Third Baruch

And having learned all these things from the archangel, he took me and led me into the third heaven.

And I saw a vast plain, and in its midst a lake of waters.

And there were in it multitudes of birds of all kinds; but not like those here. But I saw the crane as large oxen. And all were great, surpassing those in the world.

And I asked the angel, “What is the plain, and what is the lake, and what is the multitude of birds around it?”

And the angel said, “Listen, Baruch: the plain is that which surrounds the lake, and other wondrous things are in it, where the souls of the righteous come when they converse, living together in choruses upon choruses.”

“And the water is what the clouds take and rain upon the earth, and the fruits grow.”

And I again asked the angel of the Lord, “And the birds?” And he said to me, “They are those who continually hymn the Lord.”

And I, Baruch, said, “Lord, and how do people say that the water which rains is from the sea?”

And the angel said, “That which rains from the sea and the waters on the earth, this also exists; but that which makes the fruits grow is from this [water].”

“Know then for the future that the so-called ‘dew of heaven’ is from this.”