and let the treasuries give back

the souls

that are enclosed in them.

For many are the years, as if desolated, since

the days of

Abraham

and Isaac and Jacob, and of all those who are like them,

who sleep in the earth—

those on whose account

you said

that you created the world.

And now show quickly your glory,

and do not delay that which was promised by you.

And it came to pass, when

I had finished

the words of this prayer,

I grew very weak.