2 Baruch 78

7For merciful is he whom you seek, and gracious is he in whom you hope, and we shall see that he preserves and does not forsake. 8 Have you not seen what happened to Zion? 9 Or did you think the place sinned, and therefore was laid waste, or that the land acted foolishly, and therefore was handed over? 10 Do you not know that because of you who sinned, what had not sinned was overthrown, and because of those who acted wickedly, what had not acted foolishly was delivered up? 11 And all the people answered and said to me, “To the measure that we can recount the good things the Mighty One did with us, we recount them; and what we do not remember, he himself knows. 12 But still ask on our behalf on high; and you also, before you depart from us, write to our brothers a letter of instruction and something of hope, 13 so that you may show them also something of what has not departed from us. For the shepherds of Israel have perished, and the lamps that gave light are quenched, and the springs from which we drank are stopped. 14 And we are left in darkness, in the thickness of the forest, and in the thirst of the wilderness.” 15 And I answered and said to them, “The shepherds and the lamps and the springs came from the law. 16 Even if we depart, the law remains. Therefore look into the law and be steadfast in wisdom, and the lamp will not fail, and the shepherd will not flee, and the spring will not dry up. 17 But, as you said to me, I will also write to your brothers in Babylon, and I will send it by the hand of men; and to the nine and a half tribes I will write in like manner, and send it by a bird. 18 And it happened on the twenty-first day of the eighth month that I sat under the oak, in the shadow of its branches, and no one was with me; I was alone. 19 And I wrote two letters: one I sent to the nine and a half tribes by an eagle, 20 and the other to those in Babylon by the hand of men. 21 And I called the eagle and said these words to it: 22 “The Most High made you higher than all birds. 23 And now do not linger in any place, and do not enter a nest, and do not settle on any tree, until you have crossed the breadth of the many waters of the Euphrates and gone to the people who dwell there; then cast down this letter to them. 24 Remember also that in the time of the flood Noah received from the dove the fruit of the olive, when he sent her out from the ark. 25 And the ravens too ministered to Elijah, bringing him food, as they had been commanded. 26 Solomon also, in the time of his kingdom, whenever he wished to send or inquire about something, commanded a bird, and it obeyed him as he commanded it. 27 So now, do not turn aside to the right or to the left, and do not grow weary, but fly and go by a straight way, so that you may keep the command of the Mighty One, as I said to you.”