Lost Books of the Bible (170 page)

Chapter 40

1 The last leader of that time will be left alive, when the multitude of his hosts will be put to the sword, and he will be bound, and they will take him up to Mount Zion, and My Messiah will convict him of all his unlawful deeds, and will gather and set before him all the works of his hosts.

2 And afterwards he will put him to death, and protect the rest of My people which will be found in the place which I have chosen.

3 And his kingdom will stand for ever, until the world of corruption is at an end, and until the times aforesaid are fulfilled.

4 This is your vision, and this is its interpretation.

Chapter 41

1 And I answered and said: For whom and for how many will these things be or who will be worthy to live at that time?

2 I will speak to you everything that I think, and I will ask of You regarding those things about which I think.

3 I see many of Your people who have with drawn from Your covenant, and cast from them the yoke of Your law.

4 But I have seen others who have forsaken their vanity, and fled for refuge beneath Your wings.

5 What will become of them or how will the last time receive them?

6 Or perhaps the time of these will certainly be weighed, and as the beam inclines will they be judged accordingly?

Chapter 42

1 And He answered and said to me: “I will show you these things also.

2  To whom will these things be, and how many will they be?"

3 To those who have believed there will be the good which was spoken of before, and to those who despise there will be the contrary.

4 And regarding those who have drawn near (to Me) and those who have withdrawn (from Me) this is the word. As for those who were before subject (to Me), and afterwards withdrew and mingled themselves with the seed of mingled peoples, the time of these was the former, and was accounted as something exalted.

5 As for those who before knew (Me) not but afterwards knew life, and mingled (only) with the seed of the people which had separated itself the time of these (is) the latter, and is accounted as something exalted.

6 Time will succeed to (advance) time and season to season, and one will receive from another, and then with a view to the conclusion everything will be compared according to the measure of the times and the hours of the seasons.

7 Corruption will take those that belong to it, and life will take those that belong to it.

8 And the dust will be called, and there will be said to it: Give back that which is not yours, and raise up all that you have kept until its time.

Chapter 43

1  But, do you, Baruch, direct your heart to that which has been said to you, and understand those things which have been shown to you? For there are many eternal comforts for you.

2 You will leave this place, and you will pass from the regions which you see now, and you will forget whatever is corruptible, and will not again recall those things which happen among mortals.

3 Go and command your people, and come to this place, and afterwards fast seven days, and then I will come to you and speak with you.

Chapter 44

 1 And I, Baruch, went from that place and came to my people, and I called my first-born son and the Gedaliahs my friends, and seven of the elders of the people, and I said to them:

2  I go to my fathers according to the way of all the earth.

3 But you should not withdraw from the way of the law, but guard and admonish the people which remain;

4 that they should not withdraw from the commandments of the Mighty One, for you see that He whom we serve is just, and our Creator is no respecter of persons.

5 And see what has happened to Zion, and what has happened to Jerusalem.

6 For the judgment of the Mighty One will be made known, and His ways, which, though past finding out, are right.

7 For if you endure and persevere in fear (respect / awe) of Him, and do not forget His law, the times will change over you for good. And you will see the consolation (reward) of Zion.

8 Because whatever exists now is nothing, but that which will be is very great. For everything that is corruptible will pass away, and everything that dies will depart, and all the present time will be forgotten, nor will there be any remembrance of the present time, which is defiled with evil.

9 That which runs now runs to vanity, and that which prospers will quickly fall and be humiliated.

10 That which is to come will be the object of desire, and for that which comes afterwards will we hope.

11 For it is a time that will not pass, and the hour comes which abides for ever.

12 And the new world (comes) which is blessedness and does not turn to corruption for those who depart to it, but it has no mercy on those who depart to torment, and it leads to perdition those who live in it.

13 For these are they who will inherit that time which has been spoken of, and theirs is the inheritance of the promised time.

14 These are they who have acquired for themselves treasures of wisdom, and with them are found stores of understanding, and they have not withdrawn from mercy and the truth of the law have they preserved.

