2 Baruch 36

1When I had said these things, I fell asleep there, and in the night I saw a vision. And behold, a forest of trees planted on the plain, and high, rugged mountains surrounded it; and that forest covered a great expanse. And behold, opposite it a vine arose, and from beneath it a fountain came forth peacefully. Then that fountain came to the forest and swelled into mighty waves, and those waves submerged that forest, and suddenly uprooted the greater part of it and threw down all the mountains around it. And the height of the forest was brought low, and the tops of the mountains were lowered, and that fountain prevailed greatly, so that nothing was left of that great forest except one cedar alone. And when it had cast down and destroyed and uprooted the greater part of that forest, so that nothing remained of it and its place could no longer be recognized, then that vine came with the fountain in peace and great stillness, and it came to a place not far from that cedar, and they brought the cedar that had been thrown down to it. And I saw, and behold, the vine opened its mouth and said to the cedar: “Are you not that cedar which was left from the forest of wickedness, by whose means wickedness continued and was worked all those years, while goodness was not? And you kept taking what was not yours, and what was yours you never treated with compassion; and those far away you brought under your power, and those who came near you, you held fast in the snares of your evil; and you always lifted yourself up like one that could not be uprooted. But now your time has hastened, and your hour has come. So depart also, O cedar, after the forest which went before you, and become dust with it, and let your ashes be mixed together. And lie down in grief, and rest in torment until your last time comes, when you will return again and be tormented still more.”