2 BARUCH 21
Prayer of Baruch, the Son of Neriah
21:1 I went from there and sat in the valley of Kidron in a cave of the earth and sanctified myself there and ate no bread, but I was not hungry; I drank no water, but I was not thirsty. And I stayed there until the seventh day as YAHWEH had commanded me.
21:2 And after this I came to the place where HE had spoken with me.
21:3 And it happened at sunset that my soul received many thoughts, and I began to speak in the presence of YAHWEH the Mighty One, and said:
21:4 O hear me, YOU who created the earth, the one who fixed the firmament by the Word and fastened the height of heaven by the Ruach, the one who in the beginning of the world called that which did not yet exist and they obeyed YOU.
21:5 YOU who gave commandments to the air with YOUR sign and have seen the things which are to come as well as those which have passed.
21:6 YOU who reign with great thoughts over the powers which stand before YOU, and who rules with indignation the countless kodesh beings, who are flame and fire, whom YOU created from the beginning, those who stand around YOUR throne.
21:7 For YOU alone (all) this exists so that YOU may create at once all that YOU want.
21:8 YOU are the one who causes the rain to fall on earth with a specific number of raindrops. YOU alone know the end of times before it has arrived. Hear my prayer.
21:9 For only YOU can sustain those who exist, those who have gone and those who will come, those who sin and those who have proved themselves to be righteous, since YOU are the Living One, the Inscrutable One.
21:10 For YOU are the only Living One, the Immortal One and the Inscrutable One, and YOU know the number of men.
21:11 And while many have sinned once, many others have proved themselves to be righteous.
21:12 YOU know where YOU have preserved the end of those who have sinned or the fulfillment of those who have proved themselves to be righteous.
21:13 For if only this life exists which everyone possesses here, nothing could be more bitter than this.
21:14 For of what help is strength which changes into weakness, or food in abundance which changes into famine, or beauty which changes into ugliness?
21:15 For the nature of men is always changeable.
21:16 For as we were once, we are no longer, and as we are now, we shall not remain in the future.
21:17 For if an end of all things had not been prepared, their beginning would have been senseless.
21:18 But let me know all that which comes from YOU, and regarding that which I ask YOU, enlighten me.
21:19 How long will corruption remain, and until when will the time of mortals be happy, and until when will those who pass away be polluted by the great wickedness in this world?
21:20 Therefore, command mercifully and confirm all that YOU have said that YOU would do so that YOUR Power will be recognized by those who believe that YOUR long-suffering means weakness.
21:21 And now show it to them, those who do not know, but who have seen that which has befallen us and our city, up to now, that it is in agreement with the long-suffering of YOUR Power, because YOU called us a beloved people on account of YOUR NAME.
21:22 From now, therefore, everything is in a state of dying.
21:23 Therefore, reprove the malak of death, and let YOUR splendor appear, and let the greatness of YOUR beauty be known, and let the realm of death be sealed so that it may not receive the dead from this time, and let the treasuries of the souls restore those who are enclosed in them.
21:24 For as many years have passed as those which passed since the days of Abraham, Yitschaq, and Yacob and all those who were like them, who sleep in the earth-those on whose account YOU have said YOU have created the world.
21:25 And now, show YOUR splendor soon and do not postpone that which was promised by YOU.
21:26 And it happened that when I had ended the words of this prayer, I became very weak.