15 For to them will be given the world to come, but the dwelling of the rest, who are many, will be in the fire.”

Chapter 45

1  Instruct the people as far as you are able, for that labor is ours. For if you teach them, you will quicken them.

Chapter 46

1 And my son and the elders of the people answered and said to me:  Has the Mighty One humiliated us to such a degree as to take you from us quickly?

2  We will truly be in darkness, and there will be no light to the people who are left For where again will we seek the law, or who will distinguish for us between death and life?

3 And I said to them: I cannot resist the throne of the Mighty One; nevertheless, there will not be wanting in Israel for a wise man, nor a son of the law to the race of Jacob.

4 But only prepare your hearts, that you may obey the law, and be subject to those who in fear are wise and understanding;

5 And prepare your souls that you may not leave them.

6 For if you do these things, good things will come to you., which I before told you of; nor will you fall into the torment, of which I testified to you before.

7 But with regard to the word that I was to be taken I did not make it known to them or to my son.

Chapter 47

 1 And when I had gone out and dismissed them, I went from there and said to them:

2 I go to Hebron: for that is where the Mighty One has sent me. And I came to that place where the word had been spoken to me, and I sat there, and fasted seven days.

Chapter 48

1 And it came to pass after the seventh day, that I prayed before the Mighty One and said, O my Lord, You summon the advent of the times and they stand before You;

2 You cause the power of the ages to pass away, and they do not resist You; You arrange the method (progress / procedures) of the seasons, and they obey You.

3 You alone know the duration of the generations, and You do not reveal Your mysteries to many.

4 You make known the multitude of the fire, and You weigh the lightness of the wind.

5 You explore the limit of the heights, and You scrutinize the depths of the darkness.

6 You care for the number which pass away that they may be preserved and You prepare an habitation (abode) for those that are to be.

7 You remember the beginning which You have made, and the destruction that is to be You do not forget.

8 With nods of fear and indignation You command the flames, and they change into spirits, and with a word You quicken that which was not, and with mighty power You hold that which has not yet come.

9 You instruct created things in the understanding of You, and You make wise the spheres  (orbs / heavenly bodies) so as to minister in their orders.

10 Armies innumerable stand before You and minister in their orders quietly at Your nod.

11 Hear Your servant and give ear to my petition.

12 For in a little time are we born, and in a little time do we return.

13 But with You hours are as a time (an age / eon) , and days as generations.

14 Be not angry with man; for he is nothing and take not account of our works; for what are we?

15 For by Your gift we come into the world, and we depart not of our own will.

16 For we said not to our parents, Beget us, Nor did we send to Sheol (place of the dead) and say, Receive us.

17 What therefore is our strength that we should bear Your rage or what are we that we should endure Your judgment?

18 Protect us in Your compassions, and in Your mercy help us.

19 Behold the little ones that are subject to You, and save all that draw near to You: Do not destroy the hope of our people, and do not cut short the times (occurrences) of our aid.

20 For this is the nation which You have chosen, and these are the people, to whom You find no equal.

21 But I will speak now before You, and I will say as my heart thinks.

22  In You do we trust, for Your law is with us and we know that we will not fall so long as we keep Your statutes.

23 To all time are we blessed at all events in this that we have not mingled with the Gentiles.

24 For we are all one celebrated people, who have received one law from One:

25 And the law which is among us will aid us, and the surpassing wisdom which is in us will help us.

26 And when I had prayed and said these things, I was greatly weakened. And He answered and said to me: You have prayed simply, O Baruch, and all your words have been heard.

27 But My judgment exacts its own and My law exacts its rights.

28 For from your words I will answer you, and from your prayer I will speak to you.

29 For this is as follows: he that is corrupted is not at all (is as though he does not exist);

30
  He has acted sinfully in any way he could and has not remembered my goodness
, and has not remembered My goodness, nor accepted My long-suffering.

31 Therefore you will surely be taken up, as I before told you.

32 For that time will arise which brings affliction; for it will come and pass by with quick vehemence, and it will be turbulent coming in  the heat of indignation.

33 And it will come to pass in those days that all the inhabitants of the earth will be moved one against another, because they do not know that My judgment has drawn near.