¹And Baruch arose and departed from the tomb, and found the eagle sitting without the tomb.

²And the eagle spake unto him with the voice of a man: Hail, Baruch, thou steward of the faith!

³And Baruch said unto him: Thou that speakest art chosen from among all the fowls of heaven; for this is manifest from the brightness of thine eyes. Tell me, then, what doest thou here?

⁴And the eagle said unto him: I was sent hither that through me thou mightest send whatsoever word thou desirest.

⁵And Baruch said unto him: Canst thou carry this word unto Jeremiah in Babylon?

⁶And the eagle said unto him: Verily, for this cause was I sent.

⁷And Baruch took the letter, and fifteen figs from the basket of Abimelech, and bound them about the neck of the eagle, and said unto him: I say unto thee, O king of the birds, go in peace and in good health, and carry this word for me.

⁸Be not thou as the raven which Noah sent forth, and which returned not again unto him in the ark; but be thou as the dove which, the third time, brought tidings unto that righteous man.

⁹Even so do thou; take this good tidings unto Jeremiah and unto those that are in bondage with him, that it may be well with thee. Take this writing unto the people and unto the chosen one of God.

¹⁰Even if all the fowls of heaven compass thee about and seek to fight against thee, strive on; for the Lord shall give thee strength.

¹¹And turn not aside to the right hand nor to the left, but go straight as a swift arrow, in the power of God; and the glory of the Lord shall be with thee all the way.

¹²Then the eagle took flight and went away unto Babylon, bearing the letter bound about his neck; and when he arrived, he rested upon a post without the city, in a desert place.

¹³And he kept silence until Jeremiah came along; for he and certain of the people were going forth to bury a dead body without the city.

¹⁴(For Jeremiah had made supplication unto king Nebuchadnezzar, saying: Give me a place wherein I may bury those of my people that have died; and the king gave it unto him.)

¹⁵And as they came forth with the body, and weeping, they came unto the place where the eagle was.

¹⁶And the eagle cried out with a loud voice, saying: I say unto thee, Jeremiah, thou chosen one of God, go and gather the people together, and come hither, that they may hear a letter which I have brought unto thee from Baruch and Abimelech.

¹⁷And when Jeremiah heard this, he glorified God; and he went forth and gathered the people together, with their wives and their children, and he came unto the place where the eagle was.

¹⁸And the eagle came down upon the dead body, and it was made alive again.

¹⁹(Now this came to pass that they might believe.)

²⁰And all the people were astonished at that which had come to pass, and said: This is the God who appeared unto our fathers in the wilderness through Moses; and now hath he appeared unto us through the eagle.

²¹And the eagle said: I say unto thee, Jeremiah, come and loose this letter and read it unto the people. So he loosed the letter and read it unto the people.

²²And when the people heard it, they wept and put dust upon their heads, and they said unto Jeremiah: Deliver us, and tell us what we must do, that we may once again enter into our city.

²³And Jeremiah answered and said unto them: Do whatsoever ye have heard from the letter, and the Lord shall lead us into our city.

²⁴And Jeremiah wrote a letter unto Baruch, saying thus: My beloved son, be not slothful in thy prayers, making supplication unto God on our behalf, that he might direct our way until we come forth from the dominion of this lawless king.

²⁵For thou hast been found righteous before God, and he suffered thee not to come hither, lest thou shouldest behold the affliction which hath come upon the people at the hands of the Babylonians.

²⁶For it is as a father with an only son, who is given over unto chastisement; and they that behold his father and console him do cover his face, lest he see how his son is chastised, and be yet more consumed with grief.

²⁷For thus did God take pity upon thee, and suffered thee not to enter into Babylon, lest thou shouldest behold the affliction of the people.

²⁸For since we came hither, grief hath not departed from us, for sixty and six years unto this day.

²⁹For many times when I went forth, I found certain of the people hanged up by king Nebuchadnezzar, crying out and saying: Have mercy upon us, O God-ZAR!

³⁰When I heard this, I was grieved and wept with a double mourning; not only because they were hanged up, but because they called upon a strange god, saying: Have mercy upon us.

³¹But I remembered the days of feasting which we kept in Jerusalem before our captivity; and when I remembered, I groaned, and returned unto my house, wailing and weeping.

³²Now therefore, pray in the place where ye abide, thou and Abimelech, for this people, that they may hearken unto my voice and unto the statutes of my mouth, that we may depart from hence.

³³For I tell thee that the whole time we have sojourned here, they have kept us in subjection, saying: Sing unto us one of the songs of Zion, the song of your God.

³⁴And we make answer unto them: How shall we sing unto you, seeing that we are in a strange land?

³⁵And after this, Jeremiah bound the letter about the neck of the eagle, saying: Go in peace, and may the Lord watch over us both.

³⁶And the eagle took flight and came unto Jerusalem, and gave the letter unto Baruch; and when he had loosed it, he read it and kissed it, and wept when he heard of the sorrows and afflictions of the people.

³⁷But Jeremiah took the figs and gave them unto the sick among the people, and he continued teaching them to keep themselves from the defilements of the gentiles of Babylon.

³⁸And rising up early, the eagle cried out. And going forth, they gave praise unto God.

³⁹And when they had prayed, they bound the letter and ten figs upon its neck.

⁴⁰And when they had prayed for it, they sent it away, having charged it to return unto them again.

⁴¹And it went away unto Babylon, and having arrived, it sat upon a pillar without the city.

⁴²And according to the providence of God, Jeremiah was going forth from the city with all the people to bury a dead body.

⁴³And they mourned, and were about to bury it in the place which Jeremiah had received of Nebuchadnezzar, which he had yielded for the burying of the dead among the Jews.

⁴⁴And the eagle cried out with the voice of a man and said: I say unto thee, Jeremiah, take the letter which I have brought unto thee from Baruch and Abimelech, and let all the people of Jerusalem hear it.

⁴⁵And when Jeremiah heard, he glorified God.

⁴⁶And the eagle sat upon the dead body, and straightway it arose.

⁴⁷And all, beholding this, knew that the letter was sent from God. And when all had glorified God at that which had come to pass,

⁴⁸Jeremiah loosed the letter and read it before them all.

⁴⁹And when they heard it, they cried aloud and rejoiced with great joy.

⁵⁰And Jeremiah also wrote upon papyrus all the tribulations and afflictions that had befallen them.

⁵¹And he bound it about the neck of the eagle, and blessing it, he sent it forth.

⁵²And again it bore the letter unto Baruch and Abimelech; and when they had read it, they wept, and with thanksgiving they glorified God, for they had not been tried with such afflictions.

⁵³But Jeremiah gave the figs unto the sick of the people, and they were all made whole, as many as did eat thereof